Orlando City
Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. FC Dallas
Find out everything you didn’t know about FC Dallas, courtesy of someone who knows them best.
I hope you all made it safely through Hurricane Helene, and that you remain safe if you’re in an area that is still feeling the effects of the storm. Orlando City will return to action Saturday on the road against FC Dallas, as the Lions enter the home stretch of the regular season with just four more games to play.
A trip to Dallas means I spoke to Drew Epperley, the manager of the excellent independent outlet Big D Soccer. Drew was kind enough to bring us up to speed on how FC Dallas’ season has been, and offered up some great information about this week’s opposition.
Talk me through some of the transfer business from FC Dallas this season. Who are some of the new faces, and how have they performed?
Drew Epperley: FC Dallas didn’t make a ton of moves this year in the transfer market as the club had a fairly set roster going into the season. The big splash, however, was signing Petar Musa from Benfica for a record deal. That move has certainly paid off. Musa is near the top of the league in goals scored this season and has become one of the best players to debut for FC Dallas in the club’s history.
In the U-22 world, FC Dallas went down to South America and signed Patrickson Delgado. Most of us assumed he was going to be a defensive midfielder coming in, but it turns out, he’s more suited as a No. 8 or even a No. 10 at times.
Aside from the transfers, the club also made a splash in the SuperDraft last December by trading up to snag Oregon State forward Logan Farrington. I keep saying that if the league still handed out a Rookie of the Year award, Farrington would be a shoo-in this season. He currently has four goals and eight assists.
Elsewhere, the club has brought in some familiar faces like veteran Omar Gonzalez, former Orlando City fullback Ruan (so far we’re loving him here!), and Angolan midfielder Show.
Peter Luccin is the current interim manager after Nico Estevez was sacked back in June. What sort of setup and style does Luccin prefer to use with FC Dallas?
DE: Luccin hasn’t changed a ton of how the team lines up from what Estevez was running. The club switched to a 3-4-3 formation this season that allows the wingers to shift into a 5-3-2 when the club needs to be more defensive or to move up the field into the attack. The club struggled offensively last year, and this was a move to allow more attacking players to get onto the field.
The downfall was that it didn’t work well under Estevez for a number of reasons, primarily the club’s injury situation kept key players like Alan Velasco, Jesus Ferreira, Geovane Jesus, and Paxton Pomykal away from the field for either the majority of the season (Velasco, Pomykal, and Jesus) or large chunks of games (Ferreira). Secondly, the team never had the right players in the defensive side of the formation to make it work this season.
Luccin did find a way to unlock some passion and energy out of this group, even sticking with this formation. The team still struggles at times defensively but they tend to play more aggressively than they were earlier in the year, which has led to some more entertaining games out of this group.
Dallas is five points off the final play-in place with four games to go. What needs to happen in order for the club to climb above the line and get into the postseason?
DE: Simple, winning. If they don’t find ways to win at least two of their last four games, they can probably kiss the postseason goodbye. Aside from that, the less simple route is seeing either Portland or Minnesota lose their remaining games.
Will any players be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?
DE: The big one this weekend for FC Dallas will be Asier Illarramendi being out due to a yellow card suspension. The veteran is a key player that drastically changes how the club plays in the midfield. On the injury front, the team still isn’t fully immune with Pomykal and Liam Fraser on the season-ending injury list. Geo Jesus is also on that list as well.
As for our starting lineup, it should look similar to last week’s win over LAFC: Maarten Paes, Marco Farfan, Sebastien Ibeagha, Nkosi Tafari; Ruan, Patrickson Delgado, Sebastian Lletget, Paul Arriola; Jesus Ferreira, Alan Velasco, Petar Musa.
Score prediction: FCD 2, OCSC 1.
Thank you to Drew for helping get us up to speed on FC Dallas. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City Experiencing Its Golden Age of Offense
Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire are leading Orlando City to its best offensive seasons.
For most of Orlando City’s MLS history, finding multiple reliable goal scorers has been a struggle. As a result, the team has often been further down the league in goals scored, decreasing its goal difference. However, the duo of Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire has changed that trend and provided the Lions with their best offensive seasons.
Orlando City drafted Cyle Larin with the first pick of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and he quickly became a reliable source of goals. The Canadian international scored a team-record 18 goals across all competitions in his rookie year, and then scored 14 in the following season.
