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Orlando City vs. LAFC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 6-0 away loss against LAFC?

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2 months ago

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Image of Ivan Angulo trying to dribble past an LAFC defender.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City was never really in the game on Saturday night, as the Lions were on the back foot from the jump and ended up flat on their backs in the fetal position by the end, losing 6-0 to a rampant LAFC. If there was any positive it was that the second half went better than the first half, but the Lions were still unable to put any shots into the goal, making it three straight away games without a goal scored. Yuck.

I have my purple pen out, though I am once again going to need to use the red one liberally, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in a matchup with a Western Conference opponent.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 4.5 — The Canadian might want to take a trip down to the Men In Black ride at Universal Studios to see if they have a Neuralyzer available, because he allowed six goals on seven shots on target and will want to forget this game ever happened. He did not play poorly, and none of the goals can be pinned solely on him for mistakes, but six goals on seven shots on target is yet another terrible six-seven reference, and possibly the worst one that is reasonably applicable to a soccer match. He completed 86.7% of his passes and he made two saves while collecting several other balls from dangerous areas, but it was a rough night for Crépeau and the entire Orlando City defense.

D, Iago, 3.5 — Iago started the game as a bit of a left back in a four-man back line / left center back in a five-man back line hybrid. That defense did not work well and he did not play well either. In fairness to him, he has played mostly center back in his young career, but he was repeatedly beaten by LAFC attackers going up the right side (Orlando’s defensive left) and he once again did not close down attacking players quickly enough. The Brazilian played much better in a traditional center back role in the second half, but the damage was done in the first half, and it should be clear to the coaching staff that Iago should stick to the center of defense in the future. He completed a game-high 73 passes at a 97.3% completion rate and was able to put one shot on target, but the fact that he made zero tackles while playing the full 90 minutes is indicative of his defensive performance in the game. He added two interceptions, one block, and two clearances, but he did not play well.

D, Nolan Miller, 3.5 — The rookie from the University of Michigan fared far worse than his former university’s basketball team did in its Final Four game on Saturday night, as LAFC owned the center of the box like Miller and the other defenders were not even on the field. Despite LAFC dominating the game in the first half, Miller did not make any tackles, and he only recorded one interception and three clearances. He completed a perfect 100% of his passes, but only one pass was in the attacking half of the field and most went directly sideways or backwards. LAFC had everything working on Saturday night, so it would have been difficult for anyone in central defense, and it was another “welcome to the pros” moment for the young defender who has been forced to play far more minutes than the team expected him to during the first six games of the season.

D, David Brekalo, 3.5 — Brekalo has far more experience than his central defense partner Miller, but it was hard to tell that by how he played during the first half of Saturday night’s match. Own goals frequently are more about luck than poor play, but the one scored by Brekalo came as he was trying to block a cross from going onto the foot of Nathan Ordaz and he just scuffed the clearance and put it right into his own goal. He timed the defensive run well and got into good position, and then just failed to deal with the cross. That poor play was indicative of the whole evening for Brekalo and the defense in general, and though he filled up the stat sheet with a 94.5% passing completion percentage, two tackles, two interceptions, three blocks, and seven clearances, the stat that matters most was six, which was how many goals LAFC scored. Four of the six goals came from Brekalo’s defensive zone, with a fifth being the one he put into his own net, and I think it is time that Orlando City looks at moving him back out to left back.

D, Braian Ojeda, 4.5 — The man we call Defensive Ojeda literally started in defense for this game, playing as the right back with Griffin Dorsey out injured. The Paraguayan was not terrible but he clearly is not a right back, and got caught out of position frequently. Denis Bouanga is a handful for even the best right backs, and while Ojeda gave his customary full effort, he should not play right back again this season. Ojeda returned to the middle of the field and was much better at his natural position in the second half, but the game was done and dusted at that point. He completed 91.4% of his passes and added one tackle, three interceptions, and two clearances on defense.

D/MF, Iván Angulo, 5 — Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Colombian once again stood out as one of the best Orlando City players on the field. Angulo played in his customary left wing position but he dropped all the way back as a left back in a five-man back line on occasion. He had a glorious chance to get Orlando City on the scoreboard early in the game when he broke out with the ball on a four-on-two counterattack, but his cross-field pass to Marco Pašalić was poorly hit, leading to a turnover. LAFC scored just minutes later and never looked back. It was one of the only truly poor plays by Angulo during the game, as he completed 94.4% of his passes, including two key passes, and also put both of his shots on target, but in a game against one of the league’s best teams that pass needed to be better to give his team a chance to take an early lead and completely change the tenor of the game.

