ORLANDO, Fla.- Adrian Heath admits he is not sure how he will replace Kaká when Orlando City face FC Dallas at home on Saturday (7:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE) with their star Designated Player under a one-game suspension.
Having decided not to appeal the captain’s red card from last weekend’s game at Salt Lake City, Orlando must find a way to fill the gaping void left by their leading goalscorer and joint leader in assists.
“At the moment, it is a question of who is going to be fit,” Heath confessed after the team’s Tuesday training session. “We are down to the bare bones and we have one or two players with little injury niggles as well, so we will have to get through the week first.
“By the time we get to Thursday or Friday, we should have a clear idea of who is available and then we can create a plan of action. Then we have to make a decision on whether we keep the usual shape or tweak the formation.”
The Lions coach has few options at his disposal with Cyle Larin and Darwin Ceren on Gold Cup duty and four others still out injured for at least another week, while Lewis Neal is one of those in the "little niggles" department.
Center back Aurelien Collin is a “possibility” to shake off his hamstring strain, but even his return does not help the team replace the creativity and goal power of No. 10. The only real candidates for a starting place are veteran defensive midfielder Amobi Okugo and Heath’s 19-year-old rookie son Harrison, neither of whom usually play in an advanced role.
“It is a bit of a head-scratcher,” Heath added. “But I have no doubt that whoever comes in will give an honest account of themselves and do a good job for the team.
“We have developed that side of things really nicely in recent weeks and everyone knows their responsibility. Dallas will also be missing some players for the Gold Cup, so everyone is in a similar boat really.”
Heath also admitted Orlando were anxious not to test the MLS appeals system in this case as the video evidence of Kaká’s controversial clash with Javier Morales was not clear-cut.
“When we looked at it again, I think Ricky [Kaká] does put his foot on him, but is that violent conduct?” the head coach asked. “It is a hard one to understand and only Ricky knows for sure.
“We also thought the process is not particularly player-friendly and we didn’t want to make the situation any worse, so we will take our medicine. It is a blow, especially because we were just starting to learn how the team fits around him. He is also really starting to become the leader we hoped he would be. But we can only control the controllables, so to speak, so we will move on.”
Goalkeeper Tally Hall, who took the captain’s armband after Kaká’s dismissal, insisted it is going to take a big group effort to make up for losing their star man.
“There is no other player who can do what he does, so we will definitely miss that,” Hall admitted. “But we have guys who are chomping at the bit to get in and prove themselves.
“I think this team has already shown there is a great spirit and that guys rally round. It never ceases to amaze me how well they fight and stay in games, and you can never count us out of a game.”
