The Fire are coming home to Soldier Field for the first time in 2022 after starting their season with a gutsy draw at Inter Miami last weekend.
Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson and co. will now take on a slightly different looking Orlando City SC compared to past years.
We are expecting close to 70 degree weather on Saturday (YES! 70 DEGREES ON MARCH 5), so make sure you’re at Soldier Field for what should be a night to remember in Club history as the supporters get their first in-person look at Xherdan Shaqiri, Rafael Czichos, Kacper Przybylko et al. this weekend.
Here’s the scouting report on Orlando City SC brought to you by Gerber Collision and Glass.
THREE BIG CHANGES
The Lions said goodbye to three massive players this past off-season - Chris Mueller (shoutout Schaumburg), Daryl Dike and Nani. Mueller is now with Hibernian in Scotland, Dike signed on with West Bromwich Albion in the Championship in England, and Nani made the move to Venezia in Italy.
All three of these players made a lasting impact on the club, specifically Nani. The Portuguese star scored 31 goals in three seasons and was tasked with filling the shoes of Brazilian superstar Kaka following his departure. Nani did not disappoint, as he helped Orlando to their first two playoff appearances and electrified Exploria Stadium on a regular basis.
Between Nani, Mueller and Dike, the three combined for 71 league goals since Mueller’s rookie year in 2018. It is truly the end of an era in Orlando, but one that seemingly has been written on the wall for quite some time with interest from abroad for all three heads of this monster.
As a result, Oscar Pareja and Luis Muzzi had to retool and rethink the roster, and - from all accounts - have done an excellent job on paper. They got off to a great start with three points against CF Montréal last Saturday afternoon in Orlando.
THE REPLACEMENTS
Muzzi and Pareja decided to go the route of attracting super talented, young South Americans who are looking to make the jump to Europe via Major League Soccer. That’s what all the cool kids are doing nowadays. Teams are making good on the U22 initiative laid out by the league, which helps teams in MLS be more competitive in the global market for young talents who are typically poached by European sides.
The main starlets for the Lions are two Uruguayans. The first is their new Young Designated Player, Facundo Torres, who was bought for a flat fee of $7.5M with $1.5M in incentives for 100% ownership of his rights. That means if they flip him to Europe, they retain all of the profits. Torres is an electric talent who was receiving interest from Manchester United, amongst other major European clubs. He can play anywhere across the front line, but was employed as a right winger to cut inside on his favored left foot. It was very effective against Montréal, as Torres looked to combine with veteran Mauricio Pereyra in the middle of the park once he came more central.
The other Uruguayan is a U22 midfielder, César Araújo, who is energetic, covers a lot of ground, and adds a lot of bite in the midfield. Araújo and Torres both started and played the majority, if not the entirety, of the 90 minutes against Montréal.
The final big addition was more of a typical experienced, European DP in Ercan Kara, who came over from Rapid Vienna in the Austrian Bundesliga. Kara is a typical No. 9 who likes to play with his back to goal, and is always in the right place at the right time. He scored 27 league goals with Rapid Vienna in three years.
FINAL THOUGHTS
These changes for Orlando City have given them a different tactical look going forward. Dike and Mueller made OCSC very linear and could stretch the field. While Torres has pace and Alexandre Pato is still capable of opening it up, the Lions have decided to go with inverted wingers and rely much more on interplay with Pereyra after the likes of Benji Michel and Torres cut inside.
This will require a lot of communication and timely interventions from Rafael Czichos and whoever is at center back next to him. Orlando also loves to throw their fullbacks - Joao Moutinho and Ruan – forward, so the Fire’s fullbacks will need to be wary of this while trying to force Orlando wide. Deliveries into the area aren’t as big of a threat from this club after the departure of Dike. Kara only came on as a sub and might be the answer to this question for the Lions, but only time will tell.
As for the Fire attack, stalwart Orlando center back Robin Jansson received a second yellow card last weekend and is suspended for Saturday’s fixture. I imagine Rodrigo Schlegel will fill in at that position. This will limit Orlando’s ability to play out of the back given Jansson’s quality on the ball.
Obviously, finding Xherdan Shaqiri in between the lines will be a recurring theme throughout this season and beyond, and I think the Fire wingers and Kacper Przybyłko are learning that Shaq will find them no matter how tight the window.
This game is going to be full of quality and life, and this is to say nothing about the fact this is the home opener. It’s not just any home opener either. This is the start of what is hopefully a season marked by Soldier Field being a proper fortress that teams fear entering.
See you at Soldier Field or on WGN and CF97 Live at 5 p.m. CT., and for all my overachievers out there, catch our pregame special just beforehand at 4:30.
BE THERE ON MARCH 5
Get your tickets for our 2022 Home Opener against Orlando City!
