Orlando City isn’t
Lions disappointed with just 1 point but remain optimistic
ready to to panic despite a middling start to the MLS season.
Orlando City opened its season with two matches at home and came away with just one point.
It’s not the start the newlyconstructed Lions wanted, but with 32 games and about seven months left in the season, midfielder Will Johnson said no one is hitting the panic button yet.
That doesn’t mean the club is pleased with the results of its first two matches. A 1-1 draw with D.C. United and a 2-1 loss to a Minnesota United side led by former Lions coach Adrian Heath weren’t the expected outcomes of games in front of thousands of fans at Orlando City Stadium.
“Big-time disappointment,” Johnson said of the first two games. “Obviously we expected to get more out of those games, even with the injuries and suspensions, we still felt that there were enough guys that we had on our depth chart that could step on the field and get the job done.
“Obviously the game against D.C., you put yourself behind the eight ball with a man down. That hurts. Minnesota, you switch off a couple times and you get burned on the counter. It’s something we have to look at, we have to improve, but there’s no doubt a sense of deep disappointment.”
Next up is a test against NYCFC (2-0-0, 6 points) in Yankee Stadium. The Lions (0-1-1, 1 point) will finally have the talents of central attacking midfielder Sacha Kljestan at their disposal, plus midfielder Victor “PC” Giro will return from suspension.
Orlando City is set to improve with the return of key attacking pieces, which means players can focus a bit more on their jobs, Johnson said.
That didn’t happen Saturday against the Loons.
“I think we got caught in a bit a mindset where we didn’t have so many of our good attacking pieces that other guys started trying to overcompensate and forgot to do their own jobs in the midfield and on the back line,” Johnson said.
“We had our fullbacks very, very high. Our midfield was a little bit out of shape, too. I think we all wanted to score so bad and give the crowd those three points and we got ourselves stretched in a bad way against a team that has some good pieces on the counter. So it’s a hard lesson to learn. We’re fortunate it’s only been two games. We can still turn this around. We’re confident in the group we have.
“We’re not worried. We’re not panicking.”
Johnson’s excitement for the debut of the team’s designated players — midfielder Josué Colmán and striker Dom Dwyer also haven’t played this season — is tempered with realistic expectations regarding the impact of individual players in a team game.
“We want to be a team that’s better in September and October than we are in March and April,” Johnson said. “That’s kind of where we are. There was a lot of turnover. A lot of new faces. That’s not excuses, that’s just the reality of this group right now and so we’ve got to be a better team in September and October.
“It’s not just going to be Sacha, Dom and Josué coming in and all of the sudden we’re just going to be the team to beat. That’s not how it works. It’s a progressive, long marathon of a season and we hope to peak towards the end. That being said, we’ve got to pick up points along the way.”