Orlando Pride kicked off their preseason this week, just under five weeks out from their season opener against the Portland Thorns. It feels different than the first week of training last year. Instead of introducing themselves as new teammates, players were reuniting after about six months away. That makes a big difference, according to Head Coach Tom Sermanni.
“Last year, things were all over the place,” Sermanni said. “What I’m looking forward to this year is that we are much better organized, we’re a lot more stable, I think we’ve got much more depth in the squad, there’s far greater competition for places. So, I’m looking forward to getting in here and really having a competitive squad to start from day one.”
The team brought in a lot of exciting players in the offseason, including U.S Women’s National Team Defender Ali Krieger and Australian Women’s National Team Defender Alanna Kennedy. There’s also a lot of young talent, as well as returning club veterans like Jasmyne Spencer and Kristen Edmonds. The combination will allow the Pride to develop a depth and an identity that they lacked last season.
“I think we’re just gonna have a little bit more direction as a team, what our identity is going to be on the field,” Spencer said. “As an expansion team, it’s really hard to try and get that in the first season… I think that’s gonna be something completely different this year.”
“We want to be a really dynamic team,” Sermanni said. “We want to be a team that really goes out to play a good brand of soccer, an exciting brand of soccer, an attacking brand of soccer. So, we want to be a team that fans want to come and see.”
Edmonds weighed in on the conversation as well, noting that the Rio Olympics rattled the team in their inaugural season. With no major international tournaments this year-- except for the UEFA Women’s Euro, which will not feature any Orlando Pride players-- the team is hoping to develop more of a rhythm and pattern.
“I think we added a couple of really, really quality players to the team that’s only going to help us and I think we’re gonna be playing at a really high level this year,” Edmonds said. “Last year, I think we were playing at a really high level before the [Olympic Break]. I think we were playing really well, and I think the [Olympic Break] losing so many players, for a long period of time, kind of hurt us a little bit. But this year there’s no Olympics, there’s no World Cup, so we’ll pretty much have everybody for most of the season. So, I’m excited to see what happens. I think it’s gonna be good quality and we’re gonna push for playoffs this year.”
The Pride are hoping to impress this year, and their first goal is to sell out Orlando City Stadium for their home opener on April 22nd. As Sermanni noted, the Pride aim to be a team that fans want to come out and enjoy watching. Selling out their stadium would send a big message on day one.
The Pride have started their work. Next month, they’ll get to show the world what they’ll look like in Year Two.
