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Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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2 years ago

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Orlando City started the 2023 MLS Regular Season with a 1-0 victory over the visiting New York Red Bulls. New York doubled Orlando City’s shot total, but Facundo Torres made a penalty kick when it mattered to give the Lions the win.

Let’s take a look at how each Lion performed individually in the opening day victory.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — El Pulpo made four saves and three clearances to earn his first clean sheet of the season and help give Orlando City the win. Gallese didn’t have that much to do as New York didn’t get many shots on target, but he stopped the ones they did get on frame. He was fouled twice in the same way by two different Red Bulls players blocking his kick by stepping in front of him. The biggest save came in the 86th minute when he made a stop with his shoulder at point blank range. His final save came on the last free kick in the 98th minute and was the last play of the match. His distribution was good when he wasn’t being fouled. He connected on eight long balls, on 28 passes, two long balls, and a 60.5% passing rate.

D, Luca Petrasso, 5.5 — Petrasso was mostly solid on the left for Orlando City. Like most on the defense, he occasionally got beat but usually recovered. Petrasso also contributed on the offensive side of the ball. He made a good cross in the 15th minute, but it was cleared by the defense. He won a free kick in the 17th minute for Orlando City, but it didn’t amount to anything. Defensively, he made two tackles, and one clearance. Petrasso had 43 touches with 24 passes and a 75% passing rate.

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — Jansson was the leader on the back line for the Lions. That’s not to say he was perfect. He got beat on the ball in the 16th minute, but Gallese got to the ball to bail him out. He also gave the ball away and then committed the foul in the 22nd minute that gave the Red Bulls a dangerous free kick. He finished with one tackle, two clearances, one blocked shot, and one aerial won. He had 58 touches with 51 passes and a 70.6% passing rate. He grew into the game and eventually settled into the defender we expect.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Schlegel was mostly solid on the night and amazingly didn’t commit any fouls when the team committed 16. He had one tackle, one interception, one clearance, and two blocked shots. He had 48 touches with 38 passes for a 73.7% passing rate. He also won three aerials. Despite getting beat on a few plays, he did his share to keep the clean sheet.

D, Michael Halliday, 5 — The young defender occasionally got caught too far up the field, but he was having to battle John Tolkin most of the night. When he was in the attack he provided four crosses, with two of them well-placed. In his battle with Tolkin, he didn’t give up when he lost the ball in the 45th minute, but went and got it back, earning a throw-in. He fouled Tolkin in the 95th minute of stoppage just outside the box to give the red Bulls a free kick, but they were unable to convert. Statistically, he made two tackles, one interception, and two clearances, He had 48 touches with 28 passes for a 71.4% passing rate.

MF, César Araújo, 5.5 — It wasn’t a perfect night for the typically rock-solid defensive midfielder, but it wasn’t too bad either. He literally turned a defender around 360 degrees to earn a foul at one point. He had a bad giveaway in the 47th minute, but made up for it with a body block on the resulting shot. Statistically, he had two tackles, one interception, two clearances, and suffered six fouls in addition to the blocked shot. He had a total of 66 touches with 44 passes and a 77.4% passing rate. He also contributed a headed shot that produced the handball on New York.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 7 (MotM) — Angulo was everywhere up and down the left side of the field — and occasionally in the center and on the right. He had two dribbles and drew two fouls. He passed at a 71.4% rate on 21 passes, with a total of 36 touches. Defensively, he made three tackles, one interception, and received a yellow card for time wasting the 76th minute. He committed the foul in the 98th minute for a Red Bulls free kick, which was the opposition’s last chance at goal. Fortunately, it didn’t matter. The entire match he seemed to be in the right place to stifle a Red Bulls attack, or to move the ball forward for Orlando.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6 — Everyone, including Pereyra, was shaking off the cobwebs while dealing with New York’s high press. His deeper role meant he had to play more defense, and occasionally he got beat. Defensively, he managed one tackle, one interception, and committed one foul. He also earned a yellow in the 76th for time wasting. However, his passing was excellent at a team-high 81.4% on 43 passes.

