Flip the switch
Lions forward Michel thriving in his new role
Throughout the month of September, Orlando City homegrown winger Benji Michel has seen many opportunities to do one of his favorite things — flip.
Michel was a self-proclaimed daredevil growing up, the type of kid who tumbled around with reckless abandon. He taught himself how to turn a back handspring with his brother in their backyard around the same time he was first learning to score goals on the soccer pitch.
Throughout his college and professional careers, the two events became connected. When Michel scores, he flips.
The celebration is smooth and well-practiced. Each time, he seems to hang perfectly suspended for a moment, head over heels as he arches through the air.
This past month, Michel has done a lot of both, netting four goals (and four flips) during the past six matches for the Lions. But scoring is only one small area in which Michel has improved, finding his place during his second professional season.
“[Benji] is growing. I think he’s understanding and interpreting [the spaces] much better,” Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said. “He’s understanding much better with Nani and the other ones what are the moments that we can do to … get the best out of that explosion that he has.”
Michel’s rookie season set high expectations for the Orlando homegrown. He recorded five goals and an assist during 17 appearances, earning trust and a starting spot.
During his second season, Michel continues to show his ability to provide a consistent spark for what has become one of the best attacking teams in the league. The performance comes amid a major shift to a new position.
Michel is fast. Anyone who’s seen him streak down the pitch
on a coast-to-coast counterattack knows that. In the past, Michel admits he often measured his game by his explosiveness.
But Pareja believes Michel has a lot more to offer. The coach sees playmaking ability in Michel, and he’s pushing the young attacker to develop his game as he moves Michel from striker to winger.
Strikers and wingers are both forwards, but they play fundamentally different roles in an offense. As a winger, Michel is being asked to play in the pockets between the Lions’ midfield and front lines.
“Learning how to play a different position is hard, but at the end of the day if you really want to play, you gotta do the job,” Michel said. “For me, in the beginning, I wasn’t really as confident as I was before, but now I can feel that confidence when I’m on the field going up.”
While making the transition, Michel tried to model his style of play after teammate Chris Mueller, who has dominated on the wing to net a team-leading seven goals during the regular season.
Whether as a starter or a second-half substitute, Michel typically swaps into Mueller’s spot on the right wing. As the season continues, he’s become a reliable right winger option for Pareja, giving Mueller more time to rest during the hectic regular season schedule.
This month, Michel logged three starts in six appearances,
scoring during four of the matches and adding an assist in another. His teammates credit this hot streak to a subtle shift in his approach to the ball.
“I think he’s matured,” striker Tesho Akindele said. “He’s thinking about the game more than he was. Before maybe he was just reacting, just going out and using his athleticism, but I really see him thinking about the game.”
The bulk of Michel’s growth has taken place out of sight.
After the 2019 season, Michel spent the offseason training with partner club Athletico Paranaense in Brazil. He honed his on-ball skill and finishing, learning the Brazilian style of creative playmaking.
Michel didn’t make a big deal of the experience, rarely posting on social media during his time abroad. Although he didn’t know it at the time, the quiet work he logged in Brazil laid a tactical foundation for his transition into the winger position.
Back in Orlando, Akindele said Michel is one of the first to arrive at the training facility each morning to log extra time in the gym or on the pitch. Sometimes, it’s as simple as taking a ball to an exterior wall to get in touches and improve his footwork.
“He’s working on his own and that’s something nobody sees,” Akindele said. “He hasn’t been talking about it but it’s happening and I think everybody is seeing the results of that right now.”
During downtime before and after training sessions, Michel studies film one-on-one with Pareja. The pair use this time to dissect his individual game as well as opponents’ skills.
Sometimes they focus on minute details, connections or moves Michel can carry into the next match. But Michel found the most important part of these film sessions was learning to read the game through the same lens as Pareja.
To the coach, this hunger to learn is a key trait that allows young players to build early success.
“They’re always trying to absorb the system and get better and understand and take more from the game and use what they’re good at to help the team,” Pareja said of his young players, including Michel. “The best thing is that they love this club. The passion that they have… They are asking for more and more and I love that.”