KISSIMMEE, Fla. — It's a new year for Orlando City, in more ways than one.
Longtime Lions Pedro Gallese, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith, Cesar Araújo and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson are no longer with the team. In come Maxime Crépeau, Tiago Souza, Luis Otávio, and Braian Ojeda.
Despite the changes, the mood at the Orlando Health Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park was anything but uncertain as preseason officially opened on Monday.
"We're good. We're ready," Head Coach Oscar Pareja said. "First day in preseason, all of the players came in a good state, and we're ready to push. We have a lot of expectations and are trying to accomplish the goals we didn't meet last year. So, we're ready to do it."
While the excitement is just as palpable as any preseason, Pareja took time after training to recognize those players, as well as staff, who helped build Orlando into perennial playoff contenders over the last six seasons.
"First, just give me an opportunity to express our gratitude for every single person, player and staff member who has been part of this program, who has been part of this process," Pareja said. "We value them a lot. Every step that we have worked together with them, pushing this team towards this state right now is just because of them, and we really appreciate it. We're very grateful to them and the ones that will continue.
We're ready to keep pushing with this journey, and it looks different, for sure, because we have had those players who have been here for many years, and have brought a long, big, big history here. So again, our respect to them, and we promise that we will keep pushing together, because the most important thing is the team. Not any other person or coach, but the team."
Since Pareja arrived in Orlando six years ago, the mission has steadily evolved. The first few years were spent building the team up, eventually leading to a U.S. Open Cup trophy in 2022. Then came building the Academy, which has produced 13 Homegrown players and a number of college prospects. Then came building the club into a consistent title contender, making the Lions a consistent playoff team every year since 2020. Now, after a disappointing end to the 2025 season, the standard has shifted once again.
"Since the time that we came six years ago, the expectations were very clear we needed to qualify the team to the playoffs, to develop the program, to develop the Academy and just try to put Orlando city in the view of everyone. I think that has been accomplished to the point that that's not enough," Pareja said. "We want to win titles, just as we did in the past, when we won the Open Cup. Now we want to win the MLS Cup and every single tournament that we participate in. Last year, we played in the semifinals of the Leagues Cup, and we had a pretty good pace during the season, but we didn't do good in the playoffs. It was not good enough. And I think that is a sour thing that we have at the moment, is that we aim to the bigger prize. It's nothing else."
Now the Lions will look to rectify last season's results as they prepare for the season to begin at the end of February. Over the next few weeks, the Lions will play four preseason matches, three of them against MLS competition and one next weekend against Lexington SC of the USL Championship. After next week training at home, they'll head down south to Mexico to spend a week training in Cancun, just as they have the last few years.
"It's our first day, and the evaluation for the players is crucial today to see what their state is, how they are and all those things. After the first days, then we start increasing the volume and the load and all those things, but today is much more just to rejoin them again, just bring it back together. And still, they did a good training, but the microcycle is going to be dictated, but the plan that we have is just going this direction with precision."
Odds and Ends:
- There was only one player missing from training after the first day, newly signed midfielder Luis Otávio.
- Joran Gerbet was also in attendance, but was continuing his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered last season.Â
- A number of Orlando City B players were training with the first team today, including Bernardo Rhein, Justin Ellis, Titus Sandy Jr., Juan Rojas, Ignacio GĂłmez and Tristan Himes.
