ORLANDO – It will be a 90-mile journey from Orlando City SC’s training ground to their new USL franchise home in Melbourne on Florida’s Atlantic coast, but the real gap between the two teams will be measured in games rather than distance.
That’s the ultimate ambition for the Lions as they look to build on their inaugural year in MLS and a topsy-turvy ride that has exposed gaps in their squad depth and player readiness. It was summarized in one phrase from head coach Adrian Heath: “Not enough games.”
As City officially unveiled their new team’s home base and name – the Titan Soccer Complex of Eastern Florida State College and Orlando City B, mimicking the Spanish reserve-team model – as well as the first three players for coach Anthony Pulis’ squad, Heath was already considering how much the USL venture will boost the overall quality available to him.
The B-team will train side-by-side with Heath’s men before making the journey to Melbourne for games, and there will be as much uniformity as possible between the two squads.
“We would like to have them around where we can see as much of them as possible,” Heath explained after training on Thursday. “People like Harrison [Heath], Tyler [Turner] and Tommy [Redding] have played nowhere near enough games this year, so if they are not in the first team next year it will be important they get some games under their belts on a Saturday.
“There have been times this year where we couldn’t afford to let them go too far because of injuries and international call-ups, and they ended up sitting on the bench or playing a few minutes here and there. But that’s not really good enough for their development as young players.”
Pulis will therefore be charged with getting Orlando City B to play in a similar style to the first team while also developing the team’s younger talent around a core of more experienced players.
OCB unveiled a trio of new faces at the Titan Soccer Complex in 20-year-old former Norwich City prospect Kyle Callan-McFadden and a pair of 22-year-old signings from Austin Aztex in Mikey Ambrose and Tony Rocha. They will be joined by a handful of talent from Orlando City’s Academy, including US U-18 midfielder Raul Aguilera Jr., as well as fringe first teamers like Heath, Redding and Tyler, plus the likes of Tony Cascio, Sidney Rivera, Conor Donovan, Estrela and Danny Mwanga.
- Get more Lions news at OrlandoCitySC.com
The proximity of the teams in training terms will be crucial, but so will the experience of Pulis in playing under Heath for three years in their USL days, alongside OCB assistant coach Rob Valentino, a former Lions fan favorite making a welcome return to the club.
“I’ve played under Adrian. I know his system and what he wants,” Pulis explained. “We’ll also be trying to emulate what we’ve done in USL before. In addition, signing our first group of players in Mikey, Kyle and Tony – three talented footballers with a very bright future – allows us to start to build the framework of our roster for next year.”
Valentino insists the new team will definitely be looking to follow in the winning footsteps of Orlando’s USL days, when they won the Commissioner’s Cup three times, as well as two championships.
“Obviously this is a developmental thing, but as part of that comes a winning culture,” he said. “And, when players jump to the first team, they will know those core values, which we established in four years in USL.”
