Takeaways and thoughts from Orlando City's preseason finale
Orlando can play some beautiful attacking soccer
Preseason is not typically a breeding ground for potent offensive soccer. It's typically the realm of sloppy possession, heavy legs and heavier touches. That wasn't really the case for Orlando.
While the final ball wasn't always there, the Lions looked exceedingly dangerous in the attacking third. DP wingers Martín Ojeda and Facundo Torres played effectively as dual, free-roaming attacking midfielders. The pair floated around the field, combining with everyone and creating dangerous chances aplenty.
There were a lot of similarities to previous Orlando teams --- especially in the way the right back continuously overlapped to provide width --- but the crispness and clarity of attacking ideas looked tantalizing.
Martín Ojeda could be special
It's easy to overreact to preseason games. But if preseason games are just confirming everything seen on previous film and statistics, then it's good to get excited.
Ojeda looked the part of a Best XI-caliber creative force for Orlando. His ability to ping passes, cut through lines, create off the dribble and shoot from anywhere will make him a menacing presence for opposing defenses.
His production and ability will only shine brighter as he build more chemistry and continuity with Orlando's other attacking pieces.
MLS Season Pass is awesome
I'm not currently in Orlando and able to cover games live, but fortunately for me, Apple TV and MLS decided to use this as a beta test for its new coverage. It was just a taste of what's to come with these broadcasts, but it has me exceedingly excited.
Just having a full and proper pre and postgame show for MLS games is such a breath of fresh air. It gave the matches an added level of importance, and gave room to actually discuss the storylines of the league.
The broadcast itself is also super promising. The picture quality was crisp and wonderful and the commentary teams were excellent. As the league develops and employs the full set of graphics packages and other elements to these games, the broadcast product will be the best in league history.