ORLANDO, Fla. – Dillon Powers isn’t a stranger to success. In fact, he met her face to face in his rookie season when he was named the 2013 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year.
But since joining Orlando City SC in the latter half of the 2017 season, Powers has yet to impress. In six games and four starts for City last year, Lions head coach Jason Kreis thought Powers was too passive.
“Certainly when he was with us last year, I thought he just took too much of a bystander role, and he’s capable of doing a whole lot more, and he needs to do it,” Kreis said after a scrimmage with the Philadelphia Union on Feb. 14.
But Kreis and his staff have seen Powers tap into his potential; that’s why the Lions sent midfielder Luis Gil and $100,000 in targeted-allocation money to the Colorado Rapids for him.
He posted back-to-back five-goal seasons and recorded 15 assists in 2013 and 2014 combined, but, since then, his effectiveness has taken a statistical slide. In 2015 and 2016, he became more trigger-happy but also less efficient. Powers scored just four goals combined in those two seasons despite out-shooting his first two seasons’ totals.
Colorado was ultimately willing to deal Powers after he made 15 appearances and 11 starts with just one assist, no goals and four shots (one on-goal) to his name in 2017.
“From my perspective, Dillon is a player that entered the league with a tremendous amount of potential, a tremendous amount of promise and then fulfilled that over the first couple of years…” Kreis said. “But from a performance…and statistical standpoint — and I think it’s fair to say, and I don’t think he would disagree — over the last couple years, he’s had a bit of a downturn.
“And so this is an important year for him. And it’s a year that he’s gonna need to step up and show that he’s willing and wants to do more…”
An ideal situation for Powers now lies in front of him. He re-signed with the team in the offseason, and Orlando is where he wants to be. Expectations for the 27-year-old midfielder have also been well-communicated.
The staff expects Powers to improve his play on the field and his presence in the locker room. That’s a challenge he welcomed, one that motivated him to stay a Lion.
“I was thrilled to be back. It was where I wanted to be,” Powers said after training on Feb. 7. “So, getting that said and done was exciting, and I had some good conversations with the staff in the offseason, too. You know, their expectations for me to really step my game up, come in really determined, be a good voice for this team.
“You know, that was one of the big reasons I came back.”
Even if Powers has one of his best preseasons ahead of his sixth MLS season, he will come up against stiff, in-house competition in the midfield. That’s an area Orlando City loudly bolstered, acquiring six new midfielders this offseason.
In addition to Sacha Kljestan, who has led MLS in assists the past two seasons, rookie Chris Mueller, who has scored in three-straight preseason scrimmages, Cam Lindley, Justin Meram, Jose Villarreal and Oriol “Uri” Rosell, the Lions also retained a significant veteran presence from last year.
Cristian Higuita, who was a part of City’s inaugural roster in 2015, Pierre da Silva, Will Johnson, who assumed captain duties when Ricardo Kaká was injured in 2017, Richie Laryea, Tony Rocha and Yoshimar Yotún all return for the Lions’ midfield, too.
For Powers, the competition in the midfield is unlike anything he’s ever seen on a team he’s played for. Instead of seeing that as a competitive disadvantage, Powers sees it as beneficial to his development.
“Very competitive,” Powers said of City’s midfield. “And, you know, you can spin that as being a tough thing for a midfielder, but you can also spin it as being great. ‘Cause every day I have to show up, and I have to compete, or else I’m gonna get left behind, so it really forces me to raise my level–it forces everyone to raise their level…
“You know, this might be the deepest midfield I’ve been a part of, which is, like I said, exciting, and it’s great to be around this quality every day because I feel like my level’s going up every day.”
Powers might have an opportunity to see minutes in the early stages of the 2018 season, as some City midfielders will miss the first couple games. Kljestan will serve a two-game suspension to start the year, and Laryea is nursing a Grade 1 right-adductor strain he suffered on Feb. 14 that could keep him out up to four weeks.
The Lions continue their preseason with their fourth of five preseason scrimmages on Saturday against Real Salt Lake.
For more on Powers, as he progresses throughout the preseason, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.
