Orlando City grabbed
Lions’ big pick ready to make impact right away
its preferred pick of the MLS draft, taking Chris Mueller at No. 6, and sees the Wisconsin standout making an immediate impact.
PHILADELPHIA — Orlando City SC went into the 2018 MLS SuperDraft on Friday with a single pick in the first two rounds and had one player in mind to bolster the attack.
When Chris Mueller remained on the draft board after the first five selections, the Lions grabbed their preferred pick at No. 6.
“It’s incredible. It’s a feeling you’ve been dreaming about since you were a little kid,” Mueller said. “I can’t even put [it] into words. We were just down there. It was such a beautiful city, a beautiful state. I’m so grateful to be a part of such a great organization.”
The Wisconsin forward finished his senior season with nine goals and a nation-leading 20 assists in 21 games played for the Badgers. Mueller was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year as a senior and earned firstteam All-Big Ten honors as a junior and a senior. Orlando City’s coaching staff had its eye on Mueller throughout the combine, which concluded on Wednesday in Orlando.
“He was a player that we had done a lot of scouting around this entire college season,” Lions head coach Jason Kreis said. “Guys that have been really focused on that scouting came into the combine and said this was their favorite
pick. So to end up with him when we were still at number six, we feel quite fortuitous and very happy about it.”
With a high draft position and a roster in the midst of a complete overhaul, Kreis entered the day with a different mentality than in previous seasons.
“Every other year that I’ve been a part of the combine, I’ve always gone in and said, ‘We’re just gonna get the absolute best player available,’ ” Kreis said. “This was the first time that we got a little bit more focused, just because of positional needs. Everybody knows we have a ton of midfielders, so we were really looking for two positions of need. This happened to be one of them and we really, really feel fortunate, as I said, to pick up this player that we’re extremely high on.”
Orlando City finished third from the bottom of the league in goals scored last season with 39. Canadian Cyle Larin led the squad in scoring with 12 goals. He’s one of two players who scored more than one goal in 2017 still listed on the Lions’ roster. Dom Dwyer is the other. And while Dwyer recently signed a new contract with Orlando City, Larin has been embroiled in contract controversy after Besiktas JK posted pictures to social media showing Larin in the Turkish club’s jersey getting a physical.
Kreis expects Mueller will be able to make an immediate impact.
“There was no doubt that one of our focuses for this pick was not to pick someone we thought we could develop over several years,” he said. “We selected someone we thought could contribute in 2018.”
The Schaumburg, Ill., native will be the only draft selection for Orlando City as the Lions previously traded their natural thirdand fourth-round picks.
Mueller is prepared and excited to contribute.
“I feel like they selected me for a reason and see me, hopefully, making an impact,” Mueller said. “I’m just excited to get down there and start working with everybody. I’ll play whatever role they need me to.”
That role, Kreis said, could be anywhere on the front line.
“He can play as a striker, he can play as a second striker and he can play in any of the three positions that would be under a lone striker,” Kreis said. “So another player I feel that’s really versatile and is a very hungry young man.”