The best three teams in Major League Soccer are in the Eastern Conference, but only one club in the east has put together a six match winning streak. Unfortunately for Orlando City, they are also the only side to pull off a nine match losing streak, and that’s independent of their current six match run without a win.
There are changes afoot for the Purple Lions, though, and they have fortified their defensive structure with central defender Shane O’Neill, holding midfielder Carlos Ascues, and Jonathan Spector’s return from injury. While Orlando didn’t look good defensively against Atlanta United last week, they didn’t look hapless, and Ascues provided much-needed bite in midfield beside Uri Rosell. There is still plenty of attacking talent on this Florida side, but they currently have such trouble building sustained attacks that every match becomes a sprinting race they destined to lose.
There are plenty of questions as to how the Lions will come out against Philly. Suspensions to Yoshi Yotun and Cristian Higuita led to a Ascues-Rosell-Will Johnson midfield against Atlanta. That trio could be more effective with Sacha Kljestan on the pitch to be the creator against the Union, but head coach James O’Connor could also add some combination of Yotun — by far the best progressive passer of the group — and Higuita into the lineup to try and disrupt the Union’s talented mids.
The important thing for Philly to remember is that this is still an opponent that has a roster which does not fit its coach’s preferred style. Orlando is fairly old, and far more suited to a compact and organized defensive setup rather than the high pressure look that O’Connor prefers. How coach and players work out the differences between how they want to play and how the other wants them to play is the big question now that there is finally a first choice defensive pairing and a powerful holding midfielder available.
The Union and Orlando City face off on Saturday, September 1 at 7:30PM EST.
