Orlando City was dreading Sept. 5 for some time now.
Brazil had already announced Kaka would be joining them for their friendly against the United States. Usual absences in Cyle Larin and Darwin Ceren will put the Lions in a major offensive hole before the ball even kicks off.
For the record, that means 22 of Orlando City’s 33 goals will not be available. And only Pedro Ribeiro and Aurellian Collin (a defender!) are left with more than one goal on the season.
To say Orlando City’s offense is one dimensional might be putting it a bit too kindly.
The Lions have had struggles offensively this year. They rank pretty much in the middle of the league when it comes to scoring and the offense has come in gone in waves — mostly on the whims of Larin and Kaka. That is the reality of Orlando City’s offense.
With both gone, the challenge is a big one Saturday against New England.
The expectation is for Orlando City to take more of a defensive shape, looking to counterattack and steal a goal and the points. That is the approach Pedro Ribeiro told Paul Tenorio of the Orlando Sentinel earlier this week:
“We need to go back to the way we played Houston the first [road] game, Portland, San Jose, those road games that we got results playing away from home. That means it’s not always going to be pretty, it’s not always going to be two, three goals we are going to score, but if we get out of there with a shutout, we don’t get scored on, we’ll get at least a point. If we get a goal, great. If we get out of there 1-0 with an ugly goal like we did Houston, or with a PK, we’ll take it. At this point in the season, we just need to keep adding points.”
Orlando City certainly could look to be more gritty as they were early in the season. But with the Playoff race heating up, getting goals and getting wins is paramount.
And when teams often go into a defensive shape, that is when they get in trouble and give up goals. Things can get bad when a team gets too defensive. And to get a win Orlando City will still have to score a goal.
Who can step up and do that Saturday is a big question. That kind of confidence though would help the team when the star players return.
The likes of Bryan Rochez and Danny Mwanga will be put into bigger roles this week to score. If they can get one — Mwanga scored against Louisville and awaits a real opportunity at MLS to have a shot at another — maybe that helps them gain confidence to be that scoring boost for the rest of the season.
The Lions also have potential goal scorers like Kevin Molino and Brek Shea on the shelf. And young players like Ribeiro and Darwin Ceren certainly have goal scoring potential.
It is just about getting them to help support the attack and put the ball in the net. That is the part that has not been easy.
Orlando City has a tall task Saturday night in Foxboro. There is an opportunity for players to break out when the opportunity presents itself.
[…] Orlando City was without much of its key offensive figures as the team headed to Foxboro to take on New England. The offense was already going to be a problem anyway with such a one dimensional attack and no momentum after nearly two months without a victory. The playoffs seemed to continue to be slipping away. […]