MF, Facundo Torres, 6.5 — Torres took three shots, with only one on target. The good thing is that one was the penalty kick that gave Orlando City the lead, the win, and the team’s first win of the season. It was his corner kick to Araujo’s head that resulted in the handball for penalty. He passed at a 78.1% rate on 32 passes. He had one key pass, and one dribble. Like many on the team, the timing isn’t quite there so early in the season.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 — Ojeda was willing to get physical early and often tried to break the Red Bull press. He had some good ideas, but you can see his timing still a little off with his teammates. He managed one shot, though it wasn’t on target. His corner in the 74th minute was touched by the keeper, but it wasn’t called and resulted in a goal kick. He passed at a 62.5% rate on 24 passes with 34 total touches. He subbed off in the 78th minute for Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

F, Ercan Kara, 4.5 — With Orlando City unable to break through the press most of the night, Kara’s touches and opportunities were understandably limited. He worked back into the midfield when needed to try to win balls and combine with teammates, but there just weren’t many of those opportunities with New York winning the bulk of the first balls. Kara only managed 13 touches, passed at a 66.7% rate on nine passes, and committed three fouls. He came off in the 63rd minute for Ramiro Enrique.

Substitutes

F, Ramiro Enrique (63’), 6 — Enrique came on for Kara and made a definite impact on the match. He provided some pace against the opposition’s tired legs. He made a nifty move in the 80th minute past Tolkin, took the ball across the top of the box, and took a shot, but it deflected wide for a corner. He had 14 touches, with three passes and a 66.7% passing rate. Defensively, he had one tackle and one clearance.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (78’), N/A — Dagur Dan made his MLS debut, coming on for Ojeda. With only three touches, and three passes, Thorhallsson didn’t do enough to earn a grade.

MF, Wilder Cartagena (90’), N/A — Cartagena came on for Pereyra. With only four touches, one pass, and one aerial won, Cartagena didn’t do enough to earn a grade.

D, Kyle Smith (90’), N/A — Smith came on for Torres to transition the defense into a five-man back line. With only one touch, and one pass, Smith didn’t do enough to earn a grade.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in a season opening victory for the Lions. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to vote for your Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Rodrigo Schlegel11
Robin Jansson17
Dagur Dan Thorhallsson1
Pedro Gallese139
Cesar Araujo1
Someone Else (tell us in the comments)1

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Orlando City

How Orlando City’s Offense Stacks Up Against What Atlanta Does Defensively

How Orlando City has performed against teams playing with three or four defenders, and how that may influence the playoff game against Atlanta United.

Published

14 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The most famous quote about real estate is that “there are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.” Soccer coaches also like to think in threes, especially when it comes to points, but for a soccer coach, the three things that matter might be the rhyming triplet “formation, formation, formation,” as that is where they will have the biggest influence on every game that their team plays.

Throughout his tenure as head coach, Óscar Pareja has preferred to use a 4-2-3-1 as his formation (fbref.com’s lineup data shows that the Lions primarily played a 4-2-3-1 in 65% of their MLS matches this season, and 79% of their MLS matches during the last three seasons). The Lions have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 during each of their last 14 games, and my confidence level is strong to quite strong (can you believe Meet the Parents came out 24 years ago?) that they will do so once again on Sunday when they host Atlanta United.

Atlanta United also prefers to deploy a 4-2-3-1, but was less consistent than Orlando City this season during MLS play, as evidenced by the chart below that shows how Atlanta lined up this season:

The purpose of this image is a table to show how Atlanta United lined up in 2024 (mostly in a 4-2-3-1 but also in one of six other formations).

I am relying on the coders at Opta for their evaluation of the formation, as I do not watch a lot of Atlanta United matches (sounds terrible), but though Atlanta primarily played with four defenders in more than two-thirds of its matches, during the last two matches it played a 3-5-2, the only two matches all season in which interim coach Rob Valentino rolled out that formation. I suspect that the formation change was related partially to playing Inter Miami and trying to defend the Herons’ dynamic offense and partially due to an injury suffered by defender Brooks Lennon in the first game of that series. So, while Atlanta primarily played four in the back for most of the season, there is a good chance it will roll with what worked against Florida’s second-best MLS team when it plays Florida’s best MLS team this weekend.

