Football Season Guide

Orlando experienced an up-and-down season in 2022, clinching the final playoff spot with a 2-1 win over Columbus on the final day of the regular season to finish seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. However, a dramatic comeback to qualify for the playoffs failed to get the team going, as Orlando were unable to do anything against Philadelphia, losing 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. The team struggled to score goals throughout the campaign, scoring 44 goals over the course of the season, which was only the 11th best of any team in the Eastern Conference. To address this issue, head coach Oscar Pareja was pretty active in the winter transfer window, bringing in a number of players to give Orlando a breath of fresh air in attack. The most important addition was undoubtedly Argentine winger Martin Ojeda, who was brought in for 5 million euros. He is joined by another Argentine, centre forward Ramiro Enrique, and Italian centre forward Nicholas Gioacchini from Caen. The aforementioned trio will replace Alexandre Pato, who suffered a knee injury last August from which he never fully recovered, Silvester van der Water and Benji Michel, two other wide attackers who have also left the club. Left-back Joao Moutinho and his counterpart on the right, Ruan, have also left the club, forcing Orlando to bring in reinforcements for the left side of defence in Luca Petrasso. Cesar Araujo and Mauricio Pereyra had established themselves as a go-to partnership in central midfield last season, after which Andres Perea left the club to get more playing time in Philadelphia. Orlando acquired much-needed reinforcements during the transfer window to bolster their attack, but questions remain in the defensive department after losing their two key fullbacks.