It’s back! I’m happy to mark the return of the Weston Weekly for 2020. This will be a space where I accumulate my thoughts from the week in soccer. If you have any thoughts or comments of your own, hit me up on Twitter at @EvanLWeston.
Bring Balance to the Force
Orlando City’s 0-0 draw with Real Salt Lake on Saturday made it clear that, at least for the two games they’ll be without Nani in the lineup, the team’s attack under new head coach Oscar Pareja is going to be a work in progress.
But as they did for much of last year, the Lions showed significant strides on the defensive side of the ball. RSL left their two best players, Damir Kreilach and Albert Rúsnak, high up the pitch waiting for a chance to get out on the break. Orlando did not really give them any chance to do that–RSL took just five shots on the night and only one inside the penalty area, and Kreilach and Rúsnak were both virtual non-factors.
Orlando City was able to do this because the team was consistently balanced. Pareja talks a lot about this concept, where the team cannot become unstable due to its desire to attack high up the field. Last season, when fullbacks Ruan and João Moutinho would go forward, it often left the spine of the team exposed to 3v2 and 4v3 counterattacks. On Saturday, the fullbacks were far better at covering for each other, keeping Robin Jansson and Antonio Carlos from having to go it alone.
The central midfield pairing also showed tons of promise. New signing Júnior Urso wore the armband for his City debut and lived up to the billing, but it was Sebas Méndez who truly shined, leading the team with six tackles, 101 touches, a 90.3% passing accuracy, and 15 possessions gained. Méndez did tire in the final ten minutes of the game, when RSL brought out Corey Baird, Justin Meram, and Giuseppe Rossi to try to steal the result, but he was largely dominant and showed growth from his promising 2019 season. He was deservedly named Heineken Star of the Match, and I’m fascinated to see how good he can get with a solid veteran like Urso next to him.
One last thing on the City game–Pereyra is going to be fun to watch, isn’t he?
Expansion Blues
Inter Miami CF is getting all the buzz among the 2020 expansion teams, but I actually thought Nashville SC showed quite a bit better in their tight 2-1 loss to Atlanta United on Saturday night. Nashville held the Five Stripes to just 0.24 xG and were extremely unfortunate to concede two outstanding goals to Ezequiel Barco and Emerson Hyndman. But they got their first-ever MLS goal, courtesy of big trade acquisition Walker Zimmerman:
