When Orlando City general manager Paul McDonough and coach Adrian Heath began preparing for the team’s Major League Soccer debut in 2015, they knew what kind of team they wanted to build: one that not only has the talent compete for an MLS Cup right out of the gate, but also a group of leaders and experienced veterans to help mentor the young guys, and make winning the main focus in the dressing room.

Scouring all over the country and across parts of the globe, McDonough and Heath looked for guys that “checked all of the boxes,” as we’ve so commonly heard. Fitting into the system setup by Heath was important, as well as being able to step up and lead when needed.

From the stars and vets like Kaka, Donovan Ricketts, and Aurelien Collin, to some of the younger guys with plenty of room to grow and enough knowledge to lead, Orlando City has built a roster with much more than just physical skill.

Being that guy that practically built this roster, McDonough is happy with that he’s seeing so far from that aspect.

“With a lot of young players, we know there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs.” McDonough said at Saturday’s open practice. “I’m really happy with the leadership we brought in. We thought Amobi (Okugo) and Tally, and Aurelien would give us a lot of leadership. Lewis (Neal) has done a good job. Kaka’s been more than we expected and hoped for; he’s a great leader and sets a great example for the young ones, and he’s a really good guy in the locker room.”

As much as the guys can learn from Kaka’s play on the field, his actions off the pitch should speak even louder to the younger players like Tommy Redding, Tyler Turner, Bryan Rochez, Rafael Ramos, and so on, who can learn a thing or two from a guy that stayed longer than the allocated 45 minutes on Saturday night to sign autographs for almost every single season ticket holder in attendance.

Like McDonough said, it’s not going to be all candy and rose gardens this season. This is almost and entirely new group, and I don’t expect them to be firing on all cylinders by March 8 — they might be close, but not all the way there. Things could be rough early on as many of the players adjust to MLS, and it’s up to the veteran players — the leaders of the team — to step up and guide the squad through those times.

That’s something they’re more than capable of doing.

One of the big questions this past winter leading up to the Expansion Draft was whether or not Orlando City would take Central Florida native Eddie Johnson if he were to be left unprotected by his club, DC United. Hardly anyone was questioning Johnson’s talents — the DC forward has succeed both in MLS and on the National Team level with the US — but rather his attitude and head off of the pitch.

Johnson was protected by DC, mean Orlando wouldn’t have the opportunity to select him, but that didn’t really matter in the end. Because as we can see, Orlando City’s roster building plans made character and leadership just as important as talent.