Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Inter Miami CF: Player Grades and Man of the Match
It wasn’t always pretty, but Orlando City got the job done and capped off a brutal stretch of three games in seven days, taking all nine possible points. The tired legs nearly got to Orlando, but the Lions’ individual quality and Miami’s shortcomings helped propel Orlando to a memorable 2-1 comeback victory in the quickly intensifying Florida Derby.
How did each Lion fare in Friday’s victory?
Starters
GK, Brandon Austin, 6.5 — I’m starting to like Austin. He’s not an elite MLS goalkeeper, but for a young, inexperienced player, he’s pretty good. He made one excellent early save off Jay Chapman and another easy save off a Chapman long shot later in the game. However, he should’ve done better on the Higuain goal. It was a well-placed strike, but from that distance and with that pace on the ball, you expect your keeper to have that one. Despite that, his distribution was good, completing 25 passes, including six long balls, at a 93% rate. He’s good with his feet, something that gives Orlando plenty of flexibility playing out of the back, and his shot stopping has been good enough for a backup.
D, Michael Halladay, 7 — Halladay made just his second MLS start in a primetime, rivalry showdown and held his own against admittedly weak opposition. He did occasionally struggle to contain former Lion Brek Shea, but mostly he handled his business on the right flank. He made two tackles, an interception, five ball recoveries, and two clearances. His offensive performance wasn’t great, but he did get into dangerous positions overlapping from the right. He just didn’t have the vision or quality to find the final ball. He completed 20 of 27 passes (74%) for the game.
D, Robin Jansson, 8 — Great shift from the big Swede. His penetrating long balls played a huge factor in this game, particularly on Orlando’s opening goal. He spotted the run in behind by Nani and put it on a rope for the captain who made some magic of his own. Jansson completed four long balls and 65 passes in total, with a completion percentage of 94%. Defensively, he was rock solid as well, making two clearances and four ball recoveries, winning three tackles, and making four interceptions. That’s an enormous defensive stat sheet from the Viking and excellent work with the ball. You can’t ask for much more from a center back.
D, Antonio Carlos, 7 — Solid game from Antonio Carlos. He wasn’t particularly influential with the ball, but recycled possession well, completing 59 passes at 92%, including five long balls. Defensively, he was reliable, even if his stat sheet isn’t as stuffed as his center back partner. He made three clearances, two interceptions, and three ball recoveries. He did his job and Orlando got the result.
D, Kyle Smith, 7 — Kyle Smith did not have his best game of the season against Miami. Especially in the first half, he struggled to contain Lewis Morgan and his sloppy touches and passes put Orlando in serious danger. To his credit, he pulled it around by the end of the game, and put in a solid if unspectacular performance. He made an impressive three tackles, four clearances, one interception, and 11 ball recoveries — all excellent figures. With the ball, he was less impressive. While he did complete 62 passes at 89%, it was mostly just recycling possession and he never provided an offensive threat. A part of that is tactical. The left back on this team typically plays almost as a third center back in possession, but it’s also Smith’s lack of offensive prowess. Joao Moutinho still makes an impact offensively in that reserved role, Smith didn’t. That’s all mostly nit-picky. In all, it was a solid, no-nonsense performance from El Soldado.
MF, Andres Perea, 8 — I loved what Andres Perea did for Orlando in this game. Playing in Sebas Mendez’s deeper midfield role, Perea was orchestrating the game and cleaning up mistakes in the back end. Defensively, he won two tackles, made an interception, and made a whopping 16 ball recoveries. In possession, he was excellent, completing 90% of his 67 passes, including four successful long balls and a key pass. He nearly created a goal to ice the game late on a breakaway run and completed two dribbles on the night. I might have a slightly rosy picture of Perea’s game, as he was dispossessed three times and both he and Urso were occasionally poor at stopping the ball as it entered dangerous areas, but I can’t help but praise an exceptional performance from the young U.S. international.
MF, Junior Urso, 5 — Urso has played so much the last couple of weeks, he was bound for a slightly down game. He was sloppy in possession, making a few dangerous turnovers, and didn’t have the legs to consistently track runners, including on Higuain’s goal. However, his overall game was not terrible. His stat sheet is among the most impressive on the team. He racked up three key passes, completed two dribbles, made 10 ball recoveries, had three — largely wasteful — shots, drew three fouls, and completed 36 of 43 passes (84%). Of everyone on this list, Urso will be the most divisive. Could he have been better? Yes, and if Orlando had a little more depth available in midfield, he wouldn’t have started, but it was still a solid shift from the Bear.
MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 4.5 — I was not impressed by Pereyra’s performance in the slightest. Maybe that’s overly negative, but the Uruguayan was lacking sharpness all night. Granted, he was dealing with a knock and arguably shouldn’t have even played. He only completed 75% of his 16 passes and didn’t have any key passes or chances created. His sloppiness nearly got him in trouble, with a late challenge following a turnover resulting in a yellow card. Pereyra was not good enough tonight, and while it might not have been entirely his fault, it was a tough outing.
MF, Silvester van der Water, 5 — Similar to Pereyra, van der Water was massively disappointing in his 45 minutes of action. To his credit, he was active and got into good areas, but his delivery in the final third was poor. None of his three crosses were accurate, he failed to register a shot, and completed only one of three dribbles. He only completed 12 of his 18 passes (67%) passes for the game. He did make an interception and three ball recoveries, and drew two fouls.
F, Nani, 9 (MotM) — What more can we say about this guy? Even on a slightly off night when he and his team were clearly exhausted, Nani’s quality still shines through. The goal was absolutely fantastic, nobody stopped the ball and Nani just ripped the top corner. He was also instrumental in the first goal, making a darting run in behind that Jansson picked out, before dropping a peach of an assist off the volley to the foot of Chris Mueller. Throughout the game, Nani was teasing a big moment with several half chances on audacious efforts and was awarded in the end. The captain finished with five shots, three on target, two key passes, completed 28 of 42 passes (67%), made a tackle and had four ball recoveries. If anyone is having an MLS MVP conversation that doesn’t include Nani, they’re just wrong.
F, Daril Dike, 5.5 — It was a quiet second start for Daryl Dike in Ft. Lauderdale. He only had 14 touches all game, no shots, and struggled to find his feet in the game. He completed two of six passes, but one of them triggered a breakaway off a set piece. Despite his lack of service, he was still a handful for Miami, drawing two fouls and consistently occupying the center backs. He also made a headed clearance and a tackle before being subbed off for Tesho Akindele.
Substitutes
M, Chris Mueller (45’), 8 — Probably the best game of the season so far for Mueller. He finally got his goal, finishing Nani’s unreal pass into the box. Outside of that, he just added so much energy and a real spark offensively. He nearly had another goal, only denied by a great kick save by John McCarthy, and finished with three shots. The one thing Mueller needed this year was that aggression and decisiveness and it was finally on display against Miami. He also completed a cross, nine of 12 passes (75%), drew a foul, made a headed clearance, and made a ball recovery. This was vintage super-sub Mueller, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
F, Benji Michel (45’), 7.5 — Benji was similar to Chris Mueller, providing a much needed spark after an ugly first half. His strength and dribbling ability gave Orlando a more direct outlet and helped get the best out of Nani. He had the assist on Nani’s game-winning scorcher and finished with two key passes (completed 76% of his 17 passes in total). He also made a tackle, a ball recovery and a headed clearance. This has been a fantastic stretch of games for Michel. He’s still not the cleanest player on this team, but his energy and ability to beat players or make a play on the wing has been spectacular.
F, Tesho Akindele (64’), 6.5 — Tesho didn’t do much in his 25 minutes of action. Only 10 touches for the Canadian international, including three completed passes, but his off-ball play helped Orlando finish the game. He also won a pair of aerial duels and made a ball recovery. Most importantly, his time wasting was impressive late in the game, showing that veteran cheekiness you want from Tesho.
MF, Uri Rosell (77’), 5 — Honestly, I didn’t really notice Uri in his limited run. He completed two of four passes, and made a tackle and ball recovery. The biggest impact he had on the game was a nearly disastrous giveaway just above his own penalty box. Fortunately, Orlando snuffed out the danger and got the ball out, with the play ending with Nani’s goal.
MF, Joey DeZart (84’), N/A — It was the fifth cameo appearance of the year for DeZart. He didn’t have much to do, mostly just staying in the defensive shape. He completed a pass and could’ve had a late goal-scoring opportunity if Perea had passed him the ball on his late breakaway.
That’s how I thought everyone rated last night, but what did you see? Leave your thoughts below and make sure to vote for your Man of the Match.
Polling Closed
| Player | Votes |
| Nani | 109 |
| Chris Mueller | 3 |
| Andres Perea | 0 |
| Robin Jansson | 6 |
| Other | 1 |
Opinion
The Case for Starting Luis Muriel Against Atlanta
Muriel’s game is tailor made to help Orlando get the result in what will likely be a tight contest.
