Argentinian attacking midfielder Martin Ojeda finished his maiden season in an Orlando City uniform with six goals and 10 assists. While 16 goal contributions in his first year in a new league with unfamiliar surroundings isn’t a terrible return, there was a widespread sense that he didn’t perform at the level the Lions needed from a Designated Player. He improved the deeper Orlando got into the year though, and coming into the 2024 season, a lot of the projections involving OCSC being one of the best teams in the league were predicated on him taking the next step and becoming a true force in Major League Soccer. So, has that happened?

The broad numbers say that it hasn’t. Through 27 appearances and 1,582 minutes, Ojeda has three goals and eight assists, compared to six goals and 10 assists in 34 appearances and 1,751 minutes in 2023. The Argentine still has time to eclipse his totals from last year, but barring a positively explosive run of form, it’ll take him more minutes to do so. For my money, it isn’t quite that simple though.

For one thing, Ojeda has shown improvement in two key areas: passing accuracy and key passes. His accuracy is up to 84% in 2024, while it was 79% last season. He’s also already eclipsed his total for key passes in 2023, currently sitting on 45, compared to the 42 he finished with in his debut season in purple. That suggests that not only is he passing the ball better, but he’s also putting it in more dangerous areas than previously. Some of that is to be expected, considering his shift into the center of the field to play the no. 10, but he’s still had to adapt to the new position, and he’s looked more and more comfortable as the year has continued.

Let’s talk about that positional change a little. The first few months of the season were ugly for just about everyone wearing an Orlando City jersey. Guys were hurt, off on international duty, or suspended, and many of the ones who could play were forced to do so in positions that weren’t natural for them. At various points throughout the early months of 2024, he found himself playing in the hole behind two strikers, as a deep-lying playmaker, deputizing at striker himself, or dropped from the starting XI entirely.

It was hard to argue with him coming off the bench, as he had just three assists in the 16 games prior to the LAFC match on June 15. He got his first league goal of the year in that match though, and in the 11 games since then, he’s recorded two goals and four assists. While not a staggering return, he’s trending in the right direction. Outside of the numbers, he looks capable of being able to produce at a higher level.

Saturday’s match against Nashville SC provided two specific instances which I found encouraging. The first was his assist on Ivan Angulo’s opening goal, specifically the way in which Ojeda created the goal.

Everything about that is fantastic. The anticipation and work rate to get into a position to intercept the wayward pass, the vision to see Angulo’s position, the quick decision to play the one-touch pass, and the execution to deliver that pass squarely on the money. One of the knocks on Ojeda in an OCSC shirt has been his decision making and execution in the final third, as at times he’s settled for long potshots or held onto the ball too long before trying to find a teammate. None of that was on display here, and the speed of thought, coupled with the execution, meant that Orlando grabbed an early lead.

Let’s then talk about the turn he executed at midfield during the buildup to Facundo Torres’ first goal. Ojeda receives the ball, takes a touch, neatly slips it through a defender’s legs, and then immediately drives hard at the Nashville defense before releasing the ball and finding Torres in space. It’s one moment of skill, but it’s something that happens when you have a guy who’s playing with confidence, and the fact that he then made the right pass at the right time makes it even better.

Those are the moments that we’ve started to see more of from the Designated Player as the year has gone on, and we’ll need to continue seeing more of if Orlando City wants to keep pushing up the table.

Ojeda has a chance to improve on his debut season and really make an impact for the Lions down the stretch. If he keeps playing with confidence, making the correct decisions, and executing in the way that he’s shown this summer, it should bode well for OCSC. Vamos Orlando!

Once Oscar Pareja finds a lineup he likes, he tends to stick with it. This is not necessarily a bad thing when the team is playing well and earning points. It can be if he is slow to make changes when things start to not be so good and the team is dropping points, like in the match against Sporting Kansas City.

I think it’s time to shake some things up. Here are my recommendations.

Left Back Luca

Luca Petrasso has been killing it with Orlando City B as of late. He’s also looked pretty good in the limited time with the senior squad. This is a player with a first-team contract who went on loan to Triestina for six months, has gotten quality minutes with OCB, and should now be given a chance to start at left back. 

It might sound a little crazy, but neither Rafael Santos nor Kyle Smith has played very well recently when they have gotten the start. A change is needed, and giving Petrasso a start is a good way to reward his play both with OCB and with the few minutes he’s managed with the first team. Honestly, I’m not sure it would be much worse than what Santos and Smith have provided in recent games, so Pareja might as well give it a go.

Midfield Move

Let me first say that I’m talking about the attacking midfield. Defensive midfielders Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo are a bright spot on a team that has struggled recently. I’m talking about shaking things up a little higher up the pitch. 