MF, Colin Guske, 4.5 — The young defensive midfielder definitely was far more defensive than midfielder against LAFC, as his heatmap was heavily red in the defensive part of the field. Guske was fine in this game, as he completed 89.7% of his passes and added two tackles, three interceptions, and three clearances, but he could not help stem the tide of LAFC’s attacks. Orlando City went to a traditional back four for the second half and brought on players who actually play left and right back, and that allowed Braian Ojeda to return to the midfield, which meant that Guske came off after 45 minutes.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 3.5 — The former LAFC player did not have it against his former team, as this was one of Atuesta’s worst performances as a Lion. He was slow on the ball and turned it over repeatedly, losing possession 12 times in only 68 minutes. While he completed 90.7% of his passes, there were few incisive passes to unlock an attacking player, and he was frequently just a passenger as opposed to a driver on the field. Defensively he added one tackle and two clearances, and though he is nominally more of an offensive player than Guske, I was disappointed it was Guske and not Atuesta who came off at halftime.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 4.5 — Pašalić brought his dribbling shoes to Los Angeles but not much else, as he completed a game-high three dribbles but only took one off-target shot and completed 84.8% of his passes, while losing possession 17 times. He was also dribbled past three times, and his partnership with Braian Ojeda out on the right side was unsurprisingly poor, as those two had never played on the right side together before in a game. When Zakaria Taifi came on in the second half, Pašalić played a little better, but he did not bring very much to the table during this game, aside from one corner kick that should have netted him a secondary assist, but Luis Otávio was unable to put his header from point-blank range on frame.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 (MotM) — On another day against another goalkeeper Offensive Ojeda might have scored twice, but instead he was denied by Hugo Lloris on both of the well-struck shots he put on target. The Argentine’s first half was poor, while his second half was much more like the Ojeda from 2025, but alas, the final product was not fully there. He completed 85.3% of his passes, including two key passes, and was really the only Orlando City player who consistently seemed interested in attacking the net with aggression. All that aggression was for naught though, and the Lions desperately need Ojeda to not only look but finish like he did last season.

F, Tiago, 4.5 — Tiago got the start over Duncan McGuire, but with how poorly Orlando City played it would not have mattered who was starting up top for the Lions, as there was barely any service to the striker position in the first half. The Brazilian had 21 touches, but they were evenly split between the attacking and defending halves of the field, as he frequently had to drop deep to help defend. He completed 100% of his passes, but that was only over seven pass attempts and only one pass was in the attacking half of the field. The hustle was there, as evidenced by his two tackles and one clearance, but unluckily for him he received his minutes in the first half, when LAFC absolutely dominated the game and Orlando City rarely had the ball on the attack.

Substitutes

D, Tahir Reid-Brown (46′), 4.5 — Orlando City came out in its traditional back four alignment for the second half, and Reid-Brown slotted in at left back for the final 45 minutes. LAFC did not attack with the same venom as the first half but part of that had to do with a better back line performance, and the young defender played a role in helping to settle the defense. He completed 90% of his passes, though perhaps his best pass of the game was an unsuccessful cross attempt, which went incomplete but was one of the most dangerous balls played by an Orlando City player all game long.

D, Zakaria Taifi, (46′), 4.5 — The insertion of Taifi at right back was a catalyst for Pašalić, as it was not a coincidence that the Croatian looked a lot more lively in the second half than the first. Taifi is far more attack minded than Braian Ojeda, but that also left the right side exposed behind him on his forays up the field. LAFC’s only goal of the second half happened in front of Taifi, as the young defender did not close down Jacob Shaffelburg, and with extra time the LAFC man put a perfect cross into the middle that took the score to 6-0. Taifi completed 73.3% of his passes and added one clearance on defense, and though he allowed that assist, I thought it was a decent performance by the right back and one he can build on for the future.

F, Duncan McGuire (46′), 4.5 — Big Dunc came on for Tiago but created no more offense than the starter, even though Orlando City played much better offensively in the second half. McGuire brought his trademark hustle and effort, but he was not sharp with his touch, completing 100% of his pass attempts (13) but losing possession of the ball seven times. He should have had an assist to Otávio, as he made a near post run on a corner kick and flicked it right through the defense to the back post, but his teammate was unable to put the ball in the net. At some point the hustle and work rate is going to get McGuire going again, but it did not happen at LAFC.

