In this edition of Oppo Research, Hudson River Blue spoke with Ben Miller of The Mane Land to learn more about Orlando City, New York City FC's opponent in its home opener tomorrow at 2:30 pm ET. Here is your NYCFC vs Orlando City preview.
• League Form: L-L
• Record: 0W, 0D, 2L | 0 points, 11th place
• Scoring Leaders: Tiago Carvalho, Martín Ojeda, and Marco Pašalić, 1 goal
• Assist Leaders: Iván Angulo, Griffin Dorsey, and Zakaria Taifi, 1 assist
1. Orlando are winless after two games
Hudson River Blue: After losing in the Wild Card match of the MLS playoffs last season, Orlando started 2026 on a rocky note, losing both games so far. What are your biggest takeaways from the defeats?
Ben Miller: For one thing, defensive depth wasn't adequately addressed during the offseason. Some of this is due to bad luck, as a move for Jagiellonia Białystok center back Dusan Stojinovic fell through due to him suffering an injury in training right as the transfer was reportedly over the line. With Robin Jansson out after having foot surgery, the club has used David Brekalo, 20-year-old Iago, and MLS SuperDraft pick Nolan Miller at center back.
The results have been mixed, and while Iago and, particularly, Miller have both looked promising at times, the back line as a whole has looked vulnerable. Trading for Griffin Dorsey helped, but on the opposite side, an injury suffered to Adrian Marín meant Homegrown Player Tahir Reid-Brown made his first team debut in the loss to Inter Miami. He played well enough, but that's just not an ideal scenario at all. Turnovers in bad areas have been a problem, too, and the team just generally looks like one that's been using a lot of new pieces.
2. Orlando's defense is currently makeshift
HRB: Orlando’s defense has taken a hit, losing star right back Alex Freeman to Villareal and center back Rodrigo Schlegel to Atlas. To make matters worse, center back Robin Jansson is out with a broken foot. The club did bring in defensive reinforcements — Griffin Dorsey and Iago Teodoro — but conceding six goals in two games is never a positive. Do you have faith in the backline to improve as the season progresses?
BM: I do think things will improve as the season goes on. Dorsey looked much more comfortable on defense in the Miami game after having more training sessions under his belt, while Miller, Iago, and Reid-Brown all looked reasonably good, too, despite the ugly scoreline. Whenever Jansson gets back, it should certainly help things, and I do think those three young players have a lot of talent and potential.
Of course, that doesn't always translate into sustained good performances, but you also can't discount the value of getting live minutes against quality opposition. The team just can't give itself too big of a hole to dig out of later on in the year.