Given that Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres, and Ivan Angulo have all been starting recently, that only leaves Nico Lodeiro to bring on for one of those three. I don’t see Pareja sitting Torres, so let’s take that off the table. If he were to sit Angulo, then that would likely mean moving Torres to the left side. We all know that Torres prefers the right side so he can cut across the defense and put the ball on goal with his favored left foot. You also lose Angulo’s speed, and I don’t expect Angulo to have another match like he did against Kansas City.

That leaves Ojeda out. I’m not saying he’s been worse than the other two, but from a tactical perspective it makes the most sense for Lodeiro to replace Ojeda. That allows the other two to stay in their preferred spots, and for Ojeda to come on around the 60th minute with fresh legs. Lodeiro has enough in the tank to do it, and some sort of change is needed to get the attack going again.

Orlando Runs on Duncan

Ramiro Enrique went on a goal-scoring tear up until two matches ago. Because of Enrique’s form, even after Duncan McGuire signed his new contract, the Argentine got the next two starts. The first of those against Cruz Azul on Aug. 9 was no big deal. Nobody scored in that one. Then there was a two-week break before Saturday’s 24 match against Sporting Kansas City. Still no goal for the young striker, and even worse, he started putting the ball out or right at the keeping in both of those matches. 

Now, it’s time to put Big Dunc back in the starting lineup. He has his new contract, and giving him the start with something to prove after subbing in these last few matches could spark the Orlando City attack once more. Additionally, there is a reason he got the new deal. He knows how to score goals, and sometimes you just need to get out there to make it happen. The added benefit is that Enrique will be motivated to win back that starting spot when he’s coming off the bench.

That’s what I’d like to see this Saturday night from Orlando City. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

With a bit off time off until Orlando City’s next match, there’s no time like the present to peek ahead in the calendar and make some guesses as to how the rest of August will treat the Lions. OCSC will only play two more matches before the month ends, as the team got a couple weeks off after being eliminated from Leagues Cup.

Saturday, Aug. 24 at Sporting Kansas City

The first game following the break comes on the road against Sporting Kansas City. SKC’s last game was on Friday, Aug. 9, the same as Orlando, and the club was soundly beaten 4-0 on the road by the Columbus Crew in the Leagues Cup Round of 32. In the league, Sporting has compiled a record of 6-14-6, and currently sits in 12th place in the West on 24 points. Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue, as 41 in 26 games is a perfectly respectable rate, but the bigger issue has been keeping the ball out of their own net. Sporting has given up a whopping 52 tallies on the season, and only a woeful San Jose Earthquakes side — that’s in real danger of conceding a historic number of times — has given up more. Willy Agada has quietly put together a nice season with nine goals and two assists in just 1,266 minutes, but I like the Lions’ chances here.

Orlando City is on an eight-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, and only a sudden bout of lackluster finishing prevented the good guys from getting a win against Cruz Azul in the game that eliminated OCSC from Leagues Cup. Plus, Kansas City also has a U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Tuesday, Aug. 27 to think about. The playoffs aren’t quite out of reach yet, but the USOC represents SKC’s best chance for a trophy this year, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the club prioritizes it. I think the finishing touch comes back, the defense continues the improved play its shown during this run, and Orlando gets it done on the road.

Prediction: Orlando City 2-1 Sporting Kansas City.

Saturday, Aug. 31 vs. Nashville SC

For the final match of the month, Orlando City has a home game against Nashville SC, one of the teams it took down during the current unbeaten run. Nashville was last in action back on Aug. 6, when a penalty shootout loss against the New England Revolution bounced the team from Leagues Cup in the group stage. Pending next week’s match against Austin FC, Nashville may come into next week’s clash in Orlando not having won a game since a 1-0 result at home against NYCFC all the way back on June 22. The Tennessee side has a record of 6-11-8 and is 12th in the East on 26 points. The defense has been fairly solid, with 39 goals given up through 25 games. The attack has been a different story though, with the 26 goals scored just barely tipping the team over a goal-a-game average. Sam Surridge has scored almost a quarter of the team’s goals with eight in 19 games, so if the Lions can bottle him up they should have a decent chance of keeping the visitors off the board.

Once again, I think this is a game that Orlando City should win. Both teams will have had a game to get back into a competitive rhythm, but the Lions have looked much better than Nashville in recent outings, and picked up a pretty comfortable win on the road the last time the two teams squared off. Orlando’s defense has picked up its play after an uncharacteristically shaky start to the year, and Nashville has struggled to score goals all season. On paper, the schedule is set up for OCSC to have a strong finish to the season, and I expect the good guys to take care of business here.

Prediction: Orlando City 3-0 Nashville SC.

Those are my guesses for Orlando’s two remaining matches in August. Do you think I got it right, or do you see these matches going a different way? Be sure to have your say down in the comments. Vamos Orlando!