Football Season Review

Orlando City failed to hit the heights of fellow expansion side New York City FC as they endured another disappointing season that saw them miss out on a playoff spot once again despite faced with very little challenge from other Eastern Conference rivals. Having narrowly finished below the red line in their inaugural season, Orlando were keen to improve on that finish as coach Adrian Heath managed to hold on to all of his key players and bolster the roster by bringing in Antonio Nocerino, Seb Hines and Julio Baptista. They did make a good start to the season which included excellent victories over New York City and Portland Timbers but defensive problems quickly cropped up for Heath as Orlando struggled to keep a cleansheet, managing just two in the opening half of the season, while lack of consistency from their creative players up front meant that Orlando slowly slid out of the top six in the Eastern Conference. Orlando were drawing too many games and found themselves sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference at the start of July. Pressure had been growing on Heath and a heavy 0-4 drubbing at FC Dallas proved to be the final straw for the club who confirmed that Heath had been relieved of his job, with Jason Kreis quickly taking over. Things though did not improve for Orlando who continued to be within touching distance of top six but were not able to seize their chance despite teams around them also struggling to put up consistent performances. Back to back victories against Montreal Impact and New York City had given them hope of turning the season around but a run of just one point from five games dashed any hopes of making it to the playoffs as Orlando finished eighth in the Eastern Conference, one place and three points worse off than their previous campaign. With Kreis favoring a 442 system over Heath's preferred 4231 formation, changes are needed during the offseason, especially in the center of the defense with Hines' loan spell coming to an end while David Mateos did not convince last season. Kevin Molino emerged as a key play under both Heath and Kreis, with the midfielder chipping in with 11 goals and bagging eight assists while Kaka also enjoyed a good campaign. Pedro Ribeiro and Baptista have also left the club and, while Kreis did bring in Matias Garcia as his only signing last campaign, more signings are needed if Orlando are to secure a playoff spot next season.

Player of the Season: Kevin Molino