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!

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! I don’t know about you, but it’s been a pretty dismal week for me, and I’m ready to bid it farewell as we get ready for the weekend. I don’t have too many plans lined up, but that’s nice in its own way for some rest and relaxation here and there. Let’s get to the links!

Orlando City Adds Brazilian Left Back on Loan

Brazilian left back Vinicius Nogueira is joining Orlando City on loan from PFC Ludogorets in Bulgaria. The loan will last through the 2027 MLS Sprint Season and includes an option to buy. Left back has been a position of concern for the Lions throughout the year, with Homegrown Player Zakaria Taifi filling in as of late. Hopefully Nogueira can acclimate quickly and make an impact as the Lions hunt for a playoff spot and silverware in the U.S. Open Cup.

Lions Reportedly Pursued U.S. International Fullback John Tolkin

According to Tom Bogert, Orlando City reportedly reached a deal with Holstein Kiel to sign American left back John Tolkin, but he opted to stay in Germany instead. A wrinkle to the deal though was that St. Louis City held Tolkin’s discovery rights, and so Orlando was set to trade Tahir Reid-Brown to St. Louis for those rights. Despite the deal for Tolkin falling through, Orlando didn’t block that move for Reid-Brown.

As for other Orlando City transfers that don’t seem to be happening, Marco Pasalic’s reported move to Europe this summer seems to be dead in the water. You’ll need to get past The Athletic‘s paywall for the full details, but after the Lions rejected Hull City’s loan offer, the English side reportedly didn’t make an offer for a permanent transfer, which Orlando would prefer over a loan. Other teams are also said to be interested in a loan deal but Bogert writes that if the Croatian is to leave Orlando, OCSC would like it to be a permanent transfer.

Pride Sign Goalkeeper Cara Martin to New Contract

Orlando Pride goalkeeper Cara Martin has signed a new contract with the club through the 2028 season with a mutual option for 2029. The 22-year-old signed with the Pride in January after four years at Georgetown. It’s an interesting decision by the club, considering Cosette Morche had a solid performance shutting out the Washington Spirit and Kat Asman just started for the Denver Summit while on loan.

Lions Hit the Road After Homestand

After six straight games at home, Orlando City is on the road this weekend for its match against Minnesota United. It’s been a grueling month for the Lions, which were spared from having to play yet another midweek match by not qualifying for the Leagues Cup quarterfinals. The Lions have been able to use this week to recover and improve, and interim head coach Martin Perelman praised the club’s staff for helping the team through this stretch.

“Fortunately, here we have a really good mental coach, which is Andrea (Gonzalez),” he said. “She does a really good job and helps us a lot in that area. Here in Orlando, I am proud because we have a really good interdisciplinary staff, and that mental part is well protected and well managed by her.”

UEFA Champions League Draw Unveiled

The draw for this year’s UEFA Champions League’s league phase is complete and there are some exciting matchups to look forward to. Paris Saint-Germain’s quest for three straight titles will feature home games against Barcelona and Roma along with away trips to England to play Manchester City and Aston Villa. Jose Mourinho will see some familiar faces during Real Madrid’s campaign, which includes games against Inter Milan, Roma, and Arsenal. It should be a fun tournament between the best teams in Europe and it will be interesting to see which underdogs make a splash this year.

Free Kicks

• The Orlando Pride moved up a spot to 11th in CBS Sports‘ NWSL power rankings following their 1-0 win against the Washington Spirit.
• MLS NEXT Pro announced that it’s changing its schedule to align with the new fall-to-spring MLS calendar, including the addition of a 2027 Sprint Season of its own.
• Julian Hall signed a four-year contract extension with the New York Red Bulls that lasts until the 2029-2030 season and will be an MLS U22 Initiative player.
• Inter Miami has named Kily Gonzalez as its next head coach, with the Argentinian replacing interim head coach Guillermo Hoyos. Miami is currently on a five-game winless streak after losing 2-1 to Toronto FC.
• UEFA requested discovery of potential evidence as it prepares a criminal complaint against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.
• Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush was loaned to Tottenham for the remainder of the season, with the move set to become permanent next summer for a reported $68 million transfer fee.

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

Orlando City’s season resumed on July 22 at San Jose, and in the exactly one month between that game and the home game against Real Salt Lake on Aug. 22, the club played nine games. What is rest and recovery, anyway? Three of those matches were in the Cash Grab Leagues Cup and the other six were in MLS regular-season play, and the Lions are performing better during this portion of the season than they did before the World Cup break.

As it turns out, Orlando City had a pretty tough schedule during Leagues Cup, as Monterrey and Club León have both reached the semifinal round, and the Lions ended up going 1-1-1 in the three games. They really should have gone 2-1-0 but let their concentration slip at the end of the third game and allowed a tying goal in the final seconds.

It was not surprising that Adrián Marín was involved in that late goal, as he has struggled during the last few weeks, but it was surprising that Antoine Griezmann also played a role in allowing Atlético San Luis to even the game. Griezmann was overly unselfish and turned the ball over when he could have iced the game by shooting it himself, either scoring an insurance goal or running the clock out.

While attempting to pass instead of shooting turned out to be the wrong decision in that game, the French superstar has been just shy of brilliant overall since joining Orlando City, leading the team back into the playoff hunt (the Lions would make the playoffs if the season ended today) and bringing qualities to the field that few in the world can.

Since play started back up, Griezmann has five goal contributions during MLS games, which leads the team and ranks tied for sixth across the entire league. His attacking style of play has added a new dimension to the Orlando City attack, as evidenced by some of the advanced stats tracked by Futi:

Futi’s tracking breaks a full game down into smaller chunks, which they call phases of play:

These are labels for familiar situations in a football (soccer) match that help us describe what’s going on beyond “Well, a bunch of people sure are chasing a ball around.” Phases break the game into bite-size chunks to make it easier to digest.

You can read more about Futi’s explanation of phases in the full article, but suffice it to say the coders who log each game break down each part of it into hundreds of phases, and when Griezmann is involved offensively or defensively, he is part of a positive result (a.k.a., winning the phase, nearly two-thirds of the time). The only Orlando City player with a higher win percentage is rising star Justin Ellis, one of the most highly touted players to ever come through the Orlando City academy system and a player in the Griezmann mold, learning from Griezmann himself.

For context on phases won, 63% is right there with some of the best players in MLS. For example, Grizi is slightly below Lionel Messi (68%) and Evander (65%), but above Denis Bouanga (62%) and Carles Gil (61%). League average is….50%, because it has to be. Math!

The French attacker also already leads the team in completing passes that progress the ball at least 10 yards toward the opposition’s goal in the attacking two-thirds of the field and ranks behind only speedster (though somehow not among the fastest in MLS in the new EA Sports FC 27) Iván Angulo for total progressive plays per 90 minutes. Griezmann’s gravity on offense has opened up room for his teammates, and since the World Cup break the Lions are one of only nine teams to improve in goals scored per game rate post-break as compared to pre-break:

Griezmann is contributing heavily on defense as well, as he drops deeper than most forwards — perhaps even all forwards — throughout the game and is always actively engaged defensively. American Soccer Analysis already ranks him fourth among forwards in its “interrupting” metric (the one defense-specific sub-metric that goes into goals added), despite how few minutes he has played, and after allowing 2.93 goals scored per game before the break, the Lions have only allowed 1.17 since they returned to action. Orlando City is among only 10 teams in the league that are scoring more goals and allowing fewer goals than the league average since the World Cup break:

Adding one of the best players in the world has made the team better; thank you, Andrew, for the insight.

Even with Griezmann’s addition, the Lions are still at risk of missing the playoffs and need to stack up wins in the final weeks of the season to ensure that they play in the postseason for the seventh consecutive season. In his six MLS games with the team, Orlando City has picked up 10 points, and had it been playing at that same 1.67 points-per-game pace all season, the team would be in fourth place and comfortably above the line.

Major tests still remain, as every team left on the schedule is either currently in a playoff position or within four points of one. At some point soon, however, Orlando City will get a boost from the return of Martín Ojeda, who despite not playing since May is still tied for 11th in goals scored and is seventh in goals scored per 90 minutes.

Griezmann is tied for 17th in goal contributions per 90 minutes among players who have played at least as many minutes as he has (as an aside, if you throw out minimum minutes requirements, Orlando City’s Ignacio Gómez leads the league in this category, with his one goal scored in only 13 minutes played). Once everyone is healthy, Orlando City will resemble more of a many-headed hydra than a lion with all of the team’s attacking talent, and with a pair of tremendous passers in Ellis and Griezmann leading the attack and finishers like Daryl Dike, Martín Ojeda, Marco Pašalić, and Tyrese Spicer roaming around the opposition’s box, the offense could still improve even more than it has already.

The Lions need wins, not draws, so they need to take that possibility and make it reality. The defense has improved but is still leaky, so wins are more likely to come by scoring two or three goals rather than trying to hold a 1-0 lead. The next two games — at Minnesota and home vs. San Diego — are eminently winnable, and a three-game run of wins over teams from the west would be best if Griezmann and the Lions are really going to be beasts in the east.

Vamos Orlando!