Know thy Enemy: Three questions with The Mane Land
Know thy Enemy: Three questions with The Mane Land
Our old SBN friends join us for a little question and answer session ahead of Saturday’s game.
We are nearing the final stretch of the regular season, and this weekend brings some familiar faces back to Frisco as FC Dallas hosts Orlando City SC for the first time since 2020.
As we’ve done in the past, we’ve gotten together with another former SB Nation MLS site to discuss this weekend’s match. Today, we’re joined by Ben Miller of The Mane Land to discuss Saturday’s big match at Toyota Stadium.
You can see my answers to their questions over at The Mane Land’s website at some point today or early tomorrow.
BDS: It has been a minute since these clubs last played one another. Help FC Dallas fans out by telling us a bit about Orlando’s 2024 season. How has it gone?
TML: It was a very rough start to things for the Lions, but things have picked up since the beginning of summer. A combination of injuries, call-ups, suspensions, and competing in the Concacaf Champions Cup meant that Orlando struggled to field consistent lineups, and often had guys playing out of position. All of those factors helped contribute to a really difficult first couple of months, but things gelled a couple weeks into June, and a soft summer schedule combined with a team that was already playing better means OCSC is sitting in a pretty good position as the season winds down.
BDS: We love some Oscar Pareja here in Dallas, how has he been in Orlando as head coach? Have you all seen any evolution out of his coaching style over the years or has it been fairly consistent?
TML: I really like Oscar, he's easily the coach that's led us to the most success in MLS so I find it hard to dislike him. I do think at times he holds onto his subs a little too long, and I worry about the team's tactical flexibility at times, but for the most part we win under him, and winning cures most ails. In my opinion, his style is still largely the same. He still wants his teams to defend well, be difficult to play through, and the guys out wide are asked to do a lot of both attacking and tracking back.
BDS: Who are the key guys FC Dallas fans need to keep an eye out for this weekend?
TML: The biggest one is Facundo Torres. He has 12 goals and six assists and is Orlando's best player, period. When he's on and playing well he can score, assist, start plays from deep or out wide, and generally be a menace for the opposition. Then there's Duncan McGuire who has nine goals and three assists and has started to find his scoring form again after a slightly barren stretch. Martin Ojeda has quietly been great since summer started and has three goals and 10 assists on the year, and Luis Muriel has also started to get hot lately, with five goals and five assists on the year and two goals and one assist in the last two games.
Bonus question time!
BDS: Any injuries to discuss for Orlando? What about suspensions? And lastly, let’s do a lineup and final score prediction.
TML: David Brekalo and Mason Stajduhar are both unavailable with leg injuries, although Mason is the backup goalkeeper so we likely wouldn't have seen him anyway. As far as I know, there are no suspensions.
For a starting lineup I'll guess: Pedro Gallese; Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson; Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena, Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres; Duncan McGuire.
As a score prediction I'll say 2-1 Orlando City, with Facundo Torres and Luis Muriel getting the goals.