Now, if you want to read more about Atlanta, then you can read our match preview, which will drop Sunday morning, but I want to look at how Orlando did against teams that play similar styles. Looking only at MLS games, the table below shows how Orlando City performed against different back line structures this season (the left side is how the Lions’ opponents lined up, the right side is how Orlando City performed against opponents in those formations):

Table embedded as an image showing Orlando City doing best in goal differential in 12 games against three-man back lines, second best against four-man back lines, and having played once against a five-man back line (a 1-1 draw).

Orlando City earned slightly more points per game — the stat that matters most — against teams that played four in the back, but the Lions had a better average goal differential when teams played three in the back. Atlanta will likely deploy one of those two formations. In both games against Orlando City this season, Sunday’s visitors went with a 4-2-3-1, but as mentioned earlier, they used three in the back in each of their last two matches, so it really could be either.

Soccer is not like baseball, where players primarily stay in the same spot throughout the game, so some of these stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, as players are not always rigidly in the same position throughout a match. A team may also primarily play with four in the back but switch to three when chasing a game, or five when trying to protect against a late goal.

That said, using the data around Orlando City’s opponents’ general formations, here are the attacking groups who played the most frequently against four defenders during the 24 MLS games where Opta coded the opponents as using a defensive group of four:

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy four defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus eight goal differential for the season.

It is a little ominous that the main starting group, shown in row one, has played 666 MLS minutes against back lines of four this season, but do I like that green goal differential of +8 in those minutes, which is a strong +1.08 per 90 minutes. I like that goal differential more than I like all the things that Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin like on their song that is creatively named “I Like It.” Coincidentally, when people ask me what I think about that song, I say, “I like it.” I am very creative.

If we look at the lineups that Orlando City has used against back lines of three defenders then there are some pretty major differences in personnel groupings, but it must be noted that more than half of the games against teams playing three in the back came early in the season, when Ramiro Enrique was unavailable to play. Enrique, my presumed starter at striker, has played fewer than three games’ worth of minutes (265 total) against back lines of three this season, and only 28 minutes with the main starting group, which ranks 13th among all the attacking lineups for minutes played against three defenders. That group scored one goal in their 28 minutes together though, for a robust 3.21 goals-scored-per-90-minutes average.

While the team as a whole has been successful against three-man back lines, I do not expect any of the lineups shown in the table below to play more than a few minutes together this weekend, though the first row and the last row are strong groups and had a lot of success.

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy three defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus three goal differential for the season.

I am sure that all week long the Orlando City coaching staff has been going back and forth on whether it is more likely that Atlanta reverts to its most commonly used four in the back, or if the Five Stripes try for three wins in a row with three in the back. I would prefer that Atlanta plays with zero defenders and goalkeeper Brad Guzan wears a blindfold, but I think that is unlikely to be the case.

Even though Atlanta defeated Orlando City both times while in a 4-2-3-1, based on available personnel and recent results, I believe that the team will come out in a 3-5-2 in Inter&Co Stadium in the conference semifinal. Good things come in threes, and Orlando City’s best offensive production this season has been against three defenders, so I am going to be hoping that this continues, and in the third game against Atlanta the Lions grab the three points. Three’s company!

Well, it is a playoff game, so there are no actual points at stake, but you know what I meant.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to get a victory to advance to the Eastern Conference final?

Published

16 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City continues its playoff journey against Atlanta United Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions are coming off an emotional penalty shootout win over Charlotte FC in their best-of-three, first-round series. Likewise, Atlanta United stunned everyone by taking out Inter Miami to advance in its own best-of-three matchup. Now, the rivals meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

What does Orlando City need to do to get past Atlanta United to advance to the Easter Conference final?

Beat Guzan

Brad Guzan made 16 saves over Atlanta’s three matches against Inter Miami, including seven in the 3-2 win on the road in Game 3. The 40-year-old former USMNT keeper is in excellent form and is a big reason why the Five Stripes are facing Orlando City. Converting chances against Guzan will be crucial to earning a result. There have been times this season when the Lions have struggled to convert their chances. Despite that, the team has done enough offensively to get to this point. Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire, Ramiro Enrique, and others have contributed and will need to do so this weekend.

