March 28, 2017 at Sylvan Lake Park
Availability: HC Anthony Pulis, F Michael Cox, MF Danny Deakin
HC Anthony Pulis
Orlando City B lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-0 on Saturday.
Obviously disappointed, first and foremost. We went there with what we thought was a strong lineup. The performance, first off, was disappointing. I thought we caused ourselves a lot of problems, just poor decision-making with possession. The second half, after they scored the PK, I thought we were probably the stronger team, and we had a lot of possession. We just couldn’t really kind of create in the final third, so, we’re all a little bit disappointed, but it’s the first game, so I think the other thing you kind of have to put into perspective is we had a group of guys together, that particular group of guys together, for like two to three days of training when the Rowdies had like eight or nine weeks of preseason. So, it is difficult when you don’t have that long to prepare. But that’s the dynamic of the team, and we know how it is.
When asked about what the purpose of OCB, Pulis said the goal is to develop for the Major League Soccer team.
Obviously, the main goal is to try to develop guys for the MLS team. Now whether that be guys, younger guys on the MLS roster who need minutes, they’ll come down to play, whether that’s guys on the OCB roster who we feel have the potential to one day make the MLS roster, or it could be potential promising academy players. Then they get an opportunity to come up and play. At the same time, we still want to win. I want to win. I’m prepared to. So, we understand we’re putting an Orlando City team out there in a professional league. We want to compete. I don’t want people thinking we’re happy to go out there and just put a team out and not win and not perform because that’s not how it is. I want us to win. I want us to perform. But, at the same time, I realize that this is a different team than the MLS team. The overall goal is slightly different.
When asked what needs to change before Thursday’s home-opener against Louisville City FC, Pulis said his team needs to be better in possession.
The main thing is we need to be better in possession. We just got through a video briefing with the guys, and, I’m not the kind of person to be general and generic, but, for that game, I just think we just gave the ball away too cheaply in real simple scenarios, where I just expected us to do better.
I think defensively, for the most part, we were actually okay. I don’t think they really cut us open and caused too many problem. The problems they caused us and the chances they had were from our cheap turnovers, our actual individual errors. So, we kind of need to cut the individual errors out, and maybe some of it was down to nerves. There’s a lot of younger guys out there who haven’t played substantial minutes, professional minutes, playing in a sold-out stadium in a local derby. A lot of them, that’s the first kind of test they’ve had.
The other thing is I know a lot of people said, “Well, oh, you had eight MLS players.” You actually break that down, and six of those MLS players haven’t started a game in MLS. So, yes, they have MLS contracts, but to actually call them MLS players is actually not fair. And that’s what they’re there for. The Pierre da Silvas, the Conor Donovans, the [Victor “PC” Giros], the Richie Laryeas, Danny Deakins. They all have MLS contracts. They haven’t played in MLS games. So, this is where they get to step up and say, “Listen, I’m good enough because I can perform at the USL level and then step up and be ready for the MLS level.”
And the other thing, if you actually look at it and break it down, we lost 1-0, and the goal was a penalty kick, so you kind of take that and the play leading up to the penalty was really disappointing because we had four defenders around their one attack at the edge of the box, and that should have been dealt with better. So, you look at that and say, “Well, it wasn’t all bad.” But that’s done and dusted. Now the positives were from the second half, and now we’ll do our best to prepare the group of players that we’ll have for what’s going to be a really tough game on Thursday night.
Kevin Alston was among the MLS players who trained extensively with OCB prior to the 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. First-team head coach Jason Kreis is looking for Alston to regain fitness with the United Soccer League side before returning to the first team.
Yeah, I think physically he’s fine. Kevin’s a great guy. His mentality and his attitude since coming into our group is fantastic, so I have no complaints whatsoever. But, at the same time, he’s been out six or seven weeks, so we know he’s going to need some more minutes, some more game time to kind of sharpen up and get to the level he was at before he got injured.
OCB will host Louisville on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Orlando City Stadium.
Yeah, it’s going to be a fantastic occasion for many of the boys who step onto that field for the first time. We’re very, very excited to go there. But, at the same time, we have to understand, and it’s my job to try to get this message across to the players: Every team in the USL that comes and plays us now, it’s going to be like a cup final for them. For them to play in that fantastic stadium and on that field, no disrespect to the other places in USL, it will be the best stadium in USL, bar none. So, teams are going to raise their game when they come to us just because of the arena they’re playing in, and we have to be ready for that.
