Bryan Rochez has had a rough rookie season in MLS after being brought in as a designated player. He has two goals in two games at a critical time.
With all the attention Kaka received, Orlando City’s two other designated players certainly got overlooked a bit. The Lions opted to use all three of their designated player slots. With the other two, they went in the opposite direction, not going after another established star like Kaka but young players in Carlos Rivas and Bryan Rochez.
The rumors have already begun that Orlando City will look to take one of those players off their designated player ledger.
Neither has produced at Kaka’s levels.
Rivas has come off the bench in 13 of 23 games this season and has yet to score on 14 shots on goal. He has two assists although his speed has proven valuable on the perimeter opposite Brek Shea or Kevin Molino. He does not quite have the technical creativity as either of those two players.
He is just 21 years old though so his designation was more of an investment.
Then there is Bryan Rochez. The now-20-year-old forward has impressed throughout youth World Cups for Honduras and was brought on to grow with Cyle Larin and Kaka to make a formidable attack. But he started the season hurt and was not fit enough to play at all.
The opened the door somewhat for Larin to come in and Larin set the MLS world on fire. Meanwhile Rochez has yet to start a game and has largely been used as a sub for Larin as he builds fitness to play an entire game. Eventually Orlando City would probably like to see the two youngsters playing together up top with Kaka as a center attacking midfielder. There is a lot of talent.
But Rochez’s talent had gone mostly unrealized in his first MLS season. That is until last weekend when he scored his first MLS goal. He added one more Saturday against the Chicago Fire, tapping in a goal off a beautiful cross from Brek Shea and leave from Darwin Ceren to the center of the box.
Rochez seemed finally to make good on the promise of using a designated player spot. And now it has everyone getting excited about what he can do. And, as he told Simon Veness of MLSsoccer.com after the win over Sporting Kansas City, the pressure from this season has not gotten to him as he finally made his breakthrough:
“I don’t feel [under pressure] because of it,” Róchez added. “Everyone in the club has been terrific in supporting me and helping me adapt. And this includes the fans, who are always fantastic. And now I feel really good.
“I know what I am capable of, what I can give to the team and what I still need to give. I need to keep working daily with humility and with the confidence that my teammates and coaches give me. The last game I think I came in really good, and I have felt really good in the last two games now, so I hope to have an opportunity in the following games.”
Now it seems Orlando City is discovering exactly how good Rochez could be. Better late than never for this season, but certainly very promising for the end of the season.
It has some already wondering if Rochez might be a better starter at striker than Larin right now since Larin has hit something of a rookie wall.
Consistency is still is something he needs to learn. After all, he has not even started a game and the most minutes he has played is the 33 minutes he played against Sporting Kansas City last week. It seems like he is just beginning to earn his way onto the field more and push for more playing time.
There is no denying though that he has produced. Strikers are in the game to score and he has two in two games.
Rochez’s sudden emergence late in the season portends to something positive moving forward.
