Kreis begins making tactical changes

Before Orlando City coach Jason Kreis led his first training session Tuesday, he laid the foundation for changes he will be making to the club.

Kreis held a team meeting that spanned about an hour before hitting the field, reviewing tactical adjustments he wants to implement.

“This morning’s meeting was all about tactics,” Kreis said. “We gave them a general overview of how we want to play and how we’ll see the game going forward and it was great. It was what I want in those meetings. There was some interaction, some questions and hopefully we have some clarity.”

Lions midfielder Kevin Molino said it was a good meeting, and the players are looking forward to showing they can implement the changes.

“He explained what he wants us to do and what we’re going to do in training. Very specific,” Molino said.

While Kreis declined to go into detail about his

tactical plan, he did acknowledge the coaches saw problems during the first half of the Lions’ match at Columbus and would prefer to build on a strong second half during which Orlando City rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a draw.

“He was clear about it, and we’re going to work on it today in training,” Molino said of corrections that were noted during the first half of the Columbus game.

Kreis said the Lions will try to make the most of a friendly against Stoke City tonight at Orlando City B’s home field, the Titan Soccer Complex in Melbourne.

“When I first saw that, I was a little bit aggrieved. I didn’t want to deal with a match in the first week, would have preferred a full week of training,” he said.

“We’ll approach that match and use it that way, which I think it actually could be beneficial. … We’ll use it as a training session. We’ll use it as an evaluation piece to make decisions going forward.”

While he wants to get a good look at the MLS squad and prepare them for the team’s game Sunday against New England, Kreis said Orlando City B players will participate in the friendly.

“I think it’s important for us to not only be evaluating the first team, but also to be looking into the second team to see if there’s anyone else there,” Kreis said.

Injury update

Kreis said there is a 50-50 chance Brek Shea will return to the Lions’ lineup this week.

The veteran player who has lined up at left back and left wing missed Orlando City’s game at Columbus during the weekend due to a knee injury.

Shea participated in the early portion of the Lions’ training session Tuesday, and his progress is being monitored closely.

Kreis didn’t list a timeline for Shea’s return, but he indicated the injury did not appear to be the type that would knock Shea out of the lineup for an extended period of time.

Fellow injured Lions Harrison Heath and Tommy Redding attended training, with Heath attending the team meeting and observing the team training session without a knee brace on his injured leg. Redding also attended the team meeting and was jogging around the training field separately from the team.

Transfer update

Kreis reiterated Orlando City has not ruled out making other transactions during the secondary transfer window, but he noted the Lions would not make any decisions that could have a long-term adverse impact on the club.

The secondary transfer window ends Aug. 3.