Cesar Araujo keeps it physical for Orlando City SC

Of all the talents and playing styles on the Orlando City SC squad, there’s one supporters never talk about.

After any match, good or bad, Orlando City SC supporters will praise their favorites and fume about their less-than-favorites. The players visibly dribbling, tackling, and taking on-target shots get their verbal laurels.

And the ones that fell short get their virtual for-sale signs.

But there’s one contribution that never gets discussed. And that’s aggression.

The one player on top or near the top of every aggression chart for Orlando is midfielder Cesar Araujo. Supporters probably wondered why he started so often in the middle of SC’s midfield line. That’s the main reason.

Combined home and away, he’s at the top of the list. This statistic is compiled uniquely and simply.

While other statistical categories track shots, goals, assists, or passing accuracy, this one just counts yellow cards. Players with the most yellow cards aren’t just chronically wasting time or faking getting fouled.

They are getting physical. On the Orlando team, Araujo is doing just that. He’s tallied the most cards through 14 games, totaling six.

He picked up his sixth during City’s 0-0 draw with Inter Miami in the 73rd minute. But his play isn’t all about getting physical. There’s some skill there, as well.

In that same game, he drew a foul. He’s also helped keep his team alive by blocking shots.

Even when he doesn’t compile a lot of easily gathered stats, such as in Orlando’s game against Columbus Crew, he contributed in that match passing accuracy of almost 96%.

By his well-scouted style of play, Araujo is a constant counter-attack threat, skilled in playing long balls. By his physical nature, he’s almost as likely to draw a foul as he is to commit one.

So to keep the physical part of the game up front, Orlando City SC keeps Cesar Araujo in the lineup whenever possible. It’s good for the team’s chances and they must keep creating them.