Football Season Guide

MLS

USA

MLS

2019

Orlando City SC

In

Tesho Akindele(att) (FC Dallas); Joao Moutinho(def) (Los Angeles FC); Greg Ranjitsingh(gk) (Louisville City); Kyle Smith(def) (Louisville City); Sebastian Mendez(mid) (Independiente del Valle); Danilo Acosta(def) (Real Salt Lake - Loan); Alex De John(def) (Free); Nani(mid) (Free); Santiago Patino(att) (SuperDraft); Ruan(def) (Free); Brian Rowe(gk) (Free)

Out

Joe Bendik(r)(gk) (Released); Richie Laryea(mid) (Released); Chris Schuler(sp)(def) (Released); Jonathan Spector(r)(def) (Released); Scott Sutter(r)(def) (Released); Donny Toia(sp)(def) (Released); Jose Villarreal(sp)(mid) (Released); Earl Edwards(sp)(gk) (Released); Victor Giro(sp)(def) (Vancouver Whitecaps); Mohamed El-Munir(r)(def) (Los Angeles FC); Amro Tarek(sp)(def) (New York Red Bulls); Tony Rocha(sp)(mid) (New York City FC); Yoshimar Yotun(k)(mid) (Cruz Azul); Stefano Pinho(sp)(att) (Released); RJ Allen(sp)(def) (Released)

Orlando City endured a disastrous campaign last season as they failed to build on a good start, ultimately ending the season bottom of the Eastern Conference and appointing a third coach in two years. James O'Connor has kept his job for the upcoming campaign despite winning just two of the 18 games he had been in charge of last season and Orlando have instead focused on building up their roster with a couple of key signings. The biggest arrival is that of Nani, with the former Manchester United winger arriving on a free transfer. Nani will be starting the campaign as the first choice in an offense that is also expected to include fellow new arrival Tesho Akindele as well as Dom Dwyer and Sacha Kljestan. Should the new signings settle down quick, Orlando have the potential of boasting one of the best offenses in the Eastern Conference especially with Chris Mueller and Josue Colman providing reliable backups. They have lost a key player in Yotun though with the midfielder sold to Cruz Azul while other departures such as Spector, Bendik, Sutter and El-Munir were also part of the first choice 11 last season. Orlando's biggest weakness though remains the defense with the club breaking the record for the most goals conceded in the MLS, shipping in 74 goals. O'Conner has tried to address the problem by bringing in Joao Moutinho and Danilo Acosta but defense will continue to be Orlando's Achilles heel heading into the new season.

Target

With another heavy investment during the off-season, playoffs will once again be Orlando's minimum aim this season but it will depend on how much they have improved at the back