ORLANDO, Fla. — Jason Kreis was definitely looking ahead, but also refusing to ignore the immediate past and present, as he laid out his vision for Orlando City SC this week.
In a wide-ranging interview at Monday's training session, the Lions head coach was both bullish and careful about 2017 — confident in the team’s direction, but insistent that there's a fair way to go.
In fact, when pressed to estimate how much of the job is still to be done, he reckoned he is only about halfway there after almost three months in charge. Kreis believes that much of the work will take place in the next few months, with a final evaluation of the current squad, and then in his first full preseason in Florida.
Foremost in his mind is the need to complete the season on a positive note, with Sunday’s trip to the Philadelphia Union (3 pm ET, MLS LIVE) and then their final home encounter with D.C. United on Oct. 23.
“We need to finish strong,” Kreis insisted. “We have two matches left and we have a team good enough to win both. We need to show ourselves the right amount of respect, we need to play for pride, and certainly there is the element of playing for jobs next year.
“Most importantly, we need to play for our fans, especially the home match because, from my point of view from the time I’ve been here, I’m very disappointed we have taken some losses at home. That deeply affects me and I expect it to affect the group as well. We take more pride in playing in front of our fans and I think we owe them to go out and give everything we can in these last two matches.”
In his glass-half-full assessment of a season that is again finishing outside the playoffs, Kreis has seen enough to encourage him that the team is on the right path, but not enough to suggest they are ready for what he wants out of them just yet.
“There are a lot of things that go into a game of soccer,” he said. “It’s not ever going to be black and white about talent, or effort level, or tactics. It is a combination of all of those things as well as mentality, and it is the teams that put all those four factors together at the same time that will get consistent results.
“We’ve seen positive spells of all of those things since we have been here but we haven’t seen 90 minutes of them yet. We were probably as close as we have been in that last match [a 1-0 home loss to Montreal]. It was a dominating performance but it wasn’t what we wanted in terms of the result.”
Kreis’ 12-game record in Orlando currently stands at 3-6-3, with four of those defeats coming in the last five games. Hence, he's distinctly aware much of the hard work still lies ahead.
“I would say we’re 50 percent [down the road] because I think we are seeing positive things in every game,” he said. “I am seeing the tactical approach that we’re trying to establish — there are parts of it in every game — but I’m also seeing the reverse of that as well, so I think we are halfway towards where we need to be as a group.
“What’s most pleasing to me is what the players put in every day in training. The work rate, the mentality, the team chemistry, those are all fantastic things and, as a coach, that’s really all you can ask. You want the players to give you everything they have and to stick together to provide an atmosphere that is good to coach in, and this group certainly has been.”
As complimentary as he is about the current squad, Kreis also knows he needs more out of them next year, both in terms of consistency and fitness.
He has already stressed he expects a higher fitness level in 2017 as he builds the kind of high-energy, slick-passing game he had at Real Salt Lake, when he went to two MLS Cup finals, winning one.
In addition, the coach admitted he will need to add the squad in the offseason to bolster the kind of drive and commitment he seeks.
“Next year we will continue down the line of trying to be a team that wants to dominate matches, and you dominate first and foremost by having and keeping the ball,” Kreis said. “It will be something that will continue to be talked about in preseason and worked very strongly on.
“I think we still don’t quite have the level of appreciation for it that I’m trying to convey, but I know it takes time and training. It’s a longer-term goal but we will be expecting our players [to achieve it] and looking for players than can complement that. It’s very similar [to Salt Lake]. It’s all about the ball; when we have it, how much do we appreciate it, and when we don’t, how badly do we want it back.”
For anyone thinking they might be able to coast through the final two games to the offseason, there was also a sharp reminder that Kreis will have a keen eye on the proceedings.
“It’s not that I worry, it’s that I am watching, and those type of players won’t be back,” he insisted. “We have identified who we think are the core of this team, the players we would not consider moving, and who we are looking to build this group around. We would never say [who they are] that at this point, but the future here is open to everyone.”
