Preseason work gives Lions optimistic view
There may be better ways to cap a preseason, but not many.
Orlando City’s final dress rehearsal ahead of the start of the MLS regular season Sunday was a 6-1 shellacking of Brazilian side Bahia on Saturday night. The game provided a slew of positives to carry over into opener against Real Salt Lake — from Kevin Molino’s return to the Citrus Bowl to Kaká’s activity around the box to the surprise of Pedro Ribeiro in defensive midfield.
The win emphasized some of the improvements Orlando City showed this preseason, especially as it transitions into a new formation. Yet, as a coach is apt to do, Orlando City’s Adrian Heath preached diligence going into the coming week.
“I think it’s still a little bit of a work in progress,” he said. “We’ve got to work in transition, I think we are too slow getting into our shape. Actually I thought both transitions, when they turned the ball over we
were too slow moving forward with it. I thought we let them get their shape back too quickly. Overall, considering this is very much in its infancy, I was pleased with a lot of aspects of our play.”
To be sure, despite the positives of Saturday’s win, there are a couple question marks hovering over the team going into its second year in MLS.
Most notable is the conundrum of newly-signed midfielder Antonio Nocerino, who has yet to join the team since transferring from A.C. Milan. Nocerino may not be able to get to Orlando until late in the week, Heath said Saturday, perhaps as late as Thursday or Friday.
If he is not in until late in the week, it is unlikely he will suit up for the opener. If he joins the team earlier in the week, Heath said he will evaluate the Italian’s fitness to figure out what role Nocerino will play against Real Salt Lake.
The problem has been somewhat offset by the emergence of Ribeiro as an option in defensive midfield. Ribeiro had another standout performance in the new role against Bahia, his third consecutive strong outing in the preseason.
“I thought he was fantastic,” Heath said. “I thought he was the best player on the field. We’ve just had the stats and he’s covered more ground than anybody on the evening.”
Despite exercising cautious optimism, it’s hard for Orlando City not to feel encouraged coming out of this preseason.
Molino, who missed almost all of last year due to an ACL tear suffered in May, looks very much like the game-changing player he was before the injury. Kaká looks more dangerous and is finding the ball more higher up the field. Orlando City has been downright deadly on set pieces — Seb Hines’ four goals aside, it’s been a theme throughout the last two months. It’s a development that can change games this season. And the formation change to three defensive midfielders actually looks to have addressed some of the issues that existed in this team coming out of the offseason.
Even before the 6-1 win, there was reason to feel hopeful. The victory reinforced that optimism.
“When I compare where we are now to where we were this time last year, I think we’re a lot further down the road,” Heath said late last week. “I’m excited and I’m looking forward to what the next nine months brings.”
“When I compare where we are now to where we were this time last year, I think we’re a lot further down the road.”
Orlando City coach Adrian Heath