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The Lion's Teeth

for city. for club. for country. Go City!
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Photo by  Robert Wiedemann  on  Unsplash

Photo by Robert Wiedemann on Unsplash

NYRB vs. OCSC: Shula's On The Line

October 28, 2018

Today is the last match of the season. I don’t expect a win, and I’m not even sure the match will be worth watching as a fan—most of us already know the players we each think are worth bringing back next season and the ones we’d rather not see wearing purple again. I doubt a single match is going to do anything to change anyone’s mind.

Match Within The Match

The most intriguing part of the game today is what happens to the Match Within The Match standings. My season ticket group and I play a game every year that we call Match Within The Match. The rules are that we pick two players each from the Orlando City game day 18 that the coach announces before the game, and we get three points when our player scores a goal along with one point for our player getting an assist. We decided to exclude the goalkeeper because even on bad games most of the keepers get 4+ saves and it would be easy to run away with the competition by picking the goalkeeper every week.

This year with a low amount of scoring our standings are tight going into the final match of the season. In third place my friend Chris has 41 points. In second place my buddy Trace has 44 points. And leading the competition this year I have 46 points, with my most recent score coming from Sacha Kljestan’s PK winner last week.

Today Chris, being in last place, will have the honor of picking first. Then Trace will pick second, and I will have the third and fourth picks. Then Trace will have the fifth pick and Chris will have the sixth pick. The winner gets dinner at Shula’s compliments of the other two players. I know—we play for high “steaks” (rimshot please).

With such a prize on the line, I have a vested interest in the team not scoring any goals. But I’m also a fan of the team, so I want to see us win—as long as the guys I pick are the ones putting the goals in the net.

Looking for a Roster Overhaul

Since before Jason Kreis was fired earlier this season I have not been happy with the level of effort this team is showing. Granted, I was excited and enthusiastic when they won six in a row to start the year, but since then the team as a whole has pretty much fallen off a cliff and become lazy, disinterested, unorganized, and incompetent. I have come to the point where the only thing that matters to me is how consistent the players are, and I care nothing about their history or their reputation. That leaves me with only five players I would absolutely re-sign for the 2019 season and a number of others that I am on the fence about.

Top Players to Return for 2019

  • Chris Mueller - the rookie plays hard and has a high soccer IQ. He can fit in with any system the coach wants to play, and his passing, shooting, and defensive play gets better every year.

  • Dom Dwyer - Dom is the leading scorer for the team and he is both the emotional leader and the hustle leader on the team. He is a favorite of the fans who have followed the team since the early days because his style reminds them of the scrappy, hard-nosed, aggressive style that defined Orlando City’s USL championship teams.

  • Yoshi Yotun - Our lone World Cup participant from 2018, Yotun is one of the best passing and defending midfielders on the team. He plays hard and like Mueller he has the soccer IQ to thrive in any scheme and formation the coach may draw up.

  • Mohamed El-Munir - The Libyan International has been fun to watch since the opening match of the season. When the defense allowed a breakaway chance by DC United’s Darren Mattocks, El-Munir chased him down the pitch for 60 yards and executed a beautiful slide tackle to knock the ball off of the attacker’s feet without committing a foul. And after 2000 minutes played this season, he still leads the team averaging 3.4 blocks per 90 minutes. I will admit that kind of blazing effort has not been on display all season, but El-Munir has been moved all over the pitch and tries to find a way to contribute no matter where he is deployed.

  • Amro Tarek - The Egyptian International is another new defender that I have appreciated from his ability to block passes and shots. He leads the team with an average of one block per 90 minutes through 1607 minutes played on the season.

  • Scott Sutter - Sutter is a player who quietly manages to find himself in the right place at the right time. He has 3 goals and two assists this year, but his contributions often show up only when you watch the little things he does from game to game. He’s another player who gives full effort every match and deserves to be brought back.

Players on the Watch List

Beyond the six players above there are not many that I would put on my “watch list” as players that I would not mind having back. After realizing that this team had already checked out for the season when the coaching change was made, James O’Connor has simply been toying with lineups to find out who will work well together and who is just dead wood on the roster. If I were in his shoes, these players would deserve some additional consideration.