Cartagena is Essential

Orlando City lost twice to Atlanta United during the regular season. What is interesting, and perhaps relevant, is that Wilder Cartagena was out for both of those matches. Cartagena was shown a straight red in the match against Minnesota United prior to the first match against Atlanta way back in March. He was shown a yellow card in the match against FC Cincinnati and then served a yellow card accumulation suspension for the final match of the season against Atlanta. Fortunately for Orlando City, Cartagena will be available for the match this weekend. I’ve mentioned before the importance of Cartagena to Orlando City’s success. When he and Cesar Araujo are on the field together, the defense is simply better. Cartagena is frankly one of the better defensive midfielders in MLS. Atlanta scored five goals in the series against Miami, and Orlando will need to keep the visitors from having that kind of offensive success.

Overcome the Past

That darn international break in the middle of the playoffs is something I don’t love. More precisely, I don’t like it because Orlando City often struggles after a break. It would have been nice if Orlando City could have ridden the momentum from the penalty kick victory into the Atlanta match, but that’s not to be. Now is the time for Orlando City to break some bad habits, including turning around its historical lack of success against Atlanta, and tendency to struggle in the first match after a break. Oscar Pareja needs to have the players in the right frame of mind, and the players need to execute the plan. A full house of supporters can also make a difference. Given it’s a Sunday afternoon match, there’s no reason not to pack the house.

That is what I will be looking for Sunday afternoon. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/21/24

Marta’s chance to shine in NWSL Championship, NWSL and MLS award winners announced, 2025 SheBelieves Cup details, and more.

Published

19 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’ve been spending most of this week plotting out some holiday shopping to make things a little less stressful for myself over the next few weeks. A big weekend filled with Orlando soccer awaits us, so make sure to get any errands or obligations out of the way sooner rather than later. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Spotlight Falls On Marta in NWSL Championship

There are plenty of storylines heading into Saturday’s NWSL Championship between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, including Marta’s opportunity to put an exclamation point on what has been an excellent season for the Pride. Orlando has been enjoying the fruits of its labor this season after a rebuild over the past few years that’s included plenty of change in the City Beautiful. Marta has been a constant, however, enduring some difficult seasons since joining the Pride and adapting her game She’s scored in both of the Pride’s playoff games so far and has a chance to author a storybook ending on Saturday.

Ann-Katrin Berger Named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year

NJ/NY Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was named 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, beating out the Pride’s Anna Moorhouse and Utah Royals FC’s Mandy Haught for the honor. It was Berger’s first year in the NWSL and she’s the first European player to win the award. She only conceded 16 goals across her 22 matches for Gotham this season and was a key reason behind her team’s success. I’m not too surprised that Moorhouse did not win, considering how solid the Pride’s defense was as a whole, but this won’t take anything away from a record-breaking season for her.

Wilfried Nancy Named MLS Coach of the Year

Columbus Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy was voted 2024 MLS Coach of the Year after a historic season in which the Crew set club records in both points and goals. The Crew also won the Leagues Cup this summer and their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup campaign included advancing past Tigres and Monterrey en route to the final. This is Nancy’s first time being named Coach of the Year and he has been a finalist for the award every year since 2021. The Frenchman received 40.02% of the vote, winning the award over Inter Miami’s Gerardo Martino and Colorado Rapids Head Coach Chris Armas.

2025 SheBelieves Cup Details Unveiled

The 10th annual SheBelieves Cup will take place next year and the tournament will return to its usual format where each of the four teams plays each other once. The United States Women’s National Team will host Japan, Colombia, and Australia in February in what should be an exciting tournament. The U.S. will take on Colombia on Feb. 20 in Houston before facing Australia in Arizona on Feb. 23 and finishing the tournament on Feb. 26 against Japan at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. These games will also be the first domestic games of 2025 for the USWNT as it prepares to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Eric Quill Named FC Dallas Head Coach

FC Dallas announced that Eric Quill will become the team’s next head coach. Quill joins Dallas after a great year with New Mexico United that included trips to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals and USL Championship Western Conference semifinals. It’s also a reunion of sorts for Quill, as he previously coached North Texas SC and was named USL League One Coach of the Year with the club in 2019. Dallas missed out on the playoffs this season, with Peter Luccin coaching the team on an interim basis after the firing of Nico Estevez in June.

Free Kicks

  • District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser challenged Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to a bet involving this weekend’s NWSL Championship, with embarrassing lightshows on the line.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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