This Sunday, Orlando City will play their final match of the MLS season before the start of the offseason. Head Coach Jason Kreis has sent a clear message to his players-- he wants a win. But as players and coaches alike get ready to look at the offseason, Kreis already knows what he needs of his players next season.
“I think first and foremost you have to have a large group of players willing to give anything. That appreciate winning more, and that really get angry about losing,” Kreis said after training on Thursday. “When we have a higher number of those types of players that are extremely competitive and take a ton of pride in what they do every single day then you have real competition for starting positions every single weekend.”
“They should have the motivation within them to be hungry and to improve their career themselves, and to be part of a winning team,” Kreis continued. “That should mean something. Especially going next year into what’s going to be an absolutely fantastic stadium, with as we know, an absolutely fantastic crowd. We need to begin to represent ourselves and give the fans what they deserve here.”
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While competition is incredibly important heading into next season, Kreis also wants to make sure that his players are comfortable and are having fun when they play. In training last week, Kreis split players into three groups and they played mini-training games. The players were having a blast.
“For me, it’s also important to keep the right mood around the group, to keep people happy. I truly believe that happiness means something,” Kreis said. “I think people perform at their best when they have a certain level of comfort and a certain level of enjoyment about what they’re doing. So, there are days over the year that we’ll always look to for a little bit of fun, mixed in with a bit of competition as well.”
Orlando City will play their final match of the season this Sunday, October 23rd at 4:00pm.
