Orlando City
2024 Orlando City Season in Review: Alex Freeman
We start our Orlando City player reviews with a Homegrown fullback who primarily played with OCB but saw some time with the senior team.
Orlando City signed fullback Alex Freeman to a Homegrown Player contract on Feb. 15, 2022. He became the Lions’ 12th Homegrown signing and his deal runs through the 2025 season with a club option for 2026. Freeman made one appearance with Orlando City in 2023 and increased that to three during the 2024 season, but just as he did in 2023, he primarily played with OCB in MLS NEXT Pro this year.
Let’s take a look back at Freeman’s 2024 season.
Statistical Breakdown
Freeman stepped onto the field in both MLS regular-season play and the Leagues Cup, but did not see any action during Concacaf Champions Cup.
He played in two MLS matches without a start totaling nine minutes. He did not score a goal but completed all 10 of his pass attempts (100%), with two of those being key passes and one turning into an assist. He attempted one shot, which was on target. Defensively, he won three of his four aerial duels (75%) but recorded no other defensive stats. He did not commit or draw a foul and he wasn’t booked.
Freeman made one Leagues Cup appearance off the bench, playing six minutes against CF Montréal.In his one Leagues Cup appearance, the Homegrown Player only had four touches, but he completed the one pass he attempted and he also committed one foul but he was not booked for it. That was it as far as statistical data.
Best Game
The young fullback’s best game with Orlando City was his eight-minute appearance against D.C. United, a game the Lions won 5-0 at home on July 6. Freeman came on for Kyle Smith with the Lions leading 4-0 and playing up a man, and within seconds of stepping onto the field, he received a pass at right back and started pushing an attack up the right side. Freeman partnered with Facundo Torres and Nico Lodeiro on a series of passes to try to create a shot opportunity, but they were unsuccessful and the ball eventually went to the other side of the field, where the Lions earned a corner. Lodeiro took the ensuing corner and Freeman was first to the ball at the near post, flicking it across to Ramiro Enrique who guided it home, earning Freeman an assist within three minutes of entering the game.
Freeman also won two headers on long punts from the D.C. goalkeeper, redirecting both to a teammate, and he made several darting runs up the right side in the dying minutes of the game, though his teammates never played him the ball.
2024 Final Grade
With only 15 minutes on the field across all competitions in 2024, Freeman did not play enough minutes to get a grade for the 2024 season, receiving an incomplete from The Mane Land staff.
2025 Outlook
Freeman was outstanding for OCB at right back this season, finishing in the top 10 in MLS NEXT Pro in goal contributions (17), leading the Young Lions in assists (9) and finishing second in goals (8). He also improved his defensive play throughout the season. Orlando City has Dagur Dan Thórhallsson under contract through 2026 and Michael Halliday through 2025, but Luca Petrasso, Rafael Santos and Kyle Smith all have contracts that expire at the end of 2024, so we will likely see pretty quickly how much the club believes in Freeman based on how many of those three with expiring contracts are brought back for 2025. I am on record as saying Freeman is ready to compete for MLS minutes, and I expect that he will do so in 2025.
Whether he stays at right back, moves to left back or uses Kyle Smith as a model and learns all three defensive positions, I expect that we will see Freeman in the game day lineup frequently next season. He will likely come off the bench more often than he starts, but I think that he will make a significant leap next season and he will make it a difficult decision for Coach Óscar Pareja on who should be starting on defense.
Previous Season in Review Articles (Date Posted)
This is the first of our 2024 Orlando City Season in Review articles. Every player who played minutes this past season and who finished the year on the club roster will be reviewed (exceptions may be made for players let go when the club officially announces its roster moves). Players who logged more than 450 minutes (combined regular season plus playoffs, Concacaf Champions Cup, and and Leagues Cup) will receive a composite score between 1 and 10 as determined by a panel of The Mane Land writers, while those who did not reach that threshold will receive an incomplete grade.