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Ramiro Enrique or Duncan McGuire: A Look at Who Should Start Saturday

An evaluation of which striker should get the nod in the starting lineup for Orlando City’s match at Sporting Kansas City.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

No, it is not you, it really has been a month since Orlando City last played an MLS match. Yes, there were three Leagues Cup matches since then, and yes I did watch and cheer for Orlando City in all of them, but in the back, middle, and front of my mind I was thinking about the rest of the MLS season the entire time.

The Lions are finally back to serious MLS business though, and with nine games remaining, it is time for them to get hot and stay hot, and that means that the offense needs to return to the level where it was during July’s MLS matches.

Orlando City played five matches in July and scored a fan-pleasing 14 goals, winning four matches and drawing one. Critics might say the team played a relatively weak set of opponents during July, but I have no time for those critics and they can go take a hike somewhere far, far away. I recommend Mount Purgatory — my friend Dante has said it is beautiful this time of year.

As the famous phrase goes, you can only play the teams on your schedule, and Orlando City’s final nine games include six teams that have earned fewer points per game than the Lions and three that have earned higher points per game. If MLS was a singular table, like most soccer leagues in the world, Orlando City would be ranked 15th and would have remaining games against the teams ranked (in calendar order): 27th, 23rd, 26th, 13th, fifth, 18th, 21st, third, and 20th. This is about as soft as a run-in as the Lions could hope for, and if they can play up to the ability level we started to see at the end of June and throughout July, they have a good chance to, in the spirit of the recently completed Olympic Games, vault up a few spots in the Eastern Conference standings.

The team is finally healthy and without the interruption of any international tournaments, and Óscar Pareja now will need to make one of the hardest decisions he has had to make as Orlando City’s head coach: who to start at striker when the Lions play at Sporting Kansas City Saturday night. I believe he also has two other tough decisions to make: choosing a left back starter between Luca Petrasso, Kyle Smith, and Rafael Santos, and choosing a center back starter between David Brekalo and Rodrigo Schlegel. But with respect to all of those players, I think the decision between Enrique and McGuire will play a bigger role in whether Orlando City has a successful final stretch of the season.

Pareja, of course, does not have to choose one starter for all nine games, but he has said many times before that he likes to stick with a lineup that is producing results, which would seem to favor Enrique at the moment, since he scored in six of his last seven matches and Orlando City did not lose any of those games. Since the Lions last played though, McGuire has signed a new contract with the team, and as he was with the U.S. Olympic Team, Duncan left in early July and only returned the day before the second Leagues Cup match, so he is only just now re-acclimated to playing with his teammates.

Prior to departing for the Olympic Team, Duncan had started 17 of the 19 MLS matches, and he currently sits second on Orlando City in MLS goals, with seven. Ramiro has been scorching hot recently, but in the last match against Cruz Azul he failed to score and Orlando City did not advance in Leagues Cup, so now there needs to be a decision and not just a lather, rinse, repeat of the same attacking group that had started most of the recent matches.

We do not see the practices and what goes on day to day in the training facility, but we can compare the season-long results for Enrique and McGuire while playing as a striker and see what the numbers indicate:

On raw numbers alone, McGuire has more goals and goal contributions, but on a per-90-minute basis, the numbers favor Enrique. Duncan played most of his minutes in MLS play, whereas Ramiro is pretty evenly split among MLS and the two cup competitions. But on the whole, both players had similar stats in MLS as they did in the cup competitions.

Enrique played the majority of his cup minutes in Leagues Cup and McGuire in Concacaf Champions Cup, and both played easier competition early in their respective cup games and then went out against strong sides from Mexico in the end. Ramiro’s performance definitely has been better more recently, but Duncan has been good this season and as I wrote a few weeks ago, he was elite last season, so the long-term track record of success lies in his favor.