For the second season in a row, Orlando City finds itself hosting a match in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It was a scenario that was far less likely this year, with the Lions watching as all three seeds above them crashed out in the first round, leaving OCSC as the highest-seeded team still standing in the East. Last year’s semifinal match didn’t go so well, with 10-man Orlando falling to the eventual champion Columbus Crew in extra time. So, how do the Lions avoid that fate this year and advance to the Eastern Conference final for the first time?
For starters, they can succeed on each of Dave Rohe’s three keys to victory! I’d like to make an addition though, and campaign for Oscar Pareja to start Luis Muriel instead of Ivan Angulo. To be clear, it’s not that I have an axe to grind against Angulo, as he’s largely ranged from solid to good when starting out on the left wing. For my money though, this match is tailor made for Muriel and giving him the start could help Orlando get through to the next round without needing to resort to extra time or penalties.
It’s not unreasonable to expect Sunday’s game to play out in a similar manner to Orlando’s 2-1 Decision Day loss to Atlanta, in which the visitors had 34% of the ball to OCSC’s 66%. True, part of that disparity was down to Atlanta’s 2-0 lead after 16 minutes, which allowed the visitors to sit back, bunker, and protect what they had. Even if the game had remained scoreless for longer though, Atlanta probably would likely have ceded possession anyway and looked to play defensively and hit on the counter. They rolled out a compact 4-2-3-1 in that game, but deployed a 3-5-2 in their last two games against Miami, and they might do so again after its effectiveness.
With Orlando likely to have the lion’s share (hehe) of the ball, and Atlanta sitting deep, there figures to be less room for Angulo to deploy his electric pace. OCSC will probably need to make things happen in the “half-court,” with an emphasis on moving the ball quickly, making clever runs, and finding those runs with creative and accurate passes.
Enter Luis Muriel. The Colombian Designated Player had a slow start to life with Orlando City but has come on strong in recent months, excelling in a super sub role and frequently making an impact in games off the bench. In 56 minutes against Charlotte in Game 3, he completed two dribbles, played one key pass and one through ball, and took three shots, with one on target, one off target, and one blocked. He doesn’t offer Angulo’s speed, but he has maybe the best vision and range of passing of anyone on the team, he’s an outstanding dribbler, and he’s a calm and capable finisher.
He hasn’t been asked to do a ton of traditional striker work during his resurgence, but Muriel has excelled at setting up teammates and creating chances, as evidenced by the litany of key passes littering his stat sheet. Those attributes could be hugely important in breaking Atlanta down, and with two key passes and two completed dribbles against them in just 22 minutes on Decision Day, he’s already proven he can be effective against the Five Stripes.
Another thing that could help the Lions in starting Muriel, is that it would almost certainly take Atlanta by surprise. Oscar Pareja isn’t exactly known for tweaking his lineup on a game-to-game basis, vastly preferring to find an XI that works and stick with it religiously. As long as everyone’s healthy, that lineup has featured Angulo starting with Muriel coming off the bench, and flipping the script would certainly be an unexpected variation that Atlanta might not be expecting. At this level, teams are good enough to adjust on short notice, but you also take every possible edge that you can find, and a lineup shift could be exactly that.
In short, as much as I like Angulo, I think Muriel should get the call in his place on Sunday. The veteran’s combination of vision, passing ability, and dribbling makes him uniquely suited to help unlock defenses, which will be crucial in a game where Orlando City is likely to dominate possession. I don’t think it’s likely to happen given Papi’s consistency with his lineups, but the unexpected move could give the Lions the edge they’re looking for. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 11/22/24
Emily Sams wins Defender of the Year, Orlando City’s turnaround, Barbra Banda nominated for African Woman Player of the Year, and more.
Happy Friday! Beyond working and catching some soccer here and there, I don’t have many plans for the weekend. I’m also hoping to find some time to trial some cranberry and brie bites I’m trying to perfect before Thanksgiving next week. For now though, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!
Emily Sams Awarded NWSL Defender of the Year
The Orlando Pride’s Emily Sams was named 2024 NWSL Defender of the Year after a fantastic season. The Pride only conceded 20 goals in a record-breaking season, and Sams played in all 13 of the team’s shutouts. Sams was one of the most impactful players for the Pride this year and had 163 recoveries, 76 clearances, and 16 blocks. She’s the first Pride player to win the award and it’s great to see her receive some deserved recognition in her second year in Orlando.
Analyzing Orlando City’s Revitalization
It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for the Lions to say the least. There were serious concerns over whether or not the Lions would even make the playoffs back in June and now they find themselves as the highest remaining seed in the Eastern Conference this postseason. Facundo Torres’ excellent run of play is a major reason behind the club’s turnaround, but the buy-in from all of Orlando’s attackers has helped create a dynamic and unselfish offense. Although expectations are rising once more for the Lions, Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Luiz Muzzi spoke on how the team is focused on Sunday’s playoff match.
“There’s only one team that matters: Atlanta United,” Muzzi said. “The easiest way to lose a game is to look ahead. I’ll say we didn’t expect to be playing at home, but it’s welcomed. We’re focused on Atlanta, they’re playing great. They have a lot of confidence and momentum. It doesn’t matter they’re the No. 9 seed because they’re not playing like the No. 9 seed.”
Barbra Banda Up For African Woman Player of the Year
Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda was one of 10 players nominated for this year’s African Woman Player of the Year award. The 24-year-old has done well for both club and country this year. She scored 13 goals in her first regular season with the Pride and has three goals so far in the playoffs. Banda also had a hat trick for Zambia in the Summer Olympics. She’s joined by fellow NWSL players Temwa Chawinga and Racheal Kundananji on the list of nominees. Bay FC striker Asisat Oshoala, who has won the award in five of the past six years, was not nominated for the first time in a decade. The nomination list will be trimmed to a three-player shortlist before the winner is announced on Dec. 16 in Morocco.
Croix Bethune Named NWSL Midfielder of the Year
Washington Spirit rookie Croix Bethune won NWSL Midfielder of the Year after recording 10 assists and five goals in 17 matches this season. A knee injury cut her season short in September, but she still tied Tobin Heath’s record for the most assists in a season. Bethune gave plenty of NWSL teams headaches this year and also won Rookie of the Year earlier this week. She’s the first player to ever receive NWSL Midfielder of the Year and she beat out the Pride’s Marta, the North Carolina Courage’s Ashley Sanchez, and Kansas City Current duo Lo’eau LaBonta and Vanessa DiBernardo.
Eastern Conference Clubs Making Moves
FC Cincinnati officially signed striker Kevin Denkey from Cercle Brugge on a deal that will last through 2028. The 23-year-old joins as a Designated Player on a reported $16.2 million transfer, which would be a league record. He won the Golden Boot in Belgium last year after scoring 27 goals and should give Cincinnati some considerable firepower next year.
Elsewhere in the league, CF Montreal declined the option on Josef Martinez’s contract, meaning the Venezuelan forward will be a free agent once again. The 31-year-old led Montreal with 11 goals this season and we’ll see where he winds up next. Charlotte FC did not trigger the purchase option on Pep Biel’s loan, opening up a Designated Player spot. Former Lion Junior Urso’s contract option was also declined by Charlotte. The Philadelphia Union signed defender Olivier Mbaizo to a contract extension that will keep him with the club through 2026, with options for 2027 and 2028 as well.
Free Kicks
- In preparation for the 2026 World Cup, FIFA named 26 new options across the country as “base camps” for participating teams to train and rest. Orlando was included, with OCSC’s training grounds at Osceola Heritage Park pitched alongside the Lake Nona Wave Hotel.
- ESPN‘s Jeff Kassouf dove into how the NWSL stacks up to the biggest sports leagues in the U.S. Saturday’s NWSL Championship between the Pride and Spirit should showcase just how entertaining the league is to plenty of viewers.
- Pep Guardiola will stick around as Manchester City’s manager for a couple more years after signing a two-year contract extension with the club. His contract was set to expire at the end of this season.
- Here’s a cool breakdown of the seven amateur teams that have qualified for the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup so far. None are from Florida, but there are some great logos to check out if you’re looking for a team to root for in the early rounds next year. Debutants Southern Indiana FC and the Virginia Dream are my personal favorites of the bunch.
- The draw for the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will take place today. Zambia is in the second pot, meaning it will be put in a group of four that will include one of Nigeria, South Africa, or Morocco. The tournament itself will be in July of next year.
- Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City all clinched a spot in the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals with two games still left to play.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Go Orlando!
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.
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:
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):
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:
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.
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!
The Case for Starting Luis Muriel Against Atlanta
Lion Links: 11/22/24
Orlando Pride Center Back Emily Sams Named 2024 NWSL Defender of the Year
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