(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

July 25, 2017 at Sylvan Lake Park

Availability: HC Jason Kreis, F Cyle Larin

HC Jason Kreis

Orlando City SC will travel to face Atlanta United FC in the second of a back-to-back. It will be the second of three times the two teams will meet this season.

I think any time you play the same opponent twice, you often times see in the second game that there’s a bit more to it. I think that we, as a team, feel a little bit hard-done because we felt our performance warranted more than we got. And so we go into this hopefully with the mentality that we need to gain something back this game.

For Kreis, it’s a matter of goal-scoring that will be the difference for City to get at least a point.

Score the goals. Yeah, we’re getting in and around their penalty box often but nothing to show for it. So, we need to score the goals that make the difference in the game. If we had scored one or two of our chances in the first half, then, you know, obviously we’re in a different position to manage the game and hopefully not lose it at the end.

While it’s not his ideal situation, Kreis is “happy” to be playing Atlanta so soon again.

Yeah, it’s not my favorite situation ’cause I just think the competitive balance for this season, it’s not ideal. But, at the moment right now, after—again, after the performance we had, feeling hard-done by the result. I would say that I think this is the right time for this game. Yeah, I’m happy about it.

Kreis said there could be a fault in focusing too much on defense with regard to the lack of scoring goals.

Yeah, it could be. I mean, we know that the game can be very frustrating, and it’s a game of balance. It’s a game of defending well and attacking well. And I feel like in a lot of the games this year, there’s been games where we’ve said, “Well, we really defended well.” The beginning of the season in particular. And we happened to have scored the goal that won the game for us. Right now, we still say, for the most part, we’re defending pretty well, but we’re having a little bit of a difficulty finding the goal that’s gonna make the difference for us. And so we have to continue on because if we hope, going now, switch things and only gonna be talking about attacking, then we know that we’ll allow goals, especially against a team a dangerous as Atlanta.

Orlando City has dropped below the playoff line for the first time this season, as the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew have taken the fifth and sixth spots, respectively.

No, no. Early in the season, probably the first half of the season, I would say, they were not even looking, but where we’re at right now, you see the light at the end of the tunnel. You see the season end here in the next—we’ve only got 13 games remaining, and it is time to look now and recognize that our backs are against the wall. We need a reaction right now.

Concern? I don’t know about concern. What concerns me is just the lack of goal-scoring right now. I still believe that the performances have been mostly good, and I also believe that at some point, something goes right for us, and, when it does, then a lot of things will go right for us, if we continue to work and if we continue to believe.

On Tuesday, Orlando City acquired Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer.

My experience is that any time you add new pieces and new competition in any position, it livens the group up a little bit. It freshens the group up a little bit, so we feel like, first and foremost, we need it just from a talent and depth perspective but also a little bit of an emotional push would be nice, right now, as well.

Kreis recognized that Larin is an important player to the team within certain parameters.

I mean, Cyle, as we know, he’s scored the goals for us, and we need Cyle to be fresh. We need Cyle Larin that wants to run and that wants to work and wants to be on both sides of the ball for us and wants to make a difference. And that player is extremely important for us, and the one doesn’t have the energy to do things is not.

F Cyle Larin

For Larin, Kreis has harped on simply continuing to work in training.

Just keep working in training. Keep moving the ball quicker to get in good spots and find a way to attack and get more players in the box. I think it’s important. One person in the box doesn’t occupy the defenders. I think more people in the box, people get open.

With 13 games to go in the season, the standings don’t concern Larin.

No, I think we’ll get there. Maybe done well in the beginning of the season, and now we take a little bit dip, but as long as we finish strong, we’ll be okay, and we’ll make it to the playoffs.

No, I think it’s about getting better as a team and just working and working on the training pitch and make sure we get it right here, and we’ll go to the field and do the same thing and get wins.

“Working together as a team” is what Larin said his team needs to continue to do.

I think we just have to keep working together as a team, and, offensively and defensively, everyone has to do their part, and we’ll be fine.

For Larin, he said the Lions simply need to get more players in the box against Atlanta.

Obviously, a tough game, and I think we just had to get more players in the box, and the goals will come, I think. We possessed the ball, and we just have to be together as a team both sides of the ball.

Yeah, I mean, we know how they play now. Second time playing them, so it’ll be a good game in Atlanta.

Yeah, it does [hype the game up to play Atlanta so quickly again]. I think it was a great game, and there was rough tackles in the game, and I think everyone’s getting after it. I think the amount of crowd they brought to Orlando, I think we’ll be the same or more. So I think it’ll be a good game.

Larin played in a Gold Cup loss to Jamaica for the Canadian men’s national team the night before he played about 20 minutes against Atlanta for City.

I knew we had a game the next day, and obviously I didn’t play a lot of minutes against Jamaica, so I was okay to come back and be on the bench in case he needed me, and I came back the next day, and I came in.

For more on Orlando City as they travel north to face Atlanta, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.