Orlando City vs. Colorado Rapids, Preseason Friendly: Five Takeaways

The final test of the preseason came with a failing grade for Orlando City. Although both Marco Pasalic and Eduard Atuesta said after the game that it was perhaps a good thing for the Lions to suffer defeat to stay grounded after getting some positive results throughout the preseason, the team’s 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium wasn’t a lot of fun for Orlando City’s season ticket members to watch, considering the 2026 regular season starts in six days.

Here are some of the takeaways I had from the match.

Orlando Has Little to No Experienced Depth

One look at the bench from Orlando City’s match lineup Saturday was concerning. Of the 10 players on the bench for Saturday’s friendly against Colorado, nine of them — everyone not named Duncan McGuire — had made a combined 17 appearances for just 289 total minutes in MLS play. If you remove Javier Otero from that total, the entire bench had made just 14 MLS appearances for just 48 total minutes. Four of the bench players (Dylan Judelson, Pedro Leao, Nolan Miller, and Tahir Reid-Brown) have combined for zero MLS appearances, while Justin Ellis has just a two-minute runout in one match to his name.

Aside from captain Robin Jansson, the team was missing Designated Player Martin Ojeda, second-year central midfielder Joran Gerbet (knee), rookie Harvey Sarajian (back tightness), right back Zakaria Taifi (tight hamstring), and new MLS U22 Initiative signing Luis Otavio (undisclosed injury, although Head Coach Oscar Pareja said the news on Otavio is positive and he should return soon). That means of the unavailable players not named Jansson, Ojeda, or Gerbet, the club’s players who missed the match have a combined six appearances for 34 minutes in MLS play — all from Taifi, and not all at right back where he is expected to play.

Ricardo Moreira appears to be letting the kids play, but it’s fair to ask if it’s wise to have that many kids as a safety net during rotation, injuries, and suspensions? Going young is one way to look at it; completely lacking depth is another.

Back Line Not Ready for Prime Time

Without Jansson (foot) and the only true right back on the roster, Zakaria Taifi (tight hamstring), Orlando City’s back line did nothing Saturday to discourage feelings that the club did not do enough to address the defense in the off-season. It’s easy to rip on Iago, who had a brutal night, but the young Brazilian has only been with the club for a week, so it’s fair to say he’s still learning his teammates’ names, let alone how they play, Orlando City’s system, and how to play against MLS attacking players.

“We are a young team. We have a lot of young guys,” Atuesta said. “That’s the rhythm of the league, so it was good for them to know, because they are new in the league. They are new in the team. It was good for them to know that’s the rhythm we’re going to play every game this season.”

Aside from Iago’s issues defensively — he got roasted by Rafael Navarro on the second Colorado goal, allowing a point-blank header and got caught too high up the pitch a few times — he looks like a bright young talent. He was a problem for the Rapids in the box on set pieces, nearly getting onto an Atuesta corner kick in the first half despite fighting through traffic.

Ivan Angulo worked his tail off, as usual, but he does not appear to be the answer at right back. He was, perhaps filling in for Taifi, but that shows how thin the back line is after the departures of Alex Freeman, Kyle Smith, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Thomas Williams. The first two Colorado goals were served in from Angulo’s area of defense.

“He’s a winger, and we’re trying to fill in a spot that is empty at the moment,” Pareja said. “We have Taifi there, but Taifi had some difficulties during the week, his hamstring was tight, so couldn’t (play), so we have been trying with Ivan to see if we can have some solutions there. That’s the reality. And the game exposes sometimes the lack of experience in the position, and that’s what happened.”

David Brekalo, presumably the one stalwart who started Saturday, was caught flatfooted in transition multiple times, and taking into account how much he has to cover for a non-defender to his right and a kid who only came to the U.S. a week ago, it’s hard to judge him too harshly.

The lone player who looked OK on the back line was left back Adrian Marin, who appeared more comfortable and sturdy than in his few appearances last season. This team needs Jansson healthy as soon as possible, and it needs more depth.

Strikers Gotta Strike

With an open Designated Player slot, many fans are hoping the club signs a potent striker — one who creates his own chances and finishes them. That was not on display Saturday, although one match does not a season make. The two who took turns in the position were MLS U22 Initiative signing Tiago, who started, and McGuire, who came off the bench early in the second half to replace him.

Tiago was virtually invisible, though he pressed well, looks to have good quickness and speed, and seems to understand what he’s being asked to do. However, Colorado’s defenders spent 54 minutes putting Tiago in their pocket, even when a great ball seemed all but certain to unlock the young Brazilian for a scoring chance. Tiago got no help at times, however, including an overcooked back-post pass from Spicer he couldn’t get to, which would have given him an easy tap-in during the first half.

McGuire was given much better service to work with, but his troubles Saturday were somewhat self-inflicted. Teammates gave him a couple of glorious long balls that should have put the striker in alone on goal. McGuire’s first touch let him down on both, taking him wide to the left on the first. He still got a shot off and put it on target, but the angle made it easy for Zack Steffen to stop. The second heavy touch took him too far to the right on an incredible curling pass from rookie defender Miller, who deputized as a reserve right back. McGuire didn’t even get a shot away on the second, although he did win a corner. Given McGuire’s track record, he’ll likely have better games ahead, and at least he was putting himself in dangerous positions.

A Moment of Magic from Edu

As this column is no doubt seemingly focused on the negative thus far, it’s time to turn things around. I have to mention Atuesta’s superb free kick that accounted for Orlando City’s lone goal on the night. Tyrese Spicer (more on him in a moment) set the play up by winning a free kick just outside the box just left of center, midway between the semicircle and the top corner of the penalty area. Atuesta and Pasalic both stood over the ball, provding both a right-footed and left-footed threat on the set piece.

The two players discussed the set piece while Steffen set up his wall, placing a defender on the ground in case Orlando tried a hard, low shot when the wall jumped. Pasalic told Atuesta to take it because the position of the kick was better for a right-footed player. The two conferred, and Atuesta had to choose between going near post and far post.

“I just asked (Pasalic) if he was seeing the same thing that I was seeing about the first or second post,” Atuesta said. “But when I see one of (Steffen’s) players going to the first post, I know that the keeper was too worried about that post, so he chose for me at that moment. I just tried to put the ball to the second (post), that’s all.”

Atuesta could hardly have delivered a better curling effort around the wall and inside the right post for the only goal the Lions scored in the match.

Spicer the Slicer

Drawing the free kick that led to the only Orlando City goal was far from Spicer’s only involvement in the game. The Trinidad & Tobago international was probably Orlando City’s most active player. Playing his usual left wing spot, Spicer was one of the most creative attackers in the match. Though he lacked accuracy on the night, he led Orlando’s attack in shots in the first half (there were no stats for the game, but anecdotally, he had three shots but none were on frame. He also got down the flank a few times and sent in some dangerous crosses, but just put a bit too much on the aforementioned opportunity to set up Tiago. Colorado played a well-organized defensive game and did well to cut out a few other tries. Although Spicer was a bit impatient at times, sending balls into the area without support or numbers, he learned from it and curled back, allowing his teammates to join the attack more in the second half. Spicer’s combination of speed and power is impressive, and when he gets a bit more locked in, he’s going to be a problem for Orlando City opponents.

Those are the things that stuck out to me watching Orlando’s final preseason match of 2026. It’s fair to say that fans should have concerns with the roster construction and the overall lack of experience. There will be growing pains as the new guys get settled in. However, there were some positives. In addition to those mentioned above, Wilder Cartagena and Braian Ojeda both looked good. Orlando controlled the match between the boxes. The struggles came in transition defending and precision in the quality third — the latter being an area that is commonly the last piece to come together for most MLS teams early in the year.

Additionally, Atuesta, Pasalic, and Pareja all came across as extremely confident that the team has plenty of talent, is getting better every day, and just needs time for the chemistry to build.

“We were not ready to be the champion last week, when we won against Cincinnati, and (Saturday), for sure, we’re not the worst team in the league,” Atuesta said.

There’s also still a Designated Player slot to fill, so at some point — and it may not be until summer — more help is on the way.