Larin’s production dipped slightly in 2017, scoring 12 goals, and the striker departed following that season. Orlando City has struggled to find someone that can provide the same scoring threat since. Over the next five years, only Nani and Chris Mueller scored double-digit goals in multiple seasons, each doing so twice. Prior to 2023, four other players scored double-digit goals in one season, as Dom Dwyer did it in 2018, Tesho Akindele in 2019, Daryl Dike in 2021, and Ercan Kara in 2022.
The lack of consistent goal production changed in 2022 when the club signed Facundo Torres from Uruguayan side Penarol. The young Designated Player made an immediate impact for his new team, scoring 13 goals in all competitions, including a brace in the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final to lift the Lions to their first major trophy.
Torres and Kara combined for an impressive 25 goals that season. Unfortunately, the pair didn’t have much support and the Lions only scored 44 goals in 2022. However, that changed the following year when Orlando City drafted former Creighton striker and Hermann Trophy winner Duncan McGuire.
Torres increased his goal tally to 14 in his second season in Orlando and McGuire netted a team-high 15 in his rookie campaign. The 29 goals scored by the pair were the most by two Orlando City players in an MLS season, topping the 28 goals scored by Larin and Kaká in 2015.
The goal tally has increased in 2024, with Torres scoring a career-high 18 goals, McGuire adding 11, and Ramiro Enrique chipping in with 11 of his own across all competitions. It’s the first time an Orlando City team — including the USL Pro era — has had three players score double-digit goals in one year. It’s also the first time in club history Orlando has had multiple double-digit goal scorers in three consecutive years.
The production by multiple players has seen a significant increase in goals scored by the Lions over the past two seasons. After netting only 44 league goals in 2022, Orlando City scored 55 times in 2023, tying the team’s MLS record previously set in 2016. The Lions surpassed that number this year by scoring 58 goals with one game remaining in the regular season.
The club’s record-setting scoring output comes at a time when Orlando City is playing some of its best defense in its MLS history. The 2023 squad only conceded 39 goals, the fewest in a 34-game season. While it has conceded nine more this year, it’s the second-fewest goals conceded in a season, tying the 2021 team.
The past two seasons have seen Orlando City set new club records in the MLS era for highest goal difference in a 34-game season. The only two years in which the Lions had a positive goal difference prior to 2023 was in a shortened 2020 season, when they were +15 and in 2021 when they were +2. They set a new record in 2023 by finishing +16 and are +10 this year.
The increase in goals and goal difference has resulted in better performances throughout the season. The team set a new club record with 63 points last season, placing second in the Supporters’ Shield standings. Orlando has amassed 52 points so far this season, the club’s second-highest point total since joining MLS.
While the play of the back line has contributed to the team’s recent success, goal production has been the catalyst. For the first time in its history, Orlando City has two reliable goal scorers who have produced in back-to-back seasons. The result is the best back-to-back seasons in the club’s MLS history.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 10/14/24
Getting to know Martin Ojeda, Orlando Pride unbeaten run ends, USMNT beats Panama, and more.
Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you over the holiday weekend. I’ve been busy working at Under Armour and finishing up stream monitoring for an NISA Playoff semifinal match in California. Let’s also wish a happy birthday to Orlando City B forward Wilfredo Rivera. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.
Getting to Know Martin Ojeda
Orlando City midfielder Martin Ojeda was featured as part of the club’s video series to learn more about the players. In the video, Ojeda gave insight into his beginnings playing soccer when he was three years old and playing for his neighborhood club in South America. He also discussed his style of play, focusing on the attack, creating opportunities, and stating that there is always room to improve. You can check out the rest of the video below.
Pride Unbeaten Run Ends in Loss to Thorns
The Orlando Pride suffered their first loss of the NWSL season on Friday, falling 2-0 to the Portland Thorns. Morgan Weaver and Christine Sinclair scored for the Thorns to seal the win and end Orlando’s 24-match unbeaten streak dating back to Oct. 6 of last season. Despite the loss, the Pride remain in first place in the NWSL table with 57 points after winning the NWSL Shield a week ago. The next match for the Pride will be on Sunday on the road against NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Keys to Success in Orlando Pride Turnaround
The Athletic ($) took a deep dive into the process that led to the Orlando Pride turnaround this season. The article begins with the Pride joining the NWSL in 2016, their up-and-down seasons, and how recent changes in the last couple of years have set the foundation for the club’s success in 2024. It also shared some unique insights from interviews with staff and players and how the club was eager to make changes after finishing in the bottom half of the table for the last five seasons. The most interesting takeaway for me from reading the article was Head Coach Seb Hines speaking on the process of changing the culture of the club, building that underdog mindset, and how he keeps his players motivated. Although the 24-match unbeaten streak is over, the Pride are breaking records this season and won their first trophy. There’s been plenty to be excited about for the Pride this season, and hopefully they will carry this momentum into the playoffs and make a deep run.
