Football Season Guide

MLS

USA

MLS

2020

Orlando City SC

In

Andres Perea(mid) (Ateltico Nacional - Loan); Rodrigo Schlegel(def) (Racing Club - Loan); Antonio Carlos(def) (Palmeiras - Loan); Daryl Dike(att) (SuperDraft); Junior Urso(mid) (Corinthians); Pedro Gallese(gk) (Free); Joey DeZart(mid) (SuperDraft)

Out

Danilo Acosta(sp)(def) (Real Salt Lake - End of Loan); Carlos Ascues(mid) (Released); Adam Grinwis(sp)(gk) (Released); Cameron Lindley(mid) (Released); Shane O'Neill(p)(def) (Released); Dillon Powers(sp)(mid) (Released); Greg Ranjitsingh(sp)(gk) (Released); Ludovic Sane(r)(def) (Released); Cristian Higuita(r)(mid) (Released); Will Johnson(r)(mid) (Released); Sacha Kljestan(r)(mid) (Released)

Orlando City failed to kick on in James O'Connor's full season in charge of the club, finishing one place above the foot of Eastern Conference standings and well short of pre-season expectations of a playoffs push. Orlando will be hoping to be fourth time lucky after having appointed Oscar Pareja as their new permanent coach following O'Connor's sacking at the end of last season. They have largely retained all of their first choice players though Cristian Higuita is the biggest name departing the club. Orlando have also looked to clear the deadwood with the likes of Sacha Kljestan and Will Johnson being let go following underwhelming campaign last season while Ludovic Sane is the other player leaving the club after having featured regularly last season. Orlando have concentrated on shoring up their defense during the off-season, bagging keeper Pedro Gallese on a free transfer while Rodrigo Schlegel and Antonio Carlos have arrived on loan deals. Junior Urso is also expected to slot straight into the lineup after completing a move from Corinthians and will be partnering Sebastian Mendez in the midfield. The Lions have looked to plug the weaknesses in their roster and in Pareja have brought in an experienced MLS coach to spearhead their push for the playoffs. However a period of transition is expected while their prospects will also depend on the performances of Nani, Dom Dwyer and Mauricio Pereyra, all of whom struggled for consistency last season.

Target

Playoffs remains the aim for Orlando City and they should mount a more sustained challenge this time around and could even do better should their offense rediscover their consistency.