MF, Luis Otávio, (68′), 5 — The Brazilian’s 22-minute performance was by far his best of the season, and it is probably not a coincidence that it came after a two-week break when he could finally really settle in after a shortened preseason due to injury. He completed all of his pass attempts and unleashed a wicked shot from long range that Lloris had to save at full extension, and he looked significantly more comfortable on the field. If he can consistently play like he did against LAFC, he will have a chance to move back up the central midfield depth chart.

MF, Yutaro Tsukada, (86′), N/A —Tsukada came on late for Angulo and looked to attack, but he was unable to create anything significant. He completed all five of his pass attempts but had little opportunity to contribute much else in his limited time on the field.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s disappointing 6-0 loss at LAFC. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Orlando City

Flashback Friday: June 18, 2022 vs. Houston Dynamo

Let’s relive a yellow-card filled match with the Dynamo that took place just over four years ago.

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2 hours ago

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June 19, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The main event for today is, of course, the United States Men’s National Team’s second game of group play against Australia this afternoon. I’ll be fortunate enough to take that game in live, and I’ll probably report back on it during Monday’s subscriber newsletter, so keep an eye out for that if you’re signed up! If you’re not, you can do that here (the newsletter is a TAM or DP level perk).

In the meantime though, let’s continue our reminiscence on some memorable Orlando City games from years gone by. Last week we relived a shutout win over the Colorado Rapids that took place a little over two years ago, and today we’ll be going a little farther into the archives to June 18, 2022 and a home match against the Houston Dynamo.

The Lions were in slightly uneven form going into the match. They were on a three-game winless run (0-1-2) in league play, a four-game winless run in all competitions (0-1-3 with a shootout win after a U.S. Open Cup draw against Inter Miami), and hadn’t picked up three points in just over a month. Changing that wasn’t going to be the easiest task due to Rodrigo Schlegel being unavailable for selection due to a suspension for yellow card accumulation.

That meant that Oscar Pareja’s team consisted of Pedro Gallese in goal; Joao Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Kyle Smith, and Ruan in defense; Cesar Araujo and Junior Urso in the double pivot; Jake Mulraney, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres in attacking midfield; and Ercan Kara leading the line.

OCSC got off to a lively start and created its first chance after just two minutes, when Moutinho sent in a cross for Mulraney, whose effort was blocked. Kara sent a header straight at Houston goalkeeper Steve Clark shortly afterward, before Corey Baird sent a shot of his own into Gallese’s chest four minutes later.

Jansson then picked up a yellow for dissent in the 14th minute, which meant he’d miss the next game due to yellow card accumulation. The Dynamo seemingly took inspiration from his booking, as Robert Avila, Adam Lundqvist, and Matias Vera all picked up yellows of their own in the space of the next seven minutes.

Orlando finally provided a non-discipline-related event in the 25th minute, when it broke the deadlock. Pereyra played a delightful stabbed ball over the top of the defense with his first touch, which fell perfectly into the path of an onrushing Torres. He then used his own first touch to play the ball hard and low across the top of the six-yard box, where Kara was on hand to put it home from close range.

The next notable moment came in the form of — you guessed it — another yellow card, as Zeca picked up Houston’s fourth of the game in just the 32nd minute. Orlando responded by Mulraney carving out a good chance for Torres four minutes later, but his effort was blocked by defender Tim Parker. Pereyra then cut Orlando’s yellow card deficit in half in the 39th minute, as he fouled Baird and paid the price.

The closing moments of the half saw a flurry of activity. Pereyra got behind the defense in the 44th minute but could only send his shot directly at Clark. Just as the clock struck 45 minutes, the Lions thought they had a penalty after the ball hit Avila on the arm, but video review rightfully changed the call to a free kick on the edge of the box. Kara nearly scored as he was somewhat surprisingly the man to take the ensuing set piece, but Clark once again made a save to keep his team in the game.

Oh, and Teenage Hadebe picked up a yellow card in the 45th minute.

At halftime, the Lions boasted more possession (52.9%-47.1%), shots (9-3), and shots on goal (4-1), but just had the 1-0 lead to show for it. The Dynamo had a vastly superior lead in yellow cards (5-2).