Decisions, decisions. Maybe we should look at how McGuire and Enrique have played in concert with the other five attacking players who are locked into their starting roles to see how they do when playing with Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena, Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Facundo Torres:

In looking at these lineups a few things stood out to me:

  • The two attacking lineups listed above actually rank first and second for most minutes played together among all attacking lineups, but the combined minutes total (585) only makes up approximately 20% of all minutes played across all competitions. It is surprising how few minutes most of the attacking groups have together on the field this season.
  • The top collective group, with McGuire, leads the team in goals, while the bottom collective group, with Enrique, is tied for third.
  • I know that the first thought that came to your mind when reading the prior item was “Well, Andrew, who is second?” Angulo – Araujo – Lodeiro – McGuire – Muriel – Ojeda – Torres, which was used for 177 minutes when Orlando City was using Cartagena as a center back, along with two traditional center backs, and had Angulo and Torres were deployed as wingbacks. That group has scored five goals, given up two, and has a goals scored per 90 minutes of 2.54.

While not all of the goals scored in that table were specifically scored by McGuire or Enrique, the target for Orlando City is goals, and the grouping with Duncan is scoring 1.96 goals per 90 minutes, a 44% increase over the grouping with Ramiro at 1.36 goals per 90 minutes. Soccer lineups are not like baseball, where it is perfectly clear on who is playing what position and when, but I am confident in the accuracy of my tracking. Assuming (yes, I know what assuming does), that the midfield will be Araujo and Cartagena as the holding midfielders and Angulo, Ojeda, and Torres in front of them, the data would point to Duncan being the choice to start as the striker when the season resumes on Saturday.

My wife, when I asked her what she thought, asked if there was a way for both Duncan and Ramiro to play together. “Por qué no los dos?”, as is often asked by our The Mane Land PawedCast hosts Michael Citro and David Rohe.

Orlando City has used attacking lineups with both McGuire and Enrique on the field at the same time for 143 minutes thus far this season, but all of those minutes happened in February or March, and they all were with Ramiro playing out on the wing with Duncan up top. Orlando City could go back to this lineup, but it likely would be at the expense of Angulo or it would be with two strikers, a formation that the Lions have rarely used outside of when there were injury issues in the past.

Using two strikers could remove the question about who plays left back, because they could go with three in the back, but I think that is a radical option and it is more likely that they use Duncan and Ramiro to combine for 90 minutes and the player who is performing better will get the lion’s share (see what I did there?) of the minutes.

I am on the edge of my seat interested to see who Pareja chooses for the next match. Does he ride the still-hot hand of Enrique and his six goals in seven matches and better per-90-minute stats, or does he go with the player who had started most of the matches this season before he stepped away to play for the U.S. Olympic Team? As a coach, you want these types of high-pressure decisions, as that means you have two competitive players who each have a case to start and the incentive to exceed expectations in order to play big minutes.

I would start Enrique on Saturday if it was me, but nobody is asking me. Literally, nobody. I asked my wife who she would start, she answered, and then moved on to another topic. I said don’t you want to know who I would start?

No.

Welp, that went well.

I predict Pareja will start Enrique on Saturday, but he will get about 60-70 minutes at most and then McGuire will come on, and then based on who performs better, it will go back and forth like this for the rest of the season.

Who would you start if it was up to you? Cast your vote in the poll below. I want to know, even if, like some, you are not that interested in who I think will start.

Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/1/25

Barbra Banda’s continued importance, Americans in midweek action, USWNT announces friendly, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Good morning everyone! It was a great weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams as Orlando City and the Orlando Pride both won, meaning that we got treated to a six-point weekend (OCB was off). As always we have plenty to talk through this morning, so let’s get into today’s links.

