Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

Another Orlando City matchday is right around the corner, which means it’s time to get some insider knowledge into the Lions’ next opponent. Orlando has won three of its last four games and will try to make it three wins in a row tomorrow when it hits the road to face the New England Revolution. It won’t be easy though, as OCSC has never won at Gillette Stadium.

A matchup with the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese of the always excellent Blazing Musket. He was kind enough to help bring us up to speed on New England, and I also answered some of his questions about the Lions, which you can find over at their place.

This is Caleb Porter’s first year in the job. How does he want this team to play as compared to what we saw under Bruce Arena?

Jake Catanese: The Revs were definitely more possession oriented at the beginning of the year, though some of that was actually to the detriment of the Revs’ skillsets and player availability. Extra Concacaf games and injuries kind of forced the Revs deeper into the depth chart than they would have liked, and instead of relaxing his build-out-of-the-back system, Porter kind of doubled down on it with a back line not particularly suited for playing that way and it led to a lot of turnovers and extra chances against the Revs. Andy Judd just did a deep dive on the Revs’ numbers, especially over the last month with their four-game winning streak in June. That’s worth checking out, because some of the Revs’ trends and offensive numbers are still pretty rough. New England has been playing a lot better recently though, but we’ll talk more about the offense down below.

Talk me through the Revolution’s off-season transfer business. Who were some outgoing players, and how were they replaced?

JC: The biggest outgoing player was DP striker Gustavo Bou, who left New England as a top-five scorer in the club’s history. Tomas Chancalay’s loan option was purchased, and he took over the DP spot, and the hope was to have him partner with Dylan Borrero on the wing with Carles Gil in the middle. But Chancalay suffered a season-ending injury in Borrero’s first start back from his season-ending injury last year. The Revs also really only have two strikers on the roster in Giacomo Vrioni and Bobby Wood, with the departure of Homegrown Justin Rennicks, and that has been a depth issue because Chancalay featured as a lone striker a few times before he got hurt.

Other key additions were Nick Lima at fullback, who has done a tremendous job in the first half of the year, with Ryan Spaudling filling in for the injured Brandon Bye, who is also just starting to return from a serious injury suffered last year. Henrich Ravas and Jonathan Mensah were brought in during the off-season to help bolster the keeper and center back spots, but later on in the window, the additions of Aljaz Ivacic and Xavier Arreaga have proved to be more effective for Porter, as the latter two have become regular starters. 

Offense seems to have been a difficult area for New England. The Revs’ 20 goals scored is the fewest in the league. What needs to happen in order to get things moving in front of net?

JC: Yes, the Revs’ offense was generally dreadful at the beginning of the year. It was too slow, too predictable, not generating anything that resembled a big chance, and Vrioni in particular was struggling to get involved in games, let alone find anything that resembled finishing form. Things have turned around a bit since June, mostly the playing direct part. I think the Revs are a countering team and want to make their attacks against an unsettled or backpedaling defense to take advantage of the creativity and skillset of guys like Carles, Borrero, and Esmir Bajraktarevic in 1-v-1 situations. What that does is open up a lot more channels for Vrioni to run into and occupy defenders to create space for others or for him to finish chances. The service Vrioni has been getting the last few weeks without Gil has been tremendous and hopefully it will only improve once Carles returns. 

Will any players be unavailable due to injuries, suspensions, call-ups, etc.? What is your projected starting lineup and score prediction?

JC: Oh the injury list is long. Chancalay, of course, being at the top, along with Nacho Gil having missed the last two months and probably out through the Leagues Cup. Youngster Peyton Miller has missed a ton of time, along with veterans Tommy McNamara and Wood. The list of questionables from last week included Mark Anthony-Kaye, Lima, and Ema Boateng, though Wood and Tommy Mac did feature against Seattle. Arreaga, I think, has an accumulation suspension for this week as well.

Starting Lineup 4-2-3-1: Aljaz Ivacic; DeJuan Jones, Henry Kessler, Dave Romney, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Ian Harkes; Esmir Bajraktarevic, Carles Gil, Noel Buck; Giacomo Vrioni.

Okay, so this lineup is a little hopeful that Carles is back, but if not, slide Esmir into the middle and put Boateng or youngster Jack Panayotou in the attacking three behind Vrioni. It’s a solid lineup, and the Revs having defensive depth this year has really started to pay off the past few weeks, with center backs rotating in and out with no issues. I think Ian Harkes and Noel Buck should have been playing a lot more early on, as they really add a lot of all-around game to the midfield and push the ball forward. I think the Revs at home can do enough to stifle an in-form Orlando side. I’ll take a narrow 2-1 win that is far too exciting late.

Thank you to Jake for the excellent insight on the Revs. Vamos Orlando!