We have to try and make that a fortress for us. I’m not silly enough to think it’s going to be a full house, and we’re going to have everybody in the stadium cheering for us. It’s going to be slightly different because there’s not going to be as many people there, so you don’t kind of have that ferocity from the stands. But, with our performance and the way we set the team up, we have to make sure people know it’s our home and we have to protect it.
F Michael Cox
OCB was 6-0 against the Rowdies entering Saturday’s game.
I felt like I had a lot more to give in the game, but just the way the game turned out, unfortunate it couldn’t happen.
When asked about how his team can improve, Cox said it was about sticking to what they do.
We just have to focus on doing the things that we do. We know we can be better individually, and we’re gonna be working hard to do that next game.
OCB will play its 2017 season in Orlando City Stadium
It’s gonna be more motivation playing in a nice stadium. Hopefully we have some more fans out there as well. And it should be good.
Cox played all 90 minutes of the match against Tampa Bay.
As a striker, you either wanna score a goal or you wanna create something for your team. And just the way the game was going, it wasn’t working out, so emotions run high sometimes, and it’s what was happening.
In the first half against Tampa Bay, the Rowdies held 52 percent of possession.
I think we just turned the ball over cheaply, from us. It’s something that we can for sure do better and turn that around next game.
Before the team’s season-opener against the Rowdies, Orlando City SC loaned nine of its MLS players to the B team. Most of the those players only trained for two or three days with the B team.
I mean, we train with them sometimes. It’s not too much of a difference. We still know what that player—his capabilities. It’s not too hard to adjust to it.
Last season against Louisville City, OCB finished with a 1-2 record.
They’re a very well-organized team. They work very hard. They know their job and their team. So, we have to be organized as well and have a solid game plan to how we want to beat them.
Cox led the team in goals last season with 11.
I mean I just wanna continue to do the things that I do well. Make good runs and give options for my teammates, and, hopefully, I think continue doing the same thing.
When asked about his relationship with first-teamer Cyle Larin, Cox said he has a good relationship with the Canadian.
Not too much about soccer, but we have a good relationship off the field. We’re friends.
For Cox, being one of four returning players puts more weight on his shoulders.
For sure. I mean, I see myself as one of the main players on the team. For sure, I’ll take responsibility for any faults or miscommunication or things that go wrong on the field. I have a bit of a weight on my shoulder as well. I wanna do well for the team and for myself, so I’m gonna continue to work hard and just try and be better every game.
MF Danny Deakin
For Deakin, the weekend was a disappointment.
Disappointing. We went into the Tampa game with high expectations of ourselves. We didn’t have the best of games. Not gonna lie. I mean, you can’t really dwell on it now. You just gotta get in training today and [get] things right.
Though the weekend was a disappointment for Deakin, he still felt good playing soccer again.
Of course. Always feels good to get a game in. I nearly got 90 minutes, so that was good as well. The overriding feeling is we lost a big game, and I’m not happy about it.
Deakin acknowledged that the team that started on Saturday hadn’t played much together.
We did video this morning. We just gotta address all the things that went wrong in the game and put ’em right. And I think, you know, it was hard because that team had never played together before. You know, we had a lot of guys moving down and a mix of B players, so it’s always going to be hard with that dynamic. But, I mean, yeah, all we can do is just look at what wrong on the night and try to put it right.
I just think on the ball the other night, we were really bad. And that’s not really like [us] ‘cus you know we have really good ball players. So, I think, as long as we smarten that up and just the intensity level and everything—just keep that high and just have a bit of confidence. I think we’ll be alright.
Deakin trained most of the preseason with the club’s MLS side.
I mean, it’s good. Nothing much changes. You know, the system that we play is exactly the same, and the expectations are exactly the same. So, whether I’m with the MLS or the B team, it doesn’t really matter.
Deakin believes the home-opening match against Louisville on Thursday will be more difficult than the loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday.
They’re a good team. Coach has told us it’s probably gonna be a harder game than Tampa game. They’re always up there in the league, and they’re a well-organized team. So, yeah, I mean, I think it’s personally gonna be harder game than the Tampa game, but, if we’re better, then I don’t think we’ll have a problem.
For Deakin, playing on the B team gives him an opportunity to prove he is worthy of his MLS contract.
I use every game to try and prove that I am good enough to play MLS games. I’m sure they look at it the same way. They’re looking at us to see if we are good enough to make the step.