USMNT Defeats Panama in Mauricio Pochettino’s Coaching Debut
The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Panama 2-0 on Saturday at Q2 Stadium, securing the first win in Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s debut in a friendly. Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi scored the USMNT’s goals in the second half to secure the victory. Matt Turner started in goal, and Christian Pulisic added an assist to set up Musah’s goal. The USMNT will face Mexico in Guadalajara on Tuesday. Pulisic, Pepi, and Weston McKennie will miss the match to return to their respective European clubs. Marlon Fossey and Zack Steffen will also return to their clubs.
Free Kicks
- Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese earned a clean sheet on international duty as his Peru side defeated Uruguay 1-0 in a CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying match on Friday. Wilder Cartagena and Facundo Torres did not play in the match.
- Orlando Pride midfielder Angelina and forward Adriana were called up to the Brazil Women’s National Team for friendlies against Colombia on Oct. 26 and Oct. 29.
- Sports Illustrated listed five MLS players that could move abroad this off-season, mentioning Orlando City’s Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire as potential targets.
- Angel City FC forward Christen Press scored her first goal in 28 months over the weekend in a 1-1 draw against the North Carolina Courage. Press had been sidelined due to an ACL injury requiring four surgeries before returning to action.
- Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga broke an NWSL record after scoring her 19th goal of the season in a 1-0 win over Bay FC over the weekend.
- The European Leagues, FIFPRO Players Union, and La Liga plan to file an antitrust suit against FIFA over its international match calendar.
- Wesley Fofana defended Kylian Mbappe after reports surfaced that Mbappe was at a nightclub in Sweden on the day France defeated Israel 4-1 in UEFA Nations League action.
That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday and I’ll see you next time.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 10/11/24
Orlando Pride in Portland, U.S. men and women news, international upsets, and more.
Milton has finally made its way out of Florida, though many of us will be dealing with the aftermath for a while. We hope that you and yours are safe and that the damage is minimal. I know that many are still without power — which is why I’m writing Lion Links today instead of Marcus Mitchell. Fortunately, the Orlando Pride play in Portland tonight, although it will be a late one. Let’s get to the links.
Pride in Portland
The Orlando Pride may be the NWSL Shield winners, but with three matches left in the regular season, the job is not done. Now, the club will take on the Portland Thorns. The Thorns haven’t been great as of late, but Providence Park is a tough place to play. While the club is focused on the upcoming playoffs, the Pride still want to finish undefeated in the regular season. Portland, like many clubs, are fighting for a playoff spot.
USWNT Players in the News
Lindsey Horan didn’t have the best Olympics in my opinion, but she is doing very well in her start to Lyon’s season. She’s scored five goals in four matches to help Lyon top the table. Back home, Crystal Dunn is being honored by Empowerment on the East River hosted by Black Players for Change.
USMNT in Action
The USMNT plays its first match under Mauricio Pochettino Saturday night against Panama, and you can watch it on multiple platforms. There are no conflicts of interest this go-around, but next year, some players will need to choose between playing in the Club World Cup or the Gold Cup.
International Results
Orlando City, and all the other teams and leagues, aren’t playing right now due to an international break. The matches have already begun. Perhaps the biggest news was Greece’s stunning 2-1 win over England. The victory puts Greece atop Group B2 in the UEFA Nations League competition.
Over in Group A2, Italy blew a two-goal lead to draw Belgium 2-2. There were plenty of other results, including Erling Haaland becoming his country’s all-time top scorer after scoring a brace in Norway’s 3-0 win over Slovenia. If you want to catch more matches, here’s where you can watch.
Free Kicks
- Keeper kits are usually interesting, given how different they are from the normal kits. Here are some of the best (and worst).
- Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui will be out for a while following a heart procedure. We wish him a speedy and full recovery.
- Spain forward Álvaro Morata revealed that he almost quit his national team due to suffering from depression and panic attacks. Mental health is important for everyone.
- Brazil’s Ronaldinho has joined the ownership group for USL League One club Greenville Triumph SC and USL W League club Greenville Liberty SC.
- Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney aren’t just investing in the club. Their impact is being felt throughout the Wrexham community.
That will do it for today. Check back tonight for our Pride match recap, and follow The Mane Land on Twitter during the match. Vamos Orlando!
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