ORLANDO, Fla. -- From famine to an attacking feast, that’s the prospect in store for Orlando City SC head coach Adrian Heath tomorrow as he looks to grab the team’s first home victory with the visit of D.C. United (7 pm ET, UniMás, UDN, UnivisionDeportes.com).
The Lions, with five points from their opening four games, were down to the bare bones for last Saturday’s 2-2 draw in Montreal due to the combination of injuries and international call-ups, but things are suddenly looking drastically different for Heath’s outfit less than a week later.
True, Northern Ireland international Martin Paterson is still at least a week away from shaking off the hamstring problem that has sidelined him all season, but Bryan Rochez, Carlos Rivas and Cyle Larin are all pushing for a place at least on the bench and Heath also has the in-form Pedro Ribeiro either to continue leading the line or take an attacking midfield role.
“The one thing we have this week is options,” Heath explained. “Carlos has come back into training and looked good and he can either play up front or wide on the left. Cyle is looking very sharp, as is Bryan, and Danny Mwanga has continued to train well.
“It would obviously be difficult to leave Pedro out after what he’s done in the past few weeks, but he also gives us plenty of variety as he can play in two or three different roles and he is a good finisher, so we have quite a few things we could do tomorrow.”
Although the team showed some offensive spark with their unusual 3-4-3 lineup against the Impact, it seems most likely Heath will revert to his favored 4-2-3-1 formation against the Eastern Conference regular season champions.
“If everyone is fit and well in the morning, and there are no reactions from the people who are just back from internationals, we’ll stick with what we know best,” Heath admitted. “Brek Shea had a very good game in Switzerland but sometimes it is the second day after all the travel that you can feel a bit jaded, so we will see.”
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Shea is fresh from an outstanding goalscoring performance with the US team, as is Larin with Canada, while Trinidadian Kevin Molino and El Salvador’s Darwin Ceren are also back to bolster the midfield, along with Portugal U-20 star Rafael Ramos at right back.
After struggling to field just 15 players—including two goalkeepers—in Montreal, Heath now has fully 20 names to try to work into his 18-man squad to face United, despite the injuries, and is relishing the chance to lock horns with a genuine MLS power.
“We are still a work in progress,” he insisted. “And we still have a long way to go to get people completely bedded down. But everybody is a little clearer in their roles and responsibility within the team and I definitely see us progressing. D.C. United will be a good test as they are a tough team to beat and have a lot of experience at this level. But I do think we match up well. We’re going to have to play well but I think we can.”
