As preseason continues in Jacksonville this week, so does the continued evolution of the Orlando City roster. The Lions are entering their first full season under Manager Jason Kreis, who will be looking to fully make his mark on the club. Many new additions will be looking to do the same entering their first full calendar year wearing City’s purple and gold.
“We have some players like Tony Rocha that we really like. We like the potential,” said Kreis after watching Rocha play left back at Monday’s intrasquad scrimmage. “We like where he’s at right now, we love that he’s a versatile guy, and so we’ll be looking at him at several spots during this season because we think he can help us out in a few.”
Left back wasn’t a position the City faithful were accustomed to seeing Rocha play after making the jump to the first team in 2016, but it’s a position he is no stranger to.
“I played left back in college so I’m used to playing that position,” said Rocha on jumping in the back line on Monday. “I just haven’t played in awhile so I mean, I’m glad that’s what preseason is for, to try to get the cobwebs out and everything but I enjoy playing left back.”
Regardless of where Kreis plugs the versatile Rocha into the City eleven in 2017, you can expect the utility man to bring his best every minute for the club.
“I just want to go out there and to work my butt off every training and hopefully that correlates to the game,” said Rocha. “I just want to continue to work hard and I mean to compete for a spot out there. To make everyone around us better and whoever I’m competing with make them better as well.”
One thing is certain for Rocha in 2017, expect to see a motivated man willing to step on the pitch at any spot for Head Coach Jason Kreis and the Lions as they chase down the playoffs in their new home.