Houston made a couple of changes at halftime, with Darwin Quintero coming on for Avila, and Daniel Steres coming on for Parker, but Orlando started the second half as hot as it had finished the first.

Clark saved from Urso in the 48th minute after the midfielder was set up well by Torres, but the game then entered a bit of a lull as both teams tried to adjust to the Dynamo substitutions. Fortunately for Orlando, things sprang back into life in the 57th minute. Moutinho put a ball into the box that Mulraney flicked on, and while Hadebe tried to clear it, he could only get it as far as Pereyra. The captain lashed the ball on the half-volley with his left foot, and it took the slightest of deflections off Kara and ended up in the net for the Austrian’s second of the night.

It took Houston less than a minute to cut Orlando’s 2-0 lead in half, though. Zeca sent a dangerous ball into the box from the right wing, and Carlos Ferreira was able to beat Smith to it. He stuck a great header into the far corner beyond a fully stretched Gallese, and the Dynamo had life at 2-1.

The Lions nearly got their own response just a minute after conceding, but Kara’s snapshot attempt at the top of the six-yard box flashed just wide, denying the big striker a hat trick.

The 64th minute saw Gallese come off his line to try to clear the danger during a Dynamo break, but he got none of the ball and all of Ferreira. Fortunately, referee Rosendo Mendoza was content to give El Pulpo a yellow card and the Lions managed to keep all 11 men on the field.

Pareja made a series of changes to try to keep Orlando fresh and in control, but Houston kept carving out good chances. The Dynamo hit the post with the free kick that was awarded for Gallese’s foul, and substitute Tyler Pasher forced El Pulpo into saves in the 72nd and 76th minutes to preserve OCSC’s slim advantage.

The 87th minute had hearts in mouths for the Orlando City faithful, as Thorleifur Ulfarsson went down in the box under pressure from Smith, and there were immediately questions about a foul. The Accountant was proven innocent by the replays though, and when Mendoza went to his pocket it was to show Ulfarsson a yellow card for simulation.

Orlando had a chance to put the game to bed as the clock ticked into the 90th minute, but Benji Michel put his shot over the bar from about seven yards away, and it looked to be a hugely consequential miss when Quintero put the ball into the net for Houston in the final minute of added time. The assistant referee rightfully pulled the play back for offside though, and the Lions managed to escape with a welcome three points.

The final stats saw Houston with the edge in possession (53.8%-46.2%) but the Lions with an edge in shots (18-13), shots on target (6-5), and duels won (52-45). Perhaps most crucially, the Dynamo finished with a whopping six yellow cards to Orlando’s pitiful (by comparison) three.

Ryan Smith handled our Player Grades for this one, and he gave Pereyra the Man of the Match nod with a grade of 8 out of 10. Other high earners were Kara with a 7.5, and Gallese and Torres, who each received a 7.

That’ll do it for today’s glimpse into the past. I’ll see you right back here next Friday for another trip down memory lane. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links: 6/19/26

USMNT takes on Australia today, Christian Pulisic’s availability still in question, Canada wins big, and more.

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6 hours ago

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June 19, 2026

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Image of Maxime Crepeau taking a goal kick against Atlanta.
Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Happy Friday! Last Friday, we all got to enjoy the U.S. kicking off its World Cup campaign with an emphatic win. Hopefully, the Yanks can replicate that performance in today’s game. It should be a fun start to a weekend filled with soccer, including an Orlando City B home game on Sunday. If the soccer bug has bitten you this month, make sure to go out and support the Young Lions!

USMNT Hosts Australia Today in World Cup

The United States Men’s National Team returns to action this afternoon with a match against Australia in Seattle — the team’s second game of this year’s World Cup. Both teams won their first games of the tournament, with the U.S. dominating Paraguay 4-1 and Australia beating Turkiye 2-0. American forward Folarin Balogun scored a brace in that win and the U.S. will look to keep the attacking momentum flowing against a formidable Australian defense. A win tonight by either side would go a long way towards winning Group D, which would notably face one of the third-place teams to start the knockout stage.

Christian Pulisic’s Availability Up in the Air

It’s still unclear if American star Christian Pulisic will play for the USMNT today as he works his way back from injury. The 27-year-old notched an assist in the win against Paraguay but had to exit at halftime after aggravating a calf injury picked up in training. Sebastian Berhalter came on for him in that match, but it will be interesting to see if USMNT Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino opts for Giovanni Reyna or Tim Weah instead. Pochettino did state that he’ll be available for the game against Turkiye if he doesn’t play today, so that’s good at least.