  • Josue Colman - They gave him the 10 jersey in the off-season, but he hasn’t been in the Starting XI consistently this year in favor of the aging Sacha Kljestan.

  • Carlos Ascues - He’s the newest addition to the roster and so far I like what I see from this player.

  • Cristian Higuita - I used to dislike this player as a hothead, but over the last two seasons my appreciation and respect for his ability has grown. I’m not sure he’s being deployed in a role that he can be the most effective, and I’d love to see the coaches find a way to put him in a position where he can shine week in and out.

  • Cam Lindley - Lindley is another rookie this year, along with Mueller. He has not had the chance to play as much as Mueller has, and I like the effort I see from him when he does play.

Players that Need to Go

The players who are not on the two lists above don’t really deserve to come back in my opinion. Most of them just make way too many mistakes or are lazy and inattentive when they are on the pitch. There are a few exceptions to those generalizations and I will detail those.

  • Jonathan Spector - Spector is the epitome of the player who will sacrifice his body for the sake of the team, and that style of play has finally caught up to him. After being named Captain for 2018, Spector has only managed to play in 13 games and has registered barely 1000 minutes on the season. He is too prone to injury at this point in his career to be worth wasting a roster spot and first team salary on him.

  • Sacha Kljestan - Kljestan has a reputation as a player that helped the Red Bulls reach the playoffs for many years in a row. But it’s been clear why they traded him away—he’s become slow. He can’t keep up with opposing attackers or defenders from his midfield spot, and he’s a liability because those faster, younger players on the other team can just get around him.

  • Earl Edwards, Jr. - Edwards has suffered enough years of his career on this horrible team, and he deserves a chance to be a starter on a team that can contend. I think there’s enough need to overhaul our offense that we may not be blocking a lot of shots next season. I’d like to see Edwards go play for someone that’s going to give him a good shot to reach the playoffs next season.

As far as everyone else on the roster is concerned, the only reason they should darken the door of the team offices after today is to pick up their final paychecks. For the players that did not travel with the team today, I would send them a mass e-mail announcing they were fired as soon as the game kicks off today.

For the players not named above that did travel with the team, they should be fired in the locker room after today’s match and given vouchers for economy flights on Jet Blue or something. I wouldn’t even allow them the privilege of flying back to Orlando with the rest of the team to emphasize the point to the players who are left what happens when guys don’t pull their weight.

Offseason Focus

I don’t know how much I will write about the team in the off-season. The lack of collective effort from the team this year has left me very disappointed and not feeling terribly motivated to write about them much if they’re not going to prove they care about winning.

When it comes to sports I may write a little bit about UCF’s football team depending on how they do. I am enjoying the long winning streak, but I’m half expecting them to lose every game because I’m not sure how long they can keep this up. I will also continue my daily social media posts about sports history and birthdays.

Speaking of daily content, I will also continue my daily “Tailgate Tune of the Day” posts of upbeat, fun songs that I discover through various means. If you know of an independent or local artist whose music you would like to have featured, let me know and send me a link to where people can listen to (and buy) their music online.

And you may have seen a new item pop up on the lionsteethblog.com main menu in this last month. I’ve done a soft launch of my DM Inspirator blog, which is focused on tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). In fact, several of us who are fans and offer our commentaries on Orlando City will be playing a D&D game during the off-season. I haven’t decided if we will have any kind of public outlet for that game (in terms of a podcast or twitch feed), but we do have room for a couple of other players if anyone wants to join us. Direct message me through twitter or facebook if you are interested and want details on this custom game I’m putting together.

In October 2018, Match Preview, MLS OCSC, NYRBvOCSC
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Photo by  Robert Wiedemann  on  Unsplash

Photo by Robert Wiedemann on Unsplash

OCSC vs. CLB: A Bad Penny Shows Up Again?

