Orlando City Must Heed August Lessons Ahead of Crowded September

If it feels like Orlando City has played a boatload of matches during the month of August, get ready to experience some deja vu. After playing a whopping seven games in 31 days this month, the Lions will compete six times in 30 days during September. The August slate was a mixed bag for the men in purple. The team won just two of its seven contests and looked leggy as the days drew on after returning to league play with two strong performances over the San Jose Earthquakes and Nashville SC at the end of July. There were certainly mitigating factors, as the Lions battled injuries in areas with questionable depth, but there are a few lessons that have been dished out over the past month that can hold the Lions in good stead ahead of another period of fixture congestion.

Address the Left Back Situation

Fortunately, steps have already been taken to handle the first item on our list. Left back has continuously been a problem for Orlando City this year, as Adrian Marin largely hasn’t looked at the level Orlando needs him to be. Bernardo Rhein showed enough promise to displace him and played well, but he went down injured and Martin Perelman has had to use a combination of Marin and Zakaria Taifi (a natural right back) ever since. Taifi has been inconsistent on the left, and is susceptible to being beaten down the flank and over the top at the back post, and he certainly looks more comfortable on the right than the left.

Thursday’s loan signing of left back Vinicius Nogueira gives the Lions another natural left back to work with, and his arrival will hopefully help solve the problems in that area of the field. If it doesn’t, then it might be wise to consider shifting Brekalo out wide until Rhein returns to fitness, although that solution would depend on Iago, Marin, or possibly Wilder Cartagena being able to capably deputize at center back.

Don’t Be Afraid to Rotate

While rotation in certain areas was difficult at times due to absences at times of Rhein, Marin, Braian Ojeda, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic, Orlando looked noticeably leggy as August stretched on. Antoine Griezmann has yet to come off the field in a game he’s played for the Lions, and Justin Ellis has started all but three of the nine games the team has played after the World Cup break. Considering they are currently the team’s two most dynamic players, Orlando needs them at their best, and it wasn’t surprising to see loose touches, sloppy passing, and slow decision-making start to creep in as the month drew itself out. Fortunately, Perelman has shown himself more amenable to finding rest for Ellis lately, as the youngster has played just 308 of the last possible 540 minutes since. That will need to continue in order for him to be at his best, and Griezmann almost certainly needs to start being used in a similar way so as not to risk an injury.

Mix-Up the On-Field Approach

When Orlando’s fluid, position-less style of football works, as it did against San Jose, it’s almost unstoppable. The new-look style is at its best against opponents that want to come out and attack, as it emphasizes flooding numbers forward in transition and hitting opponents on the counterattack. When it doesn’t work, in the way we saw during the first half against Real Salt Lake, it’s extremely ineffective. Players need to be fit and rested to do the level of running that’s asked of them, and against teams that are content to sit back and stack numbers behind the ball, it can be hard to create chances when the Lions lack a traditional focal point up front to play off of.

By contrast, when Daryl Dike came on in the second half of the RSL game and Griezmann shifted into midfield, OCSC looked like a completely different team that arguably should have scored more than the two goals it managed. Perelman did well to make the correct adjustments, but there needs to be a willingness to be more flexible with the lineups and approach from the opening whistle — both for rotational and strategic purposes.

In soccer, as in life, there are no guarantees of anything. With that said, if OCSC can successfully incorporate those three August takeaways into its September campaign, it should theoretically put the team in a good position to succeed. Vamos Orlando!