Canada Cruises to Big Win Over Qatar

Orlando City goalkeeper Maxine Crepeau started in goal but had little to do in Canada’s 6-0 win over Qatar, which was its first-ever win at a World Cup. Former Lion Cyle Larin got the scoring started for Canada in the 16th minute with his second goal of the tournament and Jonathan David scored a hat trick. Qatar was reduced to 10 men when Homam Al-Amin was shown a straight red in the 32nd minute, and then Assim Madibo was sent off early in the second half for a tackle that resulted in a gruesome leg injury to Ismael Kone. The Canadian midfielder was stretchered off, and his replacement, Nathan Saliba, scored from a free kick and raised Kone’s shirt in celebration. Canada now sits atop Group B with a better goal differential than Switzerland, meaning it will win the group with a win or draw against the Swiss on Wednesday.

Keeping Up With the World Cup

As for the other Group B game, Switzerland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1 by scoring four times in the second half after the hydration break. Substitute Johan Manzambi scored twice, but Bosnia’s consolation goal from Ermin Mahmic could play a role in goal-differential tiebreakers. In Group A, South Africa kept its hopes alive thanks to a late penalty that Teboho Mokoena converted in a 1-1 draw against Czechia.

Along with the U.S. game, today’s action includes Morocco taking on Scotland and Brazil playing against Haiti in Group C. We’ll also get to see if Orlando City midfielder Braian Ojeda takes the field when Paraguay faces Turkiye late tonight.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you all this time around. I hope you all have a fantastical Friday and rest of your weekend

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How Orlando City’s Players Fared In Transfermarkt’s Latest Market Valuations

A look at Transfermarkt’s latest player valuations for Orlando City and where those players rank across all of MLS.

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1 day ago

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June 18, 2026

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Image of Inter&Co Stadium at night.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

The World Cup is finally here and in full swing, and the soccer on the field has been thoroughly enjoyable through its first week. The “home” North American teams are off to a good start, with dominating wins by Mexico and the United States, a draw from Canada, and good showings from Haiti and Curaçao, even though both teams lost (Panama had not played as of this article’s completion). Curaçao’s goal against Germany was one of the moments of the tournament so far, even in what turned out to be a thumping defeat, and if the next few weeks can match the first week, we are in for a great tournament.

And thank goodness for that, because Orlando City and the Orlando Pride are still on hiatus, leaving only Orlando City B in action locally, as MLS NEXT Pro continues to channel its inner Mcfadden & Whitehead, reminding everyone that “ain’t no stoppin’ us now.”

And speaking of on the move, several Lions who moved on from Orlando contributed majorly to their nation’s opening games, with Alex Freeman (U.S.) and Richie Laryea (Canada) earning starts and Cyle Larin (Canada) coming off the bench. All three were excellent during their time on the field, and Larin and Freeman each recorded a World Cup goal contribution (goal for Larin and assist for Freeman) on the same day. Laryea really broke out after leaving Orlando City (much like another L-named former Lion on a World Cup roster, Brazil’s Léo Pereira), but Larin and Freeman were excellent in Orlando before transferring elsewhere, which leads me to Transfermarkt, the go-to website for player valuations.

The analysts at Transfermarkt generally update their player valuations twice per year, with occasional additional valuations upon player transfers. Fortunately for us during this dearth of Orlando City soccer, those updates happen in June and December, so there are brand new valuations for the Lions (and most of the players in MLS) as of the last few weeks.

Keep in mind these are estimated player valuations if another team would try to buy that player, and not salaries or estimates of worth as it relates to Orlando City’s 2026 team. Robin Jansson, for example, is valued at a lower amount than Iago and considerably lower than David Brekalo, even though the Orlando City coaching staff likely rates him as their top center back on this year’s team. Jansson is nearing retirement age, while Iago and Brekalo both have many years left in their careers, hence their larger value than Jansson.

