Williams confident heading into Year 2
In search of his first minutes in Major League Soccer, Thomas Williams knows very well what’s going to be required from him in order to compete at a higher level.
For the 17-year-old Orlando City homegrown player out of Titusville, the upcoming 2022 season may be a pivotal one in regard to furthering his development, but he’s using this preseason to match the competition that awaits.
“I definitely feel like I’ve become more aggressive because that’s how you have to play against older, grown men,” Williams told reporters after Saturday’s friendly scrimmage at Osceola Heritage Park. “Staying more composed on the ball — that’s another thing and just all-around more confidence.
“‘I’m just learning that defense. I have [assistant] coach Josema [Bazan] always training me on the proper body positioning and stuff like that, so I think that helped recently.”
The 6-foot-2 centerback signed a homegrown contract with the MLS first team in June 2021, becoming the youngest player to sign with the Lions at 16 years and 10 months.
After signing with the first team, Williams spent a good chunk of the 2021 calendar year, however, with the club’s academy U-17 squad that won an MLS NEXT Cup national title in Dallas later that summer.
The year prior, Williams appeared in 13 games for Orlando City B during USL League One play.
On Saturday, in a preseason scrimmage that saw Orlando fall 1-0 to Dallas, Williams played 85 minutes and had a string of key blocks, including denying a one-on-one chance.
Saturday’s scrimmage was also physical as the match saw several yellow cards issued against both teams.
That level of intensity didn’t faze Williams, however.
“You just have to try to match that physicality,” he said. “You just can’t be like, ‘Oh, I’m younger.’ You just have to step up to the level … because with the youth game, obviously, I’m the biggest guy out there, so when you step up to that pro level, everyone’s as big as you, so you have to match their physicality.”
While Williams may be showing some progress since signing with Orlando City, this preseason has continued to open the doors for other academy players vying to become the next homegrown signing.
Academy players such as Alex Freeman (born 2004), Dominic Bell (2006), Gonzalo Agustoni-Chagas (04), David Boccuzzo (04), Ethan Subachan (2005), and Tahir Reid-Brown (06) have been training with the first team since the start of preseason and some have even appeared in Orlando’s last two preseason scrimmages.
For Joey DeZart, who’s entering his third season with Orlando, he’s noticed a determination from that group of players.
“They’re all hungry. They all want to learn [and] that’s huge,” DeZart said. “Wanting to come out there and us helping them; they’re brave, they’re not scared to make mistakes and keep on going and you see that on the field.”
While there may be other roster holes to fill, the midfield position for Orlando City is one that isn’t lacking depth.
That’s good news, according to DeZart, who’s one of those midfielders looking to break into Oscar Pareja’s XI this year.
“We put a lot of miles in the midfield,” said DeZart. “It’s always going to be a position that takes a lot of impact throughout the year and having a lot of midfielders. It’s not only good for rotation purposes, but it’s also good to compete amongst ourselves and get better and try to win that spot in the field.”
Orlando next will take on the Colorado Rapids in a preseason scrimmage on Friday at Exploria Stadium at 7 p.m.