Orlando City So Far in 2026: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

With the World Cup break upon us, this is a good time to take a look at a few key components of the club so far this season. It might turn out that this break is exactly what Orlando City needs to right the ship to win the U.S. Open Cup and make a run to the playoffs. Let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly so far this season.

The Good

Without a doubt, the number one good so far is the play of Martin Ojeda. In the first 15 matches, he has 11 goals and an assist. He is only two goals behind league leader Hugo Cuypers. That is 12 goal contributions in only 15 matches. To put that in perspective, last season he finished with 31 goal contributions in 33 matches but only 16 of those were goals. If he can maintain the goal scoring but add more assists it will be a historic season for the Argentinian.

Ojeda’s play isn’t the only good thing so far, and there are other pleasant surprises. Justin Ellis earned more time with the first team and proceeded to show he belonged. He has contributed a goal and two assists and has mostly been an asset when on the pitch. Newcomer Griffin Dorsey has been a solid addition after Alex Freeman’s late departure. Given the circumstances, signing Dorsey was an excellent move by Ricardo Moreira. Dorsey has been good if not great on defense, but has fit in nicely on the offensive side in Martin Perelman’s system.

The Bad

The Lions have allowed a league’s worst 44 goals in 15 matches. That equals 2.93 goals per match. Is it any wonder the Lions have a 4-9-2 record? Orlando City also has a -21 goal differential, which if it wasn’t for Sporting Kansas City would also be the worst in the league. This is very likely a historically bad record.

If the Lions continue leaking goals at that rate, the club will allow 96 goals by the end of the season. The record is currently held by the San Jose Earthquakes with 78 goals allowed. I will say that the team has been slightly better over the last seven matches, allowing only 19 goals for a rate of 2.71 goals per match. If that rate holds then the club will end up with 95 goals allowed. Obviously, slightly better won’t cut it if the club wants to make the playoffs.

The Ugly

Coaching changes are never easy. It almost always takes time for a new coach to establish a style of play and a method of how they communicate with the players, the press, and the fan base. It’s harder when taking over for a popular coach. Even the success of Arne Slot following the departure of Jurgen Klopp soured quickly the following season.

I’m not saying Oscar Pareja is at Klopp’s level, nor has Perelman had the immediate success that Slot did when he took over at Liverpool. I’m just acknowledging it is difficult to walk into such a situation. You only need to look at the previous section to see the challenges Perelman has been dealing with since taking over.

However, he is definitely a part of the problem. Perelman, like Moreira, wants to play a more attacking style of soccer. That’s all well and good if your defense is solid, but as we have established, that is not currently the case. Pareja was good at communicating with the press about the positives and negatives of any given performance. Too many times Perelman has simply said that the team will “work harder.” That’s not good enough. I am personally convinced Moreira wants Perelman to take over permanently. Whether Perelman is able to get enough good results to earn it remains to be seen.

This is by no means a complete list so I encourage you to contribute your own thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!