Barbra Banda Keeps Rolling in 2025

After a wildly successful debut season with the Orlando Pride in 2024, Barbra Banda has showed no signs of slowing down this year. A brace in the season opener meant that she picked up right where she left off last year, and the team has continued to be successful too. The Pride have made it three wins from three to start the 2025 season, and while Banda hasn’t scored since the opener, her blend of pace, power, dribbling, passing, and movement have continuously helped open things up for her teammates, and she drew a penalty that led to the Pride’s game-winning goal Saturday. She isn’t the Pride’s only offensive weapon, but the team clicks into a different gear when she’s at her best.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans who will be playing in games during the working week, and there are some very important clashes on hand. Things get going later today when Antonee Robinson and Fulham visit Arsenal in Premier League play as the Cottagers are in hot pursuit of a coveted European place. Wednesday has Chris Richards, Matt Turner and Crystal Palace facing Southampton, while Tyler Adams and Bournemouth take on Manchester City. Also on Wednesday, Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, and AC Milan will face Inter Milan in a Coppa Italia semifinal. Things finish up on Friday as Aidan Morris and Middlesborough travel to Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Championship.

USWNT Announces Canada Match

The United States Women’s National Team has announced another friendly taking place this summer, as the team will face Canada on July 2 in Washington, D.C. The match will be the third that the USWNT will play during the window, following a pair of friendlies against Ireland in late June. The neighboring countries will meet at Audi Field with the match designated as the Allstate Continental Clasico, with this being the first time that the match will feature the USWNT. The U.S. faced Canada twice in 2024, with both matches ending in 2-2 draws and the USWNT emerging victorious in shootouts.

Concacaf Champions Cup Preview

The Concacaf Champions Cup returns this week, with the first legs of the four quarterfinal matches set to be played today and tomorrow. Things get started tonight with what should be an exciting match between Club America and Cruz Azul, with the crosstown rivals two of the winningest teams in the competition. Cruz Azul’s Angel Sepulveda leads the CCC’s golden boot race with four tallies. The late game sees the LA Galaxy taking on Tigres as the Galaxy will try to distract themselves from a difficult start to their MLS Cup title defense. Wednesday’s slate has the Vancouver Whitecaps taking on Pumas UNAM in Canada in what will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams. The late game will be an all-MLS affair as LAFC hosts Inter Miami in the first meeting between the two sides in CCC play.

Sporting Kansas City Fires Peter Vermes

The longest-tenured coach in Major League Soccer is out of work, as Sporting Kansas City announced the firing of Peter Vermes on Monday morning. It’s an end of an era in Kansas City, as Vermes was the head coach since 2009, back when the team was still called the Kansas City Wizards, and he had been named the club’s technical director three years earlier in 2006. He guided the team to an MLS Cup win in 2013; claimed U.S. Open Cup titles in 2012, 2015, and 2017; and helped the team be consistently competitive for a majority of his tenure. Despite all of that, SKC missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons and was mired in the midst of a 13-game winless streak in all competitions that stretched back to Sept. 18 of last year. After being an assistant on Vermes’ staff, Kerry Zavagnin will take over as interim head coach.

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That’s all I have for this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. LA Galaxy: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 2-1 victory over the LA Galaxy?

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City capped off its March slate of matches with a cross-country bout against the 2024 MLS Cup champions, the LA Galaxy. In what was the longest commute that the Lions will register in the 2025 season, Orlando looked out of sync for much of the match, especially when contrasted with the squad that stomped D.C. United at home last week. Miraculously for the fans that stayed up past their bedtimes back on the East Coast, the Lions shocked the reigning champions and stole all three points with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the final quarter hour of the match.

Let’s look at the Lions’ individual performances to see who made the grade and who can improve as the calendar turns to April.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 — Gallese returned for Orlando after missing time while representing Peru during World Cup qualifiers. For the most part, he did well against the pressure of an agressive attack from the Galaxy. In the end, he was credited with just one save, which was a massive righthanded block of a shot by Gabriel Pec that could have put the game away for the home side. It isn’t worth entertaining a discussion about Gallese “letting another one in,” as the goal that the Galaxy scored was off a point-blank redirection back against his momentum, and it should have at the bare minimum warranted a second look for a potential offside ruling. His distribution was mostly solid, and he had an 81.8% passing rate on his 11 attempts while completing three of his five long balls. He was booked in the waining moments of the match for time wasting — although it was Rodrigo Schlegel who kicked the ball away without being spotted, and Gallese was merely retrieving it.

