2021 Orlando City Player Grades: Goalkeepers

GK Pedro Gallese

Orlando’s No. 1 had another excellent season in net for the Lions. The Peruvian octopus made 22 appearances for Orlando City, with seven wins, nine draws and six losses across those matches. Gallese had a quite much more difficult task in his second season in purple, facing more shots and 12 more post-shot expected goals. With that increased challenge came an impressive showing.

Gallese finished with a post-shot expected goals difference of +0.9, comfortably top twenty in the league by that metric. He made 68 saves, also top 20 league-wide, at a respectable 70%. He was also decent in distribution, completing 77% of his passes and just over half of his long balls.

El Pulpo is widely regarded as one of the top goalkeepers in MLS, and there’s a lot of evidence to support that argument. He can make some truly spectacular saves and is a rock-solid starter for Orlando City. However, some of the advanced numbers aren’t quite at elite levels league-wide, as he’s well below the likes of New England’s Matt Turner and Philadelphia’s Andre Blake in just about every category. Still, Gallese is a good keeper who had himself a good season.

Grade: B