October 21, 2018

Most of you are probably too young to remember the saying about how a bad penny keeps showing up over and over again. But that could be applicable today when the Columbus Crew comes to town for what will mercifully be the last home loss of the Orlando City season.

The bad penny in question this time is none other than Justin Meram, the bewildered and befuddled chap who followed several years of successful play in Columbus with a half-season of pathetic and impotent play for Orlando City before being traded back to the Crew about the same time as the coaching change happened this year.

When Meram came to Orlando as part of the Crew in seasons past, he was an opponent that fans despised but respected for his goal-scoring prowess. If he suits up in the 18 for the Crew today, he will simply be despised. Meram recently offered an interview to MLS.com in which he acknowledged something I’ve been saying all season—that the Orlando City roster is filled with talented players but there is no cohesion, and that makes it really difficult for them to succeed as a team. And the Meram debacle isn’t even the most intense emotional drama that has played out regarding the Columbus Crew this season.

As I documented during the off-season last year, there has been a systematic effort by the current Columbus Crew ownership group to move the team to Austin, Texas. On October 12 of this year, the MLS released a statement which seems to lay out a roadmap for keeping the Crew in Columbus. The deal hinges on a new ownership group being found for the club and a allowing the current owners to retain their equity stake in the league transferred to a franchise in Texas. As of now, there does not appear to be a “done deal” that will guarantee a new ownership group for Columbus, but the announcement from earlier this month at least makes it seem less likely the team will be leaving Ohio during the coming off-season.

In any case, today’s game marks the last time that fans have to put up with another pathetic home loss from the dysfunctional 2018 Orlando City roster. There does not seem to be much reason for home fans to get excited about this one. However, there is a way that the Orlando City faithful could get a little smug satisfaction from today’s game: everyone should shout, “Boiler Up!” whenever Orlando City players gain possession of the ball or take a shot. It won’t make a difference in the result of the game—Orlando City will still lose today—but it will still be fun to do.

In October 2018, MLS OCSC, Match Preview, OCSCvCLB
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Photo by  Robert Wiedemann  on  Unsplash

Photo by Robert Wiedemann on Unsplash

OCSC vs. SEA: Another Record Sure to Fall

October 17, 2018

In a season of firsts for Orlando City fans, there will be another record set on Wednesday night when the Lions host the Seattle Sounders. It’s a certainty that Seattle will score at least one goal and allow Orlando City to set the all-time record for goals surrendered in a single season. Right now they share the record of 70, set by Minnesota last season.

Seattle has scored four goals in their last two matches, and with the horrible defense Orlando City has been playing this season, Seattle might be able to set a new record for the number of goals scored by an MLS team in a regular-season match.

This is one time I am glad I have a commitment that will keep me from being at the game because I have no desire to watch this team roll over and get beaten again. These players hardly care enough to even show up for the game and go through the motions. They should just save everyone the charade and forfeit the rest of the games left in the season. Yes, that’s my disappointment talking, and no—I’ll probably feel a lot more optimism when we start the season next year. But for right now I just don’t see any reason to get excited about the last three games of this season.

Dwyer News and Yoshi Still Out

Those who follow the news from the Orlando Pride may have read the sad news this week that Dom Dwyer’s wife, Sydney Leroux, had a miscarriage during the first trimester of a recent pregnancy. She missed several games for the Pride with an illness that was undisclosed at the time, and I had wondered if perhaps she and Dom were expanding their family. I was shocked and saddened to read about the loss of the baby and my condolences go out to Dom and Sydney.

Fans will recall that Yoshi Yotun was listed as out on suspension for yellow card accumulation last week, but was also called up for International Duty with Peru. Both the suspension and International Duty remain this week, meaning that it’s likely Yotun will have to come back to the team and miss a game for the suspension even after his stint with the Peruvian National Team has concluded.