D, Rafael Santos, 5.5 — Santos had a few bright moments throughout the match, with an emphasis on the word few. I did think that he was better at getting into the attack and sent several balls across the net that had the potential to be dangerous. On the defensive end, there were just too many mistakes for my liking, whether that be careless turnovers, poor positioning, or falling asleep on the back side of the play. He and Ivan Angulo were both at fault on LA’s goal, as neither picked up Miki Yamane’s run. Santos was also overpowered twice by Pec. The Brazilian touched the ball 48 times, provided two key passes, one successful cross (on five attempts), and a passing rate of 76.9%. Defensively, he provided two tackles and three clearances. Offensively, Santos recorded a shot that was not on target. The left back currently benefits from a lack of depth pushing him for his starting minutes but will need to improve if Orlando is to continue its winning ways. He was replaced by David Brekalo in the 66th minute.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 7 — Schlegel had a productive and technically sound evening for the Lions. Defensively, he contributed one interception, a team-high seven clearances, and two blocked shots. He passed at a 93.6% rate, while touching the ball a team-high 88 times, and completed five long balls (on eight attempts). He didn’t register an offensive statistic during the match, but he played well and I thought that he had solid positioning throughout the night when the Galaxy sent balls into the box.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Something just seems off right now with Jansson, as the output from the captain simply feels less than what we have come to expect. Nonetheless, Jansson went the full 90 and recorded 65 touches. He completed 94.8% of his passes which included a team-best seven accurate long balls on nine attempts. Defensively, he contributed one tackle, one interception, and three clearances. Christian Ramirez beat Jansson on the lone goal for the Galaxy.

D, Alex Freeman, 6.5 — Freeman continues to put in the work for Orlando City. While his first West Coast trip was not fruitful in terms of goal-scoring contributions, the young Lion still managed to affect the game in a myriad of ways. He recorded 69 touches and completed 93.3% of his passes, which included two key passes and one accurate cross. Defensively, he added a team-high four tackles and two clearances. Offensively, Freeman tied Martin Ojeda for the most shots taken on the night (three) but was only able to put one on target. Freeman continues to showcase a solid motor that is helping to drive the offense, and he has shown strong chemistry with Marco Pasalic as well, but the most impressive aspect of his game against the Galaxy for me was the job he did in space defensively against Joseph Paintsil when the speedster entered the match in the second half.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — This felt like a classic Araujo performance and the Uruguayan was seemingly everywhere on the pitch. He logged 63 touches and completed 90% of his passes but was only successful on one of his five long-ball attempts. Defensively, he contirbuted two tackles, one interception, and two clearances. Offensively, Araujo did not record a stat but did suffer a team-high three fouls. Araujo was able to defend without being booked against the Galaxy, and he has shown signficant improvement this season so far in not picking up careless yellow cards.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 7.5 (MotM) — The former member of LAFC became the catalyst for the late offensive turnaround against what used to be his crosstown rival by earning a penalty in the 77th minute. He recorded 75 touches and completed 89.8% of his passes, which inlcuded two key passes, four accurate long balls on five attempts, and two succesful crosses on two attempts. Offensively, he attempted two shots, one which nearly put Orlando City in the lead when it hit the right post. Defensively, he contributed one tackle and two clearances. Atuesta benefitted from the insertion of Brekalo and Duncan McGuire, pushing forward into the attack, and without his effort, Orlando City likely would not have earned all three points. He was replaced by Joran Gerbet in stoppage time as part of a time-wasting, like-for-like substitution to see out the match.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 5.5 — To put it bluntly, Angulo is not in great form right now. The speedy Colombian is failing to challenge opposing back lines in the attack and has become a liability on the defensive side of the ball. The pairing of Angulo with Santos on the left has become a favorite area for the opposition to attack, and he was partly culpable in letting Yamane sneak in toward the back post on LA’s goal. He recorded 37 touches and completed 90.5% of his passes, which included one key pass. Defensively, he chipped in one tackle and one interception. Offensively, Angulo was dispossessed a team-high four times, as the careless giveaways — often in Orlando’s defensive half — continue to pile up. Orlando clearly needs more from the left wing, who was replaced in the 66th minute by McGuire, with Oscar Pareja pushing Ojeda to the left and playing Luis Muriel as the No. 10.

MF, Martin Ojeda, 7 — Ojeda did not allow another Lion to even remotely consider taking the penalty as he quickly stood over the spot, ball in hand, and then calmly converted the PK to pull Orlando level. Ojeda has now tied his goals total (four) from the 2024 season in only the sixth game of the year. Ojeda touched the ball 56 times and passed at a 90.5% rate while providing one key pass and four accurate long balls out of five attempts. Ojeda could have stood to improve his crossing, as he was only accurate on one of his five attempts. Offensively, Ojeda took three shots (tied with Freeman for the most on the team) but put just one on target (the penalty that he converted). He badly scuffed his first shot and his second was just off target in the first half. Defensively, he didn’t contribute a meaningful statistic, which was surprising, and it kept him just a rung below Atuesta when it came to Man of the Match honors.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 6.5 — Pasalic showcased several individual moments of brillance in the first half when the game was moving quickly end to end. Unfortunately for the Croatian winger, those moments failed to result in a change to the scoreboard. He touched the ball 39 times and completed 81.5% of his passes, including all four of his long balls. Defensively, like Ojeda, Pasalic did not record a meaningful statistic. Despite not scoring against the Galaxy, Pasalic continues to flash his skill with the ball and has been one of the main driving forces behind the strong offensive start to the season. He was replaced by Dagur Dan Thorhallsson in the 82nd minute.

F, Luis Muriel, 7 — Did Muriel score or did John McCarthy botch the play? Both, but who cares? Muriel’s long-distance free kick in the 90th minute found the back of the net, and the placement of the shot contributed to McCarthy’s mistake, as the Colombian sealed the victory and three important road points for Orlando City. A play reminisent of when fellow Designated Player Ojeda hit the equalizer from practically midfield against Charlotte FC back in 2023, Muriel stepped up to a free kick well outside the box and sent a shot towards the top left corner of the net. The goal capped a well-rounded performance for Muriel, who continues to play his best soccer in an Orlando City kit. Muriel finished with 37 touches and completed 88% of his passes, including a key pass. Offensively, he registered two shots with the one that mattered being on target. His other shot was a laser through traffic that barely missed just outside the left post on a set piece. Defensively, the striker contributed a tackle. Kyle Smith replaced him in the third minute of stoppage time.

Substitutes

D, David Brekalo (66’), 7 — I thought Brekalo put in some of his best minutes of the year as he entered in the 66th minute for Santos. It was an unexpected substitution, as Brekalo is a central defender. Regardless, the Slovenian played strong and sound defense, snuffing out multiple attacking runs by Pec. He racked up three tackles and three clearances on defense and put in several eye-opening efforts in the attack as well, as Orlando looked to get back into the match. He completed 90.9% of his passes, and while he did not record a shot, he was quite active around the box and made multiple runs off of his attacking counterparts. Brekalo at left back might be something to keep an eye on, as Pareja has been looking for someone to play consistently well there early in the season. Time will tell.

