ORLANDO, Fla. – Depth was a feature of the team Orlando City SC touted at the beginning of the season, especially in the midfield.
But national-team call-ups and a bevy of injuries have ravished the Lions’ roster amid their most difficult stretch this season. Orlando City are in the middle of a three-game losing streak and a scoring drought that has dropped them to sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Now, the Lions are preparing for a four-game stint away from Orlando City Stadium that will include three Major League Soccer matches and one U.S. Open Cup match.
For head coach Jason Kreis, his team’s depth will be tested, perhaps, more than it has been, so far, this season.
“Yeah, [our depth will be tested] massively. Massively,” Kreis said after training on May 30. “I would think that over the next four games, I would be surprised if we don’t see almost every player that’s available getting either a starting role or some time off the bench.”
Already, though, the Lions have seen their lineup change in unexpected ways. In a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire on May 26, Orlando City deployed another new center-back pairing: center back Chris Schuler and midfielder-turned-center back Tony Rocha.
Rocha had previously not seen match minutes at center back for Orlando City but did play outside back once in the 2017 preseason match against United Soccer League side Saint Louis FC.
“Obviously [there were nerves], but I was more excited than really nervous,” Rocha said after training on May 30. “Really wasn’t thinking about things that I wasn’t able to do but just go and pose what I can do on the field.”
For Rocha, who played only 25 minutes over three appearances for the first team in 2017, he’s been preparing for another opportunity like the one he had against the Fire.
“Yeah, I mean, I think that’s what the guys that really aren’t playing are prepared for,” he said. “If [there are] injuries, people go on international duty, we’re just ready to step up.”
Those were the exact circumstances that forced the Lions to thrust Rocha into a new position and into his first start for the first team since 2016.
First-year Lions center back Lamine Sané is nursing a knee injury, team captain Jonathan Spector was just cleared for full training after the Chicago match for the first time since suffering a head injury against the Portland Timbers, and Egyptian men’s national-team defender Amro Tarek is preparing for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
To make matters worse for City, Schuler also broke his arm in the first half of the Chicago match (and played the rest of the match with it), keeping him out until, perhaps, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC match on June 9.
Orlando City injury update: Centerback Chris Schuler is in surgery today for his broken left arm. The plan for him is to be available for Vancouver.
— Jordan Culver (@JordanCulver) May 29, 2018
Additionally, right back Scott Sutter has missed the last seven games with an injury, forward Dom Dwyer has also missed the last two games with an injury, and midfielder Yoshimar Yotún is with the Peruvian men’s national team for the World Cup, too.
Managing a depleted roster is nothing new for Kreis this season, though. He has seen his team’s character tested throughout the entire season, even during the preseason when midfielder Oriol “Uri” Rosell was unavailable with injury.
“Spector’s been out for how long, now? [Sutter’s] been out for a long time, now. Lamine now out. Dom Dwyer out for a long stretch. Yoshi’s with the World Cup; Amro Tarek’s with the World Cup,” Kreis recalled. “So, we’ve been a team that has been testing our character, and we’ve been a team that, I think, has been doing really well through all of this.
“Of course, the results haven’t been what we wanted over the past couple of weeks. But I feel like our character, our depth, our camaraderie, our teamwork, our leadership–all of those things are proving very positive to me. And so, now, it’s just about getting the results.”
Who does Orlando City turn to, now?
There are three players who haven’t seen any regular-season, MLS action, so far, in 2018: midfielders Pierre da Silva and Jose Villarreal and left back Donny Toia. Additionally, midfielder Dillon Powers has played only two minutes.
As for midfielders Richie Laryea, Victor “PC” Giro and Cam Lindley, they have combined for 10 appearances and five starts for 377 minutes this season.
Lindley, da Silva and Rocha have seen some match minutes recently, though, as they were loaned to Saint Louis for four combined matches. PC got a starting nod in the team’s season-opening, 1-1 draw with D.C. United but was issued a red card in the 41st minute of that match.
The only truly experienced MLS veterans of the group are Powers, Toia and Villarreal–though, Villarreal has never seen more than 1,200 minutes in a single season in his seven-year career in MLS.
Powers was a prominent fixture for the Colorado Rapids in his first five seasons in the league before being traded to the Lions late last season. He was even named the 2013 MLS Rookie of the Year.
Toia was a mainstay on City’s back line last season, starting 29 of his 30 appearances at left back, recording three assists.
For Rocha, he said the team is focusing on taking the upcoming road stint one game at a time. That begins with the Lions traveling to face New York City FC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“Well, our focus is New York City,” Rocha said. “We’re not really worried about [the Montreal Impact] or Vancouver, whoever we have next. We’re just trying to go out there and put on a good performance against New York City.”
For more on the Lions, as they prepare to play NYCFC in New York City for the second time this season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview, or you can tweet at him.
