New York City FC are on the road this weekend as they face Orlando City SC at Exploria Stadium.
For this edition of 'The Away End' presented by Berkeley College & Rennert International, we spoke to Michael Citro, Managing Editor for Orlando City SC blog The Mane Land.
Hi Michael, thanks for speaking with us. How would you evaluate Orlando's season so far?
Orlando City has had an inconsistent season so far in 2022. That was not unexpected after the club lost nearly its entire attack in the off-season with the departures of Nani, Daryl Dike, and Chris Mueller. The front office was always going to have difficulty replacing Dike, especially, who is such a unique talent in that he can not only score in a variety of ways, but he can also create his own chances through his rare combination of size, speed, and strength, overpowering even the league's best center backs at times. Ercan Kara was brought in to take up the striker position and was immediately dangerous in the preseason but suffered a knock that kept him from forming chemistry with his new team for several weeks into the season. He eventually found some before teams started to overwhelm Nani's replacement — Facundo Torres — and Mauricio Pereyra, which cut off the supply chain to Kara because the Lions were getting nothing production-wise from the wing opposite Torres.
The decision to sign Torres as a Young Designated Player to take the place of a crafty and talented veteran DP like Nani was also going to take some time to bear fruit. Oscar Pareja figured out a solution by dropping Pereyra deeper to provide spacing between his two best creators (Torres and Pereyra), but while that was happening, Kara picked up a couple of minor knocks that had him back out of the lineup. Mueller's replacement, meanwhile, was supposed to be Gaston Gonzalez. However, the young Argentine sustained a season-ending knee injury in his final match with his former club and won't play for Orlando until 2023.
The wild card in the mix was Alexandre Pato, who missed all of last year after suffering a knee injury on the first match day, so he was essentially like having a new player on the team. Pato started the season well, and then faded badly, and was out of form for quite some time as Pareja figured out his best role in the system. Pato began to find that form not long ago, but then he sustained another injury that looks like it will shelve him for the rest of the season. Pato's injury is particularly problematic because he was another creator who could also score and Orlando's mid-season signings of Nicholas Gioacchini and Ivan Angulo look more like half measures (so far, at least) than the kinds of solutions meant to push a team over the top for the stretch run.
As a result of all of the above, the Lions' offense has been unable to find any rhythm, with the lone exception of the second half of the team's U.S. Open Cup semifinal match against the New York Red Bulls. Orlando has been left to grind out games and has done so with mixed results in 2022, leading to its current .500 record. It's a talented team that's capable of achieving great things, but we may not see it operating to its full capacity until next year when Gonzalez joins the mix.
If I were to grade the club this season, I would give it a C so far. The defense has been quite good when healthy, and when the attack isn't turning the ball over and putting it in a bad position. U22 Initiative defensive midfielder signing Cesar Araujo has been a big part of that. He might be the league's most underrated signing of the year.
The team has an important U.S. Open Cup Final coming up, how do you think that will influence Sunday's game?
I don't expect it to have any influence at all. The final isn't until Sept. 7 and the match against rival Inter Miami that was scheduled for the weekend prior to the championship game was moved into October so that the Lions can be fresh for that match-up. So, New York City FC's visit is more than a week out from that cup final, and I'm sure the team will be focused on this weekend's important league match rather than the Open Cup game.
Who would you predict as the team's dangerman heading into the game?
The player who seems to be in good form at the moment is Young Designated Player Facundo Torres. He's been either scoring or setting up goals lately and is getting better at finding spaces between the lines. Austrian DP striker Ercan Kara returned from injury last weekend and promptly scored, so he could be a threat as well. After all, Kara is the team's leading goal scorer, with eight to his name so far. The problem Orlando City has for this match is that the team's midfield maestro, Mauricio Pereyra, is on yellow card suspension. Distribution could be an issue and will be something I'll be watching with interest.
This is the first meeting of the season for these two, what do you think will be the deciding factor in Sunday's game?
I think the deciding factor will be if Orlando can break NYCFC down without Pereyra's presence and, if so, whether the Lions finish their chances. If Orlando could even be average in the final third this season, the team would still be in the hunt for first place in the conference, but goals have been harder to come by than expected. Perhaps just as critical will be the health of starting center back Robin Jansson. While Rodrigo Schlegel is a good backup option, Jansson is a bit more reliable and consistent and also can break lines with his crisp passing (short or long), which is a tool Schlegel hasn't yet pulled out of his toolbox.
And for any of our supporters that might be in Orlando for a game are there any spots you'd suggest they check out?
I always recommend the bars and restaurants at Church Street Station downtown, just a few blocks from Exploria Stadium. There's plenty of variety there, a festive atmosphere on game day, and the walk to the stadium is only a few blocks. For craft beer aficionados, just a couple of blocks west of the stadium on Church Street is the excellent Broken Strings brewery. And if you're staying in town for a few days and want to experience something uniquely Florida, Gatorland is a good time for the whole family and is much less expensive than a day at the theme parks.
