ORLANDO, Fla. – Just as he got all his players fit again after a grueling inaugural season marred by injuries and international call-ups, Orlando City SC head coach Adrian Heath now has to face a potential crucial showdown without two of his biggest names out thanks to yellow card accumulation.
The Lions boss had everyone except defender David Mateos and long-term casualty Kevin Molino available for last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoff rivals Montreal, but saw both skipper Kaká and Brek Shea pick up bookings that take them over the limit for a one-game ban.
The key duo will therefore miss game at home to New York City FC on October 16, but striker Cyle Larin believes Orlando can now cope perfectly well without their talisman and the US international thanks to the confidence from their current four-game win streak.
“It’s tough but it is a team game, and everyone on this team can contribute these days,” he insisted. “We have really good players that can fill in those spots. It’s a loss not playing with Brek and Kaká but I think we are now good enough to beat New York.
“The main thing is to make sure we get enough rest before then. The Montreal game was the toughest game I have experienced so far. It was a really tough, physical battle. If everyone’s healthy for the New York game, our confidence is up and we should be fine.”
The 15-goal striker has all but locked up the Rookie of the Year award but is more concerned with continuing his MLS learning curve, which he admits has been steep at times this year after being the No. 1 pick in the SuperDraft in January.
He scored on his first start against Portland in April and has carried on hitting the back of the net at the rate of more than a goal every other game, despite a seven-game dry spell in August and September when it looked like the year’s workload – which included seven games with the Canadian national team – was catching up with him.
His strike ratio of goals per shots on goal is a whopping 60 percent, ahead of Obafemi Martins (54 percent), Robbie Keane (47 percent) and Chris Wondolowski (44 percent). And, tied for sixth in the league scoring charts, he has surpassed his own preseason target of 10 goals.
Larin insists his impressive scoring ratio is largely down to the team’s shooting practices and being drilled with the idea that every chance has to count. “In practice, I make sure I try to finish every shot I take because in a game [at this level] you don’t get a lot of chances,” he explained. “You might only get one chance and, if you don’t finish it, it might cost you the game.”
Heath is equally delighted with his young striker’s progress this year, which has been a baptism of fire in many respects with all the injury problems as well as the inconsistency of being an expansion team.
“This year was always going to be a learning process and we weren’t quite sure what we would get out of him, and obviously we have got a lot more than we expected. He’s scored goals everywhere he has been, but we didn’t know if he could do it in the men’s game, so to speak. But the growth of Cyle is only going to go up.”