F, Duncan McGuire (66’), 6.5 — McGuire secured his longest stint since his off-season shoulder surgery and looked agressive over the final moments of the match. He opens up the field in a way Muriel is physically not able to at this point in his career, as the American got in behind the back line multiple times and pulled it out of shape for his teammates to exploit. He recorded three shots, which were all off target, but it is only a matter of time before the forward finds the back of the net. He completed 80% of his five passes and was credited with a key pass.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (82′), N/A — Thorhallsson came on in relief of Pasalic and did well over the final moments of the match. The insertion of Brekalo, McGuire, and then Thorhallsson allowed Orlando to be the more dangerous side over the last 20 plus minutes of game time. He completed 83.3% of his passes and was credited with two key passes. Defensively, the product of Iceland added two clearances, and he did well to track back and help Freeman keep Paintsil bottled up.

D, Kyle Smith (93′), N/A — Smith came in following the long-distance goal by Muriel to help see out the victory.

MF, Joran Gerbet (93′), N/A — Like Smith, Gerbet was inserted to help see out the road win in stoppage time but also came into the match for Atuesta who was on a yellow card.


That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s come-from-behind win over the Galaxy. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Lion Links: 3/31/25

Lions and Pride win, NWSL weekend recap, FA Cup quarterfinals, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been very busy at work but will attend the Chicago Cubs’ home opener at Wrigley Field later this week. Our Lions and Pride won while OCB was off this weekend. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Beats LA Galaxy on the Road

On Saturday, Orlando City fought back from a 1-0 deficit, scoring two goals in the second half to defeat the LA Galaxy 2-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Galaxy struck early in the first half to jump on top. In the second half, the Lions were awarded a penalty kick after Eduard Atuesta was taken down in the box, and Martin Ojeda buried the spot kick to tie the match at one. In the 90th minute, Luis Muriel scored the winning goal on a long-range free kick to complete the comeback. Orlando is on a three-match unbeaten streak and beat the LA Galaxy for the third consecutive time. Orlando City’s next match will be on the road Saturday against the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park.

Orlando Pride Defeat San Diego Wave at Home

The Orlando Pride defeated the San Diego Wave 2-1 Saturday afternoon at Inter&Co Stadium and extended their win streak to three matches to start the season. After a scoreless first half, Haley McCutcheon scored to give Orlando the lead. The Wave equalized before Marta converted a penalty kick goal to seal the win for Orlando. The Pride are off to a great start this season, outscoring their opponents 10-1, and are atop the NWSL standings ahead of the Kansas City Current on goal difference. The Pride are off this weekend due to the international break but will be on the road in their next match against the Seattle Reign on April 12.

NWSL Weekend Recap

The National Women’s Soccer League’s third week of matches is in the books. On Friday, the Houston Dash and NJ/NY Gotham FC match ended in a scoreless draw. The Washington Spirit defeated Bay FC 2-0, with Ashley Hatch scoring both goals. On Saturday, the Kansas City Current defeated the Utah Royals 3-0, while the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage match ended in a scoreless draw. On Sunday, the Chicago Stars fell 1-0 to Racing Louisville and remain winless, while Angel City FC edged the Seattle Reign 2-1 to secure its first win of the season.

FA Cup Quarterfinals Recap

The FA Cup quarterfinals wrapped up with thrilling drama as four clubs booked a spot in the semifinals. Crystal Palace cruised to a 3-0 victory against Fulham, while Nottingham Forest edged Brighton 4-3 on penalties after a scoreless draw to advance. Aston Villa dominated Preston North End as Marcus Rashford scored twice to seal a 3-0 win, while Manchester City edged Bournemouth 2-1. The FA Cup semifinals are set for April 26 as Crystal Palace faces Aston Villa while Nottingham Forest will take on Manchester City.

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  • Orlando City GM Luiz Muzzi provided some insight in an ESPN.com article on player transfers and highlighted the importance of building connections with different clubs to facilitate transfers.
  • Former Lion Benji Michel is going to play for HJK Helsinki.

  • That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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