It’s always more fun to talk offense than defense. It’s easier, also. Goals and draws got Orlando City SC above the playoff line.
Didn’t they?
And in the past didn’t a wise person (unknown today) say the best defense is a good offense?
Yet, Orlando City SC has to protect their precious leads for the rest of the MLS regular season or they won’t have a chance in the post-season. And when they’re not protecting leads, they have to protect their opportunities to create chances to get a lead.
The way to protect is through defense. And Orlando City has been drilling on defense just as hard as they’ve done on offense. It shows how intuitively players have gotten in position during counterattacks by opponents.
If Orlando has a chance to go deep in the post-season, they’ll have to match defensive production with the teams now above them in the MLS standings. Ideally, they’d match up with the teams now in the top positions. To find out what’s needed, it’s necessary to identify what qualities those teams produce.
It’s also necessary to check how Orlando City is producing while seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference – a record of 9-9-7.
Orlando is on a defensive pace of 15.4 tackles per match and 7.4 interceptions. On the aggression side of defense, the team is being charged with 9.3 fouls per game. Midfielder Cesar Araujo leads there with eight yellow cards, but no red cards through 25 matches played.
Some supporters might raise an eyebrow in examining fouls and yellow cards as a defensive quality. In Orlando City’s case, this aggression factor hasn’t been as costly as it has with other teams. That’s because the Lions' greatest strength is n defending the set pieces from these actions.
Two other strengths are coming back from losing positions and protecting their leads. They achieve both these strengths through their defense.
Inter Miami CF shows 17 tackles per match and 9.7 interceptions as they sit atop the MLS Eastern Conference. They’re getting 11.6 fouls with defender Tomas Aviles, who has eight yellow cards and is the most aggressive squad member.
Second-place F.C. Cincinnati gets 16.9 tackles per game with 8.6 interceptions and 12.8 fouls. Midfielder Obinna Nwobodo is their most aggressive player with five yellow cards.
It’s easy to see that Orlando City SC is getting into the same orbit of defensive production as the top two teams in the MLS Eastern Conference. But before they made the measure of defense, they had to get their Goal Differential to show a positive number.
With their Goal Differential now at 1.0, they’ve done that. They've achieved a good offense after a slow start for this MLS regular season. And they’ve improved their defense to back it up.