In Match Preview, MLS OCSC, October 2018, OCSCvSEA
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Photo by  Robert Wiedemann  on  Unsplash

Photo by Robert Wiedemann on Unsplash

NER vs. OCSC: The Futile vs. the Pathetic

October 13, 2018

This match is another exercise in futility, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it end as a scoreless draw. I’m pretty positive it will end scoreless for the visitors, since the players have been planning their off-season vacations for the last month. Coach James O’Connor has been clear that he expects players to compete for their jobs next season, but at least half the roster seems to care not a bit what the coach or their teammates think and have just quit trying.

To add to the misery for Orlando City fans, many of the players that actually do seem to care are either suspended, injured, or out for International Duty.

  • Suspended: F - Dom Dwyer, M - Yoshi Yotun

  • International duty: M - Yoshi Yotun, M - Mohamed El-Munir, D - Amro Tarek

  • Injury Report:

    • OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), M - Pierre Da Silva (knee injury), D - Jonathan Spector (back)

    • DAY-TO-DAY: F - Stefano Pinho (quad)

Mission Accomplished

As I sit here reflecting on four seasons of diminishing returns from this team as a fan, I can’t help but think back to the big signs in the Citrus Bowl during 2015 that proudly proclaimed “Defy Expectations.” I have to say that has been successfully achieved. Expectations for a team are that as time goes along they will improve their performance. Thus “Expectations” for a team that came within a point or two of the playoffs in their first season would be to make the playoffs in successive years.

Instead, Orlando City has continually finished worse and worse every year they have been in MLS, until this year they are all but guaranteed to finish dead last on the table. I call that pathetic performance a clear defiance of expectations. But at this point I’m beyond caring for the rest of this season. I doubt I’ll use my season tickets for the last two home matches—I have some friends coming down from Ohio for the match against Columbus in a few weeks and I will go tailgate with them, but I’m not sure I will even attend the game since there’s no reason to hope our team will even try to play competitively.

One Entertaining Game on Tap

For today, I’m just happy that one of my teams has a chance to keep a winning streak alive when UCF plays Memphis in college football. I am hopeful the team will make it 19 wins in a row, but Memphis has been pretty good this year and I’m not 100% confident the Knights will win. The last time the two teams met, they combined to score 117 points in a thrilling 62-55 overtime win for UCF in the AAC Conference Championship Game, so it could be a very entertaining and high-scoring game.

In MLS OCSC, NERvOCSC, October 2018
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Photo by  Robert Wiedemann  on  Unsplash

Photo by Robert Wiedemann on Unsplash

DAL vs. OCSC: Five Matches til the Transfer Window

October 6, 2018

Unfortunately for Orlando City fans the remainder of 2018 has turned into the dull helpless feeling of waiting for a terminally-ill friend or loved one to die. The Lions have squandered their chances to make the playoffs on horrible defense and missed scoring opportunities.

The players seem to have given up on each other (or at least factions within the roster have given up on other factions), and new head coach James O’Connor seems to have little to do but determine which players are going to be coachable and will follow his direction and which ones are too arrogant to believe that anyone can show them ways to improve their game.

Once again, I am reminded of the 2015 season of UCF football and how they wound up going winless for the entire season. That seemed incapable of doing much right, but then two seasons later 51 of the same players from that roster were part of the 2017 undefeated season—a winning streak that has grown to the nation’s longest at 17 in a row now.

I bring up this comparison to remind fans how quickly fortunes can change in the world of sports. If we can purge the toxic elements and complacent attitudes from the locker room in this offseason, Orlando City could become a team that enjoys as much success in MLS as UCF has enjoyed the last two years in NCAA football and without having to wait decades to get there.

But I literally find it painful to watch this team any more this year. To that end, I will be across town tonight at Spectrum Stadium to watch UCF try to extend their win streak against SMU while Orlando City is in Dallas, and I’ll catch up on the soccer score later. I will be surprised if the Lions score and even more shocked if they win. Since we are 15 points out of sixth place, I predict we will be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention by the time tonight’s match ends.

I am an optimist by nature, but my optimism has its limits. And as far as Orlando City is concerned, I can’t begin to be optimistic about this team until I start to see what kind of off-season roster changes they begin to make.

In October 2018, DALvOCSC, MLS OCSC, Orlando City SC
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