The calculations behind Transfermarkt‘s estimated valuations are proprietary and are not shared on the site, but here is the list of Orlando City’s top players by position, and their corresponding rank among all MLS players at that position:

PlayerPosition*Valuation (in $ millions)MLS Rank at Position
Maxime CrépeauGK$2.09T-8
Adrián MarínLB$1.74T-20
David BrekaloCB$4.06T-5
Griffin DorseyRB$1.74T-14
Braian OjedaDM$4.06T-3
Eduard AtuestaCM$4.06T-15
TiagoLW$4.06T-13
Marco PašalićRW$7.536
Martín OjedaAM$10.432
Duncan McGuireCF$2.32T-35

*GK=goalkeeper, LB = left back, CB = center back, RB = right back, DM = defensive midfielder, CM = central midfielder, LW = left wing, RW = right wing, AM = attacking midfielder, and CF = center forward. Those positions were assigned by Transfermarkt. I cannot tell you why Braian Ojeda is a defensive midfielder and Atuesta is a central midfielder. Also, in a somewhat surprising categorization, attacking midfielders are classified as midfielders and not attackers, which will become relevant below.

For those who are interested, the full list of Orlando City valuations can be found here; just know that the numbers will look different because the site tracks valuations in Euros and I did the conversion to dollars for the table above. Putting that mathematics degree to good use!

On the whole, Transfermarkt values Orlando City’s roster at $56.6 million, with goalkeepers at $2.3 million, defenders at $11 million, midfielders at $24.1 million, and attackers at $19.3 million, respectively (there is some rounding in there, which is why when you did the math in your head, and I know you did, you summed those values to $56.7 million instead of $56.6 million). Among all MLS teams, those positional sums rank 11th, 19th, fourth, and 20th, in the same positional order. Orlando City is not the only team that is about to add a new signing once the secondary transfer window opens up, but Antoine Griezmann is currently valued at $9.27 million and adding that to the existing $19.3 million of Orlando City’s attacking group would vault them from 20th to sixth in attack and into fifth overall across all rosters.

Griezmann is not yet on the roster, however, so he is not included in the chart below, which displays the MLS rankings based on Transfermarkt‘s valuations. Orlando City ranks 26th in the league in points earned per game, but the Lions are doing it with a roster that is estimated as having the 12th-most value, and it would be a lot nicer if those two were flipped, or if the Lions could just play better and pick up more points. It is the hope that kills you keeps you going.

Here is the current state of Transfermarkt‘s valuations (I combined goalkeepers and defenders into one grouping):

Graph showing estimated valuations by position group for MLS teams.

Miami dominates this list, as its roster contains three of the league’s seven highest-valued players, a group of three that by themselves are more valuable than the bottom eight teams in MLS. The less said about them the better, so that is enough on the Herons.

As previously mentioned, Orlando City’s midfield, featuring the league’s 14th-highest valued player Martín Ojeda, is where most of the team’s value is. Pašalić leads the attacking group at $7.53 million (26th overall in MLS), nearly double the estimated value of the next highest attacker Tiago, and Brekalo is in a similar boat as the defender with the most value ($4.06 million), nearly twice that of Crépeau ($2.09 million) and more than double any other back line player. Adding Griezmann will give the Lions some bite on the field and also in these rankings, as McGuire has the most value on the club but ranks only 35th among forwards, and his value has fallen 60% from where it was in June of 2024 ($5 million).

Among the 26 players that Transfermarkt valued for Orlando City, 16 of them had valuations two seasons ago as well. Eight players have increased in value from 2024, three are at the same valuation, and five have decreased. As much as I would like to put stock into these valuations, as Transfermarkt is one of the most trusted sites in the business, a certain former Lion named Freeman is on a rocket ship trajectory in his career and yet is currently only valued at the same dollar amount as Atuesta, Brekalo, Braian Ojeda, and Tiago. Positional differences account for some part of it, but I think few teams in the world would actually value all of those players the same, with Freeman commanding far more than any of those other four players.

In the end, a player’s value is determined not by a website but by what one team is willing to pay for them, and with the MLS secondary transfer window set to open in a little less than a month on July 13, we will soon see if any current Lions are transferred out, and at what price, and if there will be any new Lions joining the team aside from Griezmann.

Orlando City got younger and, according to Transfermarkt, more valuable from 2025 to 2026, but while we as fans enjoy the discourse and rumors about buying and selling players, what we really want are wins and banners. I do not think San Jose’s fans care one bit that their team is rated as having the third-least value in MLS, the Earthquakes are averaging earning the third-most points per match, picking up three points in most of their games.

The Lions still have 19 regular-season games remaining, and it would be great if by the next update from Transfermarkt in December the roster will be full of players who increased their valuations after a scorching run to close out the season. Once again, it is the hope that kills you keeps you going.

Vamos Orlando!

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