The Orlando City Off-Season Blues

It’s been a rough off-season for Orlando City and the people who support the club. We saw the departures of Pedro Gallese, Cesar Araujo, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith, and Alex Freeman on defense. We’ve watched other clubs add players while waiting for any news of our own. I’m certain you also saw the news about Robin Jansson. I know things seem bleak, but it is always darkest before the dawn. Is there hope the club can turn things around by opening? Let’s take a look.

Remember when losing out on Carlos Coronel seemed to be quite the frustrating development? That was just the start of a series of unfortunate events. Ricardo Moreira pivoted, bringing in Maxime Crepeau. He is an experienced MLS keeper and isn’t a reason for concern given everything else we’ll address. I did a deeper dive on Crepeau last week. He did get injured during training, though it was just a ball to the head and reportedly not serious.

Orlando City needed to address the defense as Sean Rollins wrote earlier this week. In just three days, things have gotten worse. The club was ready to sign center back Dusan Stojinovic from Jagiellonia Bialystok to start alongside Jansson or at least compete for the position with David Brekalo. That deal fell through on Tuesday as we reported in Lion Links. Less than 24 hours later, we learned that Jansson needed another foot surgery and will be out until later this spring.

Do you feel comfortable starting the season with Brekalo and Wilder Cartagena as the center back pairing? That’s where we’re at as of now with those two at center back, Zakaria Taifi at right back, and Adrian Marin at left back. And behind those four…who knows? Moreira’s job is now immensely more difficult.

So, now what? The rumors of Orlando City bringing in Iago continue, and I’m inclined to believe them. Of course, I was also certain Coronel would be the new keeper. The club signed MLS SuperDraft pick Nolan Miller, who plays center back. Even assuming Iago is signed, that is still a very shallow pool at the position. I haven’t mentioned the depth at fullback, which is also not good. I hope Moreira is ready to spend some of that Freeman money to shore up the defense.

There is also a giant, gaping hole where a third Designated Player should be. To be clear, that spot should be filled with an attacking player. Preferably a really good striker since Orlando City only has Duncan McGuire currently. Of course, Moreira did say that the club wants to find the right player and that might not happen until the summer.

To recap the situation, Orlando City might start the season with only two DPs, an injured captain, a severely thin back line, and a brand new keeper. This is not a recipe for early season success that allows a club to add players over the summer to make a run to the final. This is a recipe for a difficult and frustrating start of the season.

The question is what will the club do about it? Hopefully, Moreira is looking at a minimum of four additional defenders, plus at least one attacking piece. That is a lot to do before the season begins. Even if he manages to bring in half those potential players, they will have missed the preseason practices. Coming in late makes it difficult to bond with new teammates. A full preseason makes a world of difference. Joining the club midseason can lead to struggles for a new player, as we saw with Marin last year.

My worry is that the club doesn’t bring in the additional players, Oscar Pareja rides the players he has until Jansson returns and the summer transfer window opens up, and utilizes the youngsters to fill in where needed. If he does, those players won’t have the legs come the end of the season, and the results are likely to be mixed at best. Ideally, the club does what it usually does and signs a bunch of players late to provide the needed depth.

I’m not saying it’s time to panic, but I won’t tell anyone not to be concerned. Usually when the club waits until the last minute on key signings there are only one or two positions of need. This year there are many, many more. It’s been a bit of bad luck for Moreira this off-season, but if he is able to turn it around, he will show exactly how good he really is. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.