It hasn’t been the start to the season that Orlando City was hoping for. Talk to anyone on the team and they will tell you that. The one thing they won’t do is make excuses, but the cool thing about being a writer is that I can.
- They have been missing key players. Including a handful of this offseason's exciting acquisitions.
- They played a man down in the opener.
- They played on a postage stamp in New York after arriving late due to traffic and not getting a proper warmup.
So with that out of the way, let’s talk about why the Lions stand a good chance to get this thing on track this Saturday at Orlando City Stadium.
The Bye Week
With an open schedule last weekend due to the international break, Orlando will have had 13 days between matches when they host the Red Bulls this weekend.
“It’s always good when you can have a bit of a breather and analyze the start of the season,” said Scott Sutter after Monday’s training session. “We’ve got guys coming back, they are fresh, so everyone is ready to go again. It’s gave us a good opportunity to re-group and re-focus and hopefully come out of the blocks flying on Saturday. “
Dom Dwyer
Much of Orlando City’s issues in the first three matches were in the final third. The team was creating chances, but were unable to finish. Enter Dom Dwyer. The forward should be available for selection on Saturday and will give the Lions that strength, quality and experience up top.
“We are happy he is coming back,” said Mohamed El-Munir. “He is feeling good, he is running. He is coming back like the Dom that everyone knows.”
City has scored just two goals on the season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them as least double that this weekend.
Sané and Colmán
Offseason acquisitions Lamine Sané and Josué Colmán both got their first minutes with the team in New York and should be fully ready to go. The addition of Sané to an already improved defense should be comforting for City fans, and Colmán’s ability and creativity on the attack will do wonders.
“I think everyone knows the strength of the squad and the depth of the squad we have. You kind of need everyone fit for it to be as good as it is on paper,” said Scott Sutter. “Obviously it’s great that we’ve got guys like Dom coming back and Josué Colmán as well, he looks like a great player and I think he’s going to give the fans a lot of excitement. “
Back Home
After playing on Yankee Stadium’s cramped pitch, things should open up at home for the Lions this weekend. It’s a 1pm start on Saturday and Orlando City was 3-1-1 in afternoon starts last season.
Tickets are still available, grab ‘em here.
