Matchday Musings: Orlando City

A slightly too lighthearted look ahead to the Red Bulls' upcoming fixture

photo credit: Irish Maliborski

Today it begins.

What awaits us can only be known by the hallowed deities of this sport, though the rest of us mere mortals can probably make a few reasonable guesses. In the year to come children will laugh, grown adults will cry, cherished victories will be mixed with soul crushing defeats that will leave us all awake at night. We will share our joy and we will share our misery, while praying that there will be more triumphs than misfires.

Today 30 teams, about 900 players in total, have some small sliver of hope that this could be their year. Even the most downtrodden of squads will think somewhere in the deep recesses of their mind, that maybe just maybe, this could be the year they pull a miracle. Even the best teams, filled with star studded generational talent, will have that little sliver of doubt that a year of promise will all come crashing down in a fiery catastrophe they will never escape. Anything can happen. For one day, one game, all teams are equal. All teams have hope that for the most part will be squashed in the coming hour and all teams will have doubts that only a select few of them will overcome. Afterall there are far more failures in this game than success stories. Only a very small handful of fanbases will look back fondly on the year to come. May we be among their number.

Welcome back dear reader to another season of whimsy, despair and Red Bull soccer. We’ve missed you.

Bulletin Board

To say a lot has changed since last season would be an understatement. Coach Sandro Schwarz has been sent to the big beautiful ranch upstate, and has been replaced by American soccer legend and former Red Bulls II head coach Michael Bradley. Seven of New York’s top ten leaders in minutes last season are now playing somewhere else, and there are only five players with 1000 league minutes last year still on the team. Captain Emil Forsberg, oft-injured wingback Cam Harper and Dylan Nealis (who seems to be transitioning to a full time centerback role) are the only players left in New York from the 2024 MLS Cup starting XI. Roughly half of the starting lineup today could be making their competitive Red Bull debut. Even the name is different, as RB Global decided to formally rename the team Red Bull New York to match the branding of their other other clubs in Germany, Austria, Brazil and Japan. As a stubborn jerk that hates change, I’m still going to call them the New York Red Bulls and I welcome you dear reader to call them whatever you want whether it’s RBNY, NYRB or for the purists among you, the MetroStars.

After an abysmal season where the Red Bulls missed the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, it’s hard to argue that most of these changes are unwarranted. While there are a few beloved faces that fans will miss, there are just as many that most fans are probably happy to see the back of. But for all that was lost, much was hopefully gained. New head of sport Julian de Guzman’s primary strategy this offseason was focused around acquiring American players competing abroad. This approach allowed the team to acquire a decent amount of talent with quality experience in MLS or at similar levels, without using up international roster spots or making deals with league rivals.

However, the downside is that for the most part these players are coming back stateside after stagnating abroad. Former San Jose Earthquake Cade Cowell, is a speedy and physical winger with technical deficiencies on loan from Mexican giants Chivas Guadalajara, defender Justin Che is a former top American prospect recruited by Bayern Munich who couldn’t quite make it work in stints across Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium, and former USMNT goalkeeper Ethan Horvath is making his MLS debut after bouncing around the English pyramid. However the biggest, but least familiar name for American fans, is Jorge Ruvalcaba the Red Bulls’ newest DP signing out of Liga MX. We’ll talk more about him in a minute. In addition de Guzman signed German center back (and green card holder) Robert Voloder and traded for Canadian right wingback Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, two more players who won’t take up international roster spots. The only ‘new’ addition to the roster that will take such a spot is the Argentine Nehuen Benedetti who starred for the Red Bulls II in their MLSNP title winning campaign. Several players from Bradley’s Baby Bulls are expected to have larger senior team roles this season as well including Roald Mitchell, Adri Mehmeti, Andy Rojas and Rafael Mosquera.

Integrating these new and newish faces, particularly with the team’s top two offensive players, Emil Forsberg and Eric Choupo-Moting will be Bradley’s most important task. Bradley seems likely to employ a either a 4-1-4-1 or a more traditional 4-4-2, though either system will likely be reliant on the flexibility of midfielders Gustav Berggren and Ronald Donkor to both act as key conduits in the attacking buildup and to defend against quick transitions which ravaged the Red Bulls last season. Donkor seems set for a much larger starting role this season, and the success of the season may very well rely on whether or not the talented 21 year old can meet the moment.

At Red Bulls II, Bradley’s offense was largely dependent on his speedy wingers stretching out the defensive lines to create space, something he seems keen to repeat with Cowell and Ruvalcaba, though overall success in this game may be more dependent on the new backline’s ability to jell and develop chemistry. Some combination of Nealis, Voloder and veteran Tim Parker should make up the center back pairing, while Marshall-Rutty and Che are likely competing for the right back spot, though the latter could also win minutes in the center. After a less than stellar position battle last year, Omar Valencia seems set to be the starting left back by virtue of his competition being put to pasture, though the young Panmian showed some impressive promise early on last season.

As for the other team in this game Orlando City is coming off of a bit of a mixed campaign themselves. While the Lions did make the playoffs, a full 10 points ahead of the Red Bull, they largely faded down the stretch ending what looked to be a promising campaign on a dud getting knocked out by the Chicago Fire in an 8 vs 9 seed playoff game. Reigning MLS Young Player of the Year Alex Freeman is off to sunny Spain with Villareal, and will be very hard to replace, though new signing, veteran right back Griffin Dorsey is a similarly skilled yet less dynamic successor. Longtime goalkeeper Pedro Galleese is gone and after nearly poaching Red Bulls keeper Carlos Coronel (who ultimately signed with Brazilian club Sao Paulo) they turned to fellow MLS vet Maxime Crepeau. DPs Martin Ojeda and Marco Pašalić are dynamic attacking player, with Ojeda establishing himself as the second best Argentine playmaker in the state of Florida last season, these two make for a truly lethal goal scoring duo, but the lack of a solid true striker to complete their trio has prevented Orlando from taking a step up and joining MLS’ truly elite teams.

Head coach Oscar Pareja will likely line up in either a 4-2-3-1, though the opening of the season could be a prime opportunity for experimenting. It’s a possession based team that will often build up from the back, in methodical well designed attacks, though their most successful moments come from quick passing and rotation between their forwards. They can be partial to quick counterattacks, with some very strong long ball passers on their backline, though without Freeman prodigal passing ability, they may have less success with that tactic. They win games by making the opposition dance to their rhythm. They control the pace of play, adjusting between fast and slow tempo based on whatever makes their opponent less comfortable. It’s a flexible team that could be a tricky challenge for the new and hopefully improved Red Bulls who are almost certainly still trying to build their own identity. However that lack of identity can prove to be its own advantage, as it could leave Orlando unprepared for an opponent they really don’t know much about.

Stat Circle

• New York Red Bulls 2025 MLS Record: 12-7-15 (10th-E)
  Orlando City SC 2025 MLS Record: 14-11-9 (9th-E)

• New York Red Bulls Last MLS Result: 1-3 vs Columbus Crew
  Orlando City SC Last MLS Result: 1-3 vs Chicago Fire (playoffs)

• New York Red Bulls Top 2025 MLS Scorer: Eric Choupo-Moting (17)
  Orlando City SC Top 2025 MLS Scorer: Martin Ojeda (16)

• Fun Fact: the Red Bulls are 11-5-9 against Orlando City all time across all competitions.

Players to Watch

Duncan McGuire

McGuire may not be quite as tall or noble as Ser Duncan the Tall, but he has earned the name Big Dunc for a reason. The former MAC Hermann winner at Creighton (the soccer equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2023 with a thirteen goal rookie campaign, and despite some injuries and international duty followed that up with a solid 10 goal season in 2024. However 2025 was a significant step back for the young striker who missed 12 games with a shoulder injury, but struggled even when healthy. 2026 is shaping to be a make or break season for McGuire and by extension Orlando. His main competition for the starting striker role, Luis Muriel, departed this offseason and Orlando has made little effort to sign a replacement. If he can return to his rookie form, then he will be that third key alongside Ojeda and Pašalić that takes Orlando to the next level. If he doesn’t then it’ll be both a long game and a long season for the central Floridians.

photo credit: Irish Maliborski

Jorge Ruvalcaba

The Red Bulls’ failing to sign a third Designated Player last in the midst of a competitive playoff race was a source of major frustration among fans, and a common point of criticism as the team faded down the stretch resulting in its failure to make the postseason. Well now that final DP spot has finally been filled, and well the fan concerns have yet to be answered. Born in California, Ruvalcaba took an odd career path going from playing DII college soccer at Cal State University San Bernardino (go Coyotes) to Mexican Big Four club Pumas. He quickly established himself as a promising prospect in Liga MX showcasing himself as an extremely high quality dribbler combining those technical skills with a fast pace and a proclivity to win 1 on 1s with defenders. That earned him a brief and uneventful loan in Belgium in 2023, before returning to Pumas. He’s coming off a strong campaign, scoring 5 goals with 3 assists in Liga MX’s Apertura (the first part of the league’s two halves season) which earned the 24 year old Mexican-American his first call up to the Mexican national team in November. He’s young, he’s fast, he’s skilled and he should fit Michael Bradley’s play style very well but his background and performance is a little underwhelming for a typical DP signing. With only three DPs allowed per club, it’s a title that brings high expectations, and generally each one has to live up to those expectations for a team to have a successful season. Ruvalcaba is a good player and likely a good signing, but if he’s not a DP caliber signing, then the Red Bulls may miss out on the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Side Notes

• Injury Report: Cam Harper-knee (O), A.J. Marcucci-knee (O), Mohammed Sofo-ankle (O)

• MLS’s transfer window closes on March 26th, leaving the Red Bulls one more month to make improvements until the Secondary transfer window opens in July

• The Red Bulls II have signed defender Shunya Sakai on loan from RB Omiya Arija in the J-League 2, the first transfer between New York and the Japanese Red Bull affiliate.

• This summer the US will host the World Cup, a potential source of motivation for a few Red Bulls hoping a strong start to the season can attract the attention of their national teams, including Jorge Ruvalcaba (Mexico), Omar Valencia and Rafael Mosquera (Panama), Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (Canada) and Emil Forsberg who’s native Sweden will be be playing in qualifying matches for the final European World Cup spots in March.

photo credit: Irish Maliborski

Prediction

The season starts strong with a 2-1 win powered by goals from Forsberg and Eric Choupo-Moting.