ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City SC have breezed to the top of the Eastern Conference standings on the back of five straight home wins and a single road victory, at New York City FC on April 23.
Now things start to get much tougher for Jason Kreis and his surprise leaders. The Lions play seven games this month, four of them on the road and five of them against teams currently in the top half of the standings, starting with a major test of their early-season contender credentials at Toronto FC on Wednesday night (7:30 pm ET | TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US).
In fact, Kreis believes the Reds represent the toughest hurdle his men could possibly face right now, especially at BMO Field, where Toronto have lost just twice in their last 18 games. The combination of in-form opponents riding a strong home-field advantage has the Orlando chief wary ahead of the clash of two teams with only one entry in the ‘L’ column so far this year.
“This is a very difficult challenge in front of us,” Kreis said. “Right now [Toronto] are playing some fantastic soccer. They have been extremely dominant at home, so this is probably the most difficult challenge we could face in the league at the moment.
“Coming off short rest, it presents some other challenges as well. To go there, with the form they are in, and [Jozy] Altidore and [Sebastian] Giovinco in particular, it presents us with some real problems. But this is the kind of test we need.”
Kreis brushed aside the significance of sitting atop the standings this early in the campaign. But he wants his Lions to build on their flying start, especially against last year’s MLS Cup runners-up.
“I think our team is very familiar with them, having played them in preseason, and we’re very aware of what we’re going into,” he said of Toronto. “I also think we’re ready from a physical standpoint. I’d ideally like to have a few more days to rest and tactically prepare, but I think our group is ready.
“We arguably put together our best overall performance last weekend [against Colorado], so that’s our measuring stick. Now, can we perform like that again? Can we do all the little things that add up to positive results like this past weekend?”
While Kreis is keen to test his men – and their championship aspirations – against such a formidable challenge, he also relishes the prospect of Cyle Larin and Altidore on the same field.
“I don’t see any reason to hesitate over saying that Cyle in his form right now, and Jozy over the last couple of years are extremely dangerous players. I don’t know if it is my job to judge if they are the best two [No. 9s] in the league, but they are certainly amongst the top.
“They are similar in size and stature, and in some of the play that they have and the way they influence games. I think they’re both viewed from the outside as typical box strikers, guys that like to be on the end of things, that are always dangerous in the box but maybe they don’t do a whole lot else. But I think when you take a good look at them, you realize pretty quickly they both do a lot of other things to help their team, and they both have the ability to create goals for their teammates.”
