Twitter reacts to… Orlando City SC’s crushing 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs defeat to Columbus Crew

/ Taylor Williams

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Warning; this blog comes with a disclaimer. Before you read any further, we’d like to warn you that there is a high probability that you risk upsetting yourself all over again as we delve deep into Orlando City SC‘s crushing 0-2 home defeat to Columbus Crew last night in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final stage of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.

With #HuntingSeason now officially over, our crushing defeat stings on so many levels and not just for the simple fact that we had Crew’s number during the regular season, yet fell to the Ohio side in the post-season when it truly mattered most.

Of all the levels in which last night’s defeat stung, let’s start with the 77th minute where referee Jon Freemon handed Rodrigo Schlegel a deserved second yellow card and a red for tugging down Diego Rossi who was sprinting towards Pedro Gallese‘s goal.

Only one Orlando City UK blog ago, I wrote that Schlegel deserved “huge credit for his newfound poise and solidity that has given Oscar Pareja a positive selection headache at centre back.”

In this Eastern Conference Semi-Final preview, I was talking about Schlegel stamping out the recklessness that had previously blighted his game, replacing this with “greater calmness and maturity having enjoyed his longest run of games as a starter”, striking up a solid partnership with Robin Jansson for a sustained 13 MLS games prior to Crew.

A penny for the thoughts of Rodrigo Schlegel this morning, a player who has experienced a lot during his four years with Orlando City SC, tragically losing his father in June 2021.

A passionate player, to which we have no doubt, Schlegel knew that he had to walk a tightrope all evening having needlessly bulldozed his way into the Crew half, picking up an early yellow card in the first-half.

Unfortunately, this early yellow proved to be catastrophic, especially considering how dynamic the Columbus Crew attack was and how many more difficult moments Wilfried Nancy