ORLANDO. Fla.—Sober and realistic; disappointed but still positive. Those were the locker room reactions from Orlando City SC as they grappled with the end of their unbeaten home run and a dispiriting 3-0 loss to New York City FC on Sunday.
Captain Kaká summed up how the team must react this week ahead of a testing trip to newcomers Minnesota United FC – and their former coach Adrian Heath. “It is a good moment for the team to build our character and be ready for a big achievement,” he said.
Saturday’s game is certainly a major test for the Lions in what is rapidly becoming a miserable May. Orlando are 0-3-2 this month, and only have one point from two home matches after winning their first five games to open Orlando City Stadium.
They started the month in a commanding position in the Eastern Conference with a 6-1-0 record. Orlando now sits fourth in the standings at 6-4-2, behind NYCFC on goal difference and six points adrift of runaway leaders Toronto.
“Five games without a win, it is starting to bother us,” Kaká said. “We can say a lot of things about this loss and everything, but it is to time to think about what we can do for the next games.
“There are a lot of things that are happening. We traveled through this period, we had some games in a row, we had a lot of games during the week. So there’s a few things we have to understand, set up, and get ready for the rest of the season.”
Head coach Jason Kreis admitted that his team was second-best on Sunday night to an NYCFC outfit they had already beaten twice this season. But he refused to concede that Orlando have any major problems.
“I think we have to stay level-headed,” he said. “When we were 6-1-0, clearly we could have been feeling a lot better about ourselves than we were. We tried to stay grounded then. After every single win we talked about the improvements we need to make. And so, after the loss, we stay the same.
“We’re not going to go into a shell or believe we’re the worst team in the league or that we’re in some very, very bad spot. We still need to improve. We still need to work hard every week. And we need to do our best to prepare ourselves for next week’s game.”
Despite the current skid, Kreis remains convinced his men just need to remain positive about their prospects, and that there are not a lot of adjustments the coaching staff have to make.
“For me it’s not about changing the mentality, it’s just reminders about who we want to be and continuing to work,” he said. “I think that over the first portion of the season, a lot of things were going our way. Some bounces were going our way, some decisions were going our way, some special plays were being made in both penalty boxes.
“At the moment I think things are going a little bit against us. We have to continue to believe and continue to work hard and continue to stay together.”
