By Shae Beaudoin // @ShaeEliz
A lot’s gone down in the past few weeks. Clubs started making trades and signings and Orlando City SC remained strangely quiet until about mid-December. Ending 2017 with about 11 players out of contract and our captain retiring, we were all left wondering and waiting to find out who would fill in the gaps.
Here’s who we’ve kept, who we’ve lost, and who we’ve brought in.
Who We Kept
GK – Joe Bendik
GK – Mason Stajduhar
GK – Earl Edwards Jr
D – Scott Sutter
D – Jonathan Spector
D – José Aja
D – Donny Toia
D – Victor PC
M – Will Johnson
M – Yoshimar Yotún
M – Richie Laryea
M – Pierre Da Silva
M – Tony Rocha
M – Christian Higuita
F – Dom Dwyer
F – Cyle Larin
2017 – Out
GK – Josh Saunders
D – Seb Hines
D – Conor Donovan
D – Kevin Alston
D – Devron García
D – Tommy Redding (traded to RBNY)
D – Rafael Ramos (traded to Chicago Fire)
M – Ricardo Kaka (retired)
M – Antonio Nocerino
M – Servando Carrasco (contract expired, picked up by LA Galaxy)
F – Giles Barnes (free agent, signed by Club Leon FC)
F – Hadji Barry
F – Carlos Rivas (traded to RBNY)
2018 – In
GK – Adam Grinwis
D – RJ Allen (traded from NYCFC for third round draft pick)
D – Mohamed El-Munir
M – Dillon Powers (initially out of contract, later re-signed)
M – Sacha Kljestan (traded from RBNY)
M – José Villarreal (traded from LA Galaxy for third round draft pick)
M – Josué Colman
M – Cam Lindley (traded from Chicago Fire)
F – Stéfano Pinho (traded from Miami FC)
F – Chris Mueller (2018 SuperDraft pick)
Currently, it’s looking like head coach Jason Kreis is going for a complete midfield makeover. There’s speculation that Kreis may be switching things up to a 4-4-2 formation, which seemed to work for him back in his Real Salt Lake days. With Spector and Toia on the backline, or Spector and Aja, I can see this working out, but I’m also pretty nervous about only having two on the defensive line.
If we are working on a 4-4-2, I expect a few more forwards to join our ranks before the season start, especially if we lose Larin. Time will tell.
Orlando City plays their 2018 home opener against DC United on March 3rd.
Featured image of Jason Kreis on Day One courtesy: @OrlandoCitySC
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