Defensive Play Flying Under the Radar for Orlando City

Since dropping a 4-2 contest to NYCFC on June 28, Orlando City has gone unbeaten in six games across all competitions, winning five games and drawing once. A big part of the headlines has understandably been the offensive explosion that we’ve seen from the Lions. In those six games, OCSC has scored 18 goals and been held to a single goal just once.

That sort of offense always tends to draw the eye, but Orlando has quietly been just as good on the other side of the ball. Across those six games, the Lions have only conceded four goals while keeping two clean sheets in the process. Offensive prowess aside, if a team is averaging fewer than a goal conceded per game, it’s going to be a tough side to beat. That’s exactly what we’ve seen during this unbeaten run, but let’s take a deeper look at how OCSC has done it.

For starters, the back line has benefitted from the sort of stability that was merely a pipe dream during the first few months of the season. A wicked combination of injuries, call-ups and suspensions meant that the defense had to endure shifting lineups, shifting formations, and shifting tactics, with Wilder Cartagena even being deputized as a center back at one point (and doing a pretty admirable job). Stability has been the name of the game over the last six matches, with the quartet of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting three games in a row from the 2-1 win against Toronto through the 3-1 victory over the New England Revolution. Rafael Santos replaced Smith for the next two games, a 3-0 win over Nashville SC and a 1-1 draw with NYCFC, and David Brekalo and Smith stepped in for Schlegel and Santos respectively in the 4-1 win over Montreal in Leagues Cup action.

The consistency in both formation and the personnel being used in it breeds familiarity and comfort on the field, and that chemistry is especially important for a back line. If a defense isn’t holding an even line, stepping up as a unit when playing an offside trap, and covering each other when necessary, things break down quickly. We’ve still seen some goals given up through silly mistakes and mental errors, but far fewer than at the beginning of the year.

The Lions have also done an excellent job at limiting shooting opportunities for the opposition. Across the last six games, Orlando City’s opponents have taken double-digit shots only once: in the victory over Toronto, when the Reds took 15. In the next game, D.C. United took five shots (a slightly skewed number, considering United played 45 minutes with 10 men), while New England, Nashville, and NYCFC each took eight, and Montreal attempted nine.

When other teams have managed to get shots off, Orlando has mostly done well at getting blocks in to make Pedro Gallese’s life easy. In Toronto, the Lions registered six blocks, recorded one against D.C. United, two against New England, three against Nashville, two against NYCFC, and four against Montreal.

On occasions that the opposition does get a clean shooting opportunity, the Lions have largely kept them from coming in dangerous areas. I say all the time that the expected goals statistic isn’t perfect, but it does provide a reasonable idea of how good a team’s scoring opportunities are. OCSC might have surrendered 15 shots against TFC, but the Reds’ xG only amounted to 1.48, in large part due to seven of those shots coming from outside the box. Two of D.C.’s five shots came from outside the box, and United finished with 0.26 xG. Three of the Revs’ eight attempts were outside the box and they tallied 1.03 xG. Half of Nashville’s eight shots were outside the box and it recorded 0.34 xG. Three of NYCFC’s eight attempts came outside the box and the Pigeons finished with 1.3 xG, and four of Montreal’s nine shots were outside the box, although I haven’t been able to find xG data for the Leagues Cup match.

That’s a lot of stats to sort through, but essentially OCSC has done well at limiting shooting opportunities, and has been doing a good job at keeping them to less dangerous areas and blocking shots that do get taken. That tends to be a good recipe for success, and it’s one that’s been working well for the Lions.

Following an uncharacteristically shaky start to the year, the Lions have used consistent faces and consistently strong play to turn in defensive performances that have been much more in line with what we’re used to seeing from this unit. The offensive fireworks have grabbed a lot of the attention, and rightly so, but Orlando’s improved play at the back deserves its plaudits. Long may it continue.