Orlando City
Johnson might get start at right back
faces San Jose on Saturday. Which Lions player will start at right back against the Earthquakes?
The question of who could start at right back for Orlando City against the San Jose Earthquakes is a fair one.
Right back RJ Allen, who started the Lions’ match against the Philadelphia Union, sat out a few days of training this week with a lowerbody injury he suffered against the Union. Allen returned to training on Thursday, but coach Jason Kreis on Tuesday said he was day-to-day.
Typical starter Scott Sutter wasn’t at the portion of Thursday’s training session that was open to the media. He is also day-to-day with a lower body injury, but it was suffered before the game against the Union.
If Allen and Sutter can’t go on Saturday against San Jose, it’s likely Will Johnson will get another chance at right back. He shifted to
right back last week after Allen went down and Cristian Higuita came on as a defensive midfielder.
“I think, ultimately, we’ve got a group of guys this year who want to win,” Johnson said. “Who want to do what it takes for the group. That sometimes involves playing out of position, being on the bench, wherever you’re needed.”
Johnson -- who filled in at right back at times last season -- said he didn’t train at right back leading up to the match against the Union. He trained at the position this week with Sutter and Allen out.
“We’ve got a squad full of guys now who can play in different spots and on the day, sometimes you need to play out of position a little bit,” he said. “You’ve got to be dialed in in training all week. We’re all in a lot of the same meetings, so we know what it takes to fill in these positions. It’s just credit to our group and our staff and how we prepare ourselves for when situations like that come up.”
Kreis said moving Johnson to right back was mostly about keeping an aggressive mindset against Philadelphia. Johnson is rightfooted, while natural outside back Donny Toia is leftfooted.
“I felt like it was the right time to give [Higuita] an opportunity, first and foremost,” Kreis said. “And I wanted to keep a rightfooted player at right back so the decision at that point became crystal clear for us.”
It’s a move that worked. Higuita played well, Johnson was able to keep winger David Accam mostly in check and Orlando City won the match. Johnson said frequently studies other players by watching matches after he's done playing in Orlando City Stadium.
“I take pride in watching a lot of games around the league,” Johnson said. “I know quite a few players. I’ve played against David Accam a lot of times. I know what his strengths are. I know most of the players in this league. I’ve been around a long time.
“Obviously I’m not the quickest or strongest guy. I’m not here for that, but I can play intellectually and use my head and get in the right position and make some good plays and was able to help our team win. That’s what most important."
‘We have competition’
With some new players making their way into Orlando City’s match day 18, Kreis has choices to make regarding who gets match minutes.
Holding midfielder Uri Rosell hasn’t made his debut. Three of Orlando City’s center backs have started at some point this season. Chris Mueller and Stéfano Pinho are emerging as effective attackers, and Pinho started on the left wing over MLS veteran Justin Meram last week.
For Kreis, it’s an embarrassment of riches.
“We can look at that as a difficulty or we could look at that as a really good thing,” Kreis said. “Difficulty is only for me, not for anybody else because I’m the one who has to make the choices. I want that difficulty. It’s much better to have to make choices than it is to just go with the same lineup regardless of results.”
Spector not training
Team captain Jonathan Spector hasn’t been at the portions of training open to the media this week. Spector entered concussion protocol for the second time this season after Orlando City’s 3-2 victory over the Portland Timbers.