These days, there are are no shortage of opportunities at Orlando City.
Injuries, international call-ups and a suspension have opened up starting jobs all over the pitch for the Lions.
All-Star midfielder Yoshi Yotún (Peru) and defenders Mohamed El-Munir (Libya) and Amro Tarek (Egypt) are away with their national teams. Captain Jonathan Spector is out, as is Pierre Da Silva. Stéfano Pinho’s quad looks worse than originally hoped, and striker Dom Dwyer will miss Saturday’s match at New England on yellow card accumulation.
“For us, training becomes really important,” Lions boss James O’Connor said before Wednesday’s session. “Looking at who can do what and trying to come up with a solution.”
On a team looking to build for the future, opportunities for the players to prove themselves were already at a premium. The reality of missing all those key players only adds to it.
“Definitely for the guys that have been training well and haven’t had as many minutes, it’s their time to maybe get a few minutes under their belt and show their worth for next season,” Scott Sutter said.
On top of all that, City is about to embark on a run of three games in nine days. After New England, City returns for its final two home games of 2018, first against Seattle on Wednesday and then Columbus on Sunday. During City’s last such stretch of games, from July 21 to 29, O’Connor used 19 players.
“We’ll have to rotate players,” O’Connor said. “In the international break, having two games is not ideal. We’re just going to have to manage the minutes for the players and try to rotate some players in and give everyone an opportunity to play.”
The Lions did get some reinforcements back this week, though. Midfielders Uri Rosell and Cam Lindley are back on the pitch. So are goalkeeper Adam Grinwis and his infectious enthusiasm.
Grinwis posted a three-save clean sheet in his MLS debut against Houston, the same game during which Rosell sprained his ankle. On Saturday in Dallas, Richie Laryea, Cristian Higuita and Josué Colmán came on as subs.
But regardless of which players are available, O’Connor expects his players and staff to put in maximum effort, if not to earn minutes, then just for their personal pride.
“You should want to win every day, nevermind on a Saturday,” O’Connor said. “My expectation is for the players to have pride in their performance, like we all try to take pride in our work every day."
