Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Three Keys to Victory

Orlando City returns to Inter&Co Stadium to take on CF Montreal after parting ways with Oscar Pareja on Wednesday. Martin Perelman will call the shots Saturday night as the interim head coach. Orlando City is still looking to earn its first points of the season after three straight losses. This is a club in turmoil looking to stop the bleeding of a horrible start to the season. What must Orlando City do to earn all three points — or even a single point — against Montreal Saturday night?

Enter Otero

Javier Otero was pressed into service early in the match against New York City FC thanks to Maxime Crepeau’s dumb mistake. That — and the five goals that followed — was not something he was expecting when he sat down on the bench. That cannot be his excuse this week. Otero will get full reps as the starter all week. He will know that he is getting the start and should mentally prepare.

Otero will need to be better this week, and that should be easy enough to do at home with a full squad in front of him. I’m not saying he needs to be Pedro Gallese, but he does need to make smart decisions, be careful with his distribution, and not be the reason the Lions lose. If he would like to have the best performance of his professional career, it is a perfect time to do so.

Full Team Defense

For weeks I’ve spouted off about the Lions needing the players on the back line and defensive midfielders to step up. I should have been more specific. I need them to do so for the entire 90 minutes plus stoppage time. It is evident how much this team is missing Robin Jansson and Wilder Cartagena.

In what I’ll describe as “good news,” Orlando City gets Colin Guske back after serving his red card suspension last week. I would like to see a center back pairing of Nolan Miller with Iago. David Brekalo has not been good, so Perelman might as well go with even more youth behind Guske. If those two, along with Griffin Dorsey on the right and Adrian Marin on the left, start it still won’t be good enough.

At this point, I need 11 players lined up across the face of the goal to just block off the net. I know I’m being hyperbolic, but I think the Lions will need to play deeper and more defensive-minded if the club hopes to get a result. Attacking on the counter after absorbing shots for long spells isn’t what I would normally recommend, but aside from the Miami game, it hasn’t fully been tried out so far this season, so why not give it a shot. At the very least, I need everyone tracking back all night.

Smell the Coffee, Duncan!

My sister-in-law, who has down syndrome, loves to tell people to “smell the coffee” when she wants them to wake up or be more active. I’m not saying Duncan McGuire needs to be more active, but he could be more efficient. His lack of goals has not been totally his fault as some of his teammates aren’t anticipating his runs, but he hasn’t been his old self either.

Remember when he ended Michael Bradley’s career (or at least it felt like it)? I’d love to see some of that. I believe he just needs to score that first goal, celebrate with his signature flip, and he’ll be back to normal. That means he needs to be better at his hold-up game and better with the ball at his feet. Hopefully he’s had enough time with his teammates in training so they know what runs he will make. If Orlando City sits back and tries to hit on the counter or go route one, it will be important for him to be more efficient and “smell the coffee.”

I thought about using “divine intervention” as one of the keys, but even I thought that might be a little silly. Though I’m not opposed to anyone making an appeal to a higher power if that is something you think might work. Otherwise, the above is what I will be looking for Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!