Three Questions on the Eve of Orlando City’s 2025 Preseason Camp

The 2025 Major League Soccer season is fast approaching which still feels like a wild sentence to type as the 2024 Orlando City campaign finished just days before the holiday season swung into full gear. Nevertheless, the 2025 version of Orlando City will report for training camp Monday, and we will soon get a clearer picture of what the Lions will look like. Here are three thoughts on the club heading into training camp and beginning a new season.

Will Gallese Start the Year Strong?

During the 2024 year, goalkeeper Pedro Gallese made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the first few months of the campaign that Orlando City fans had not witnessed much throughout his time in the City Beautiful. Gallese allowed 24 goals over his first 15 regular-season matches, though he was by no means culpable on all of them. Over the final 14 games of the regular season, Gallese only allowed 14 goals and looked far more composed in the net, which reflected a stronger City defense overall. Some of his highlights later in the year include his heroic efforts on Charlotte penalty kicks in the MLS Cup playoffs and one of my favorite moments of the year, when he stuffed Josef Martinez’s attempt from the spot during a 4-1 drubbing of CF Montreal in Leagues Cup play.

The big question surrounding the Peruvian is, can the 35-year-old Gallese start the 2025 season in the same form in which he finished 2024?

It is unlikely the back line will change drastically in front of him and, at least for now, the central midfield looks the same, despite some internet reports of interest in Cesar Araujo from Uruguayan side Nacional. Last year’s start shows that chemistry isn’t always automatic from one season to the next. Orlando starts the 2025 MLS season with a winnable month of matches, as the Lions will face only two 2024 playoff teams in New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls over their first five matches. If Gallese is able to start the year in the form that he ended 2024, the Lions will be in every match, and if the offense does its part, Orlando should be near the top of the table come the end of March.

What Will Orlando City’s Depth Look Like?

Good teams win the games they are supposed to win with a healthy roster, while great teams find ways to not drop points when members of the starting 11 are out with injury or on international duty. Look no further than a few hours south for an example of what depth can provide for a squad that throughout much of the season was predicted to stumble when Lionel Messi left for international duty and then missed extended time with an injury. Instead, Inter Miami kept winning en route to setting the MLS regular-season points record. Orlando City enters 2025 more or less with an established roster. The starting lineup currently has a Facundo Torres-shaped hole in it, and the Uruguayan’s goals will need to be accounted for, but my main concern with the current makeup of the roster is quality depth.

Outside of the back line, which I feel has sufficient depth if everyone is healthy, the wingers and attacking midfield could use more depth. Starters Martin Ojeda and Ivan Angulo return, but who will join them in the starting 11? Nico Lodeiro and Luis Muriel would seem to be the leading candidates given the current roster, while Yutaro Tsukada and Shak Mohammed provide depth but little experience. Without any signings yet this off-season, it’s probably safe to say that group will be addressed during camp.

Up top, Orlando City will be without the services of USMNT striker Duncan McGuire for at least the first third of the season. Ramiro Enrique is the presumptive starter as camp opens, with Jack Lynn and Muriel as potential cover, but this group likely also needs a signing prior to opening day.

The club’s early season record may come down to how well depth and role players can integrate into matches, as bumps, bruises, and international duty can keep starters out at times in the first few months of the MLS season.

Where Will the Goals Come From?

Perhaps the largest question mark as camp opens is who will score goals to start the season. Torres and McGuire combined for 24 goals last season. The Lions have started slowly on offense the last few years, and Orlando players scored only four goals through the first six games last season. Those 24 lost goals feel like an astronomical number to make up, placing signficant pressure on Enrique, Angulo, and Designated Players Ojeda and Muriel to produce.

Some of that lost production must come from Muriel, who scored just five goals and added five assists during the 2025 regular season — much of that in the second half of the year. The reassuring part is that it seemed Muriel finally started to settle into the MLS style of soccer down the stretch of last season. The question remains though if he will be up to the task of carrying more weight in the scoring department.

The two most likely players to show an improvement in the scoring department would be Ojeda and Enrique. Ojeda was a difference maker in the second half of the 2024 season and finally looked like he felt comfortable both on the pitch and in his own boots. Enrique has a knack for scoring and can get into positions between defenders. If both players can increase their goals scored into double digits, Orlando City may be able to compensate for what it lost from the 2024 roster. But, again, there should be new arrivals, and hopefully they will be able to contribute in that area.

Those are what I see as the three largest looming questions as training camp is set to start in just hours. What questions are you most concerned with as the 2025 Lions begin to assemble? Let us know in the comments below and as always, vamos Orlando!