Orlando City’s second season is coming loaded with expectations. The whole MLS experiment has been about setting and defying expectations in many ways. The struggles last year with depth and injuries in the expansion year were frustrating for many.
It has only made Orlando City hungrier for the playoffs though.
There were a few key moves and acquisitions to make Orlando City better, but largely the team is going to rely on its depth and on its youth to get better. The hope is the problem last year was injuries forced young players to play before they were ready.
The Lions have some good problems to have in players they believe in as they go through training camp right now. There appears to be depth and several positions up in the air as training camp continues ahead of the March 6 season opener.
Orlando City will always have Kaka in the midfield and Cyle Larin as a forward. Kevin Molino and Brek Shea also seem certain to fill midfield slots (although Shea can slide back to defense at left back). And Aurellian Collin is a fixture as a center back.
Other than that? The Lions are likely seeing a lot of competition for positions all around the roster.
Austin David of The Mane Land detailed some of the more involved position battles — Joe Bendik vs. Earl Edwards Jr. at goalkeeper, Seb Hines vs. David Mateos at center back next to Collin, the battle in the midfield opposite Molino where Carlos Rivas seems to have an inside track after his strong finish to the season.
On the fullback position, David foresees a big battle between newcomer Kevin Alston and Rafael Ramos:
With the new acquisition of veteran fullback Kevin Alston, Rafael Ramos‘ starting spot isn’t a guarantee. With Ramos having the most red cards on the team last season, the 21-year-old will have to maintain his composure and improve on marking in order to keep his spot in the starting 11. On the other side, Luke Boden will be sharing time with Brek Shea. Shea showed improvements in playing on defense, but there’s still a lot to be desired from the converted midfielder. Boden has Head Coach Adrian Heath’s trust, having played for him for going on five years, but just like Shea, there are improvements that can be made in terms of his speed and man marking.
Depth of course is a good problem to have.
Orlando City should have plenty of healthy competition throughout training camp to make the team better. With international breaks in the mix too, that depth becomes even more important since Orlando has so many players who play for their national teams.
What that opening day lineup looks like is yet to be determined for sure. The Lions will begin playing some preseason friendlies in the coming weeks as they work out their lineup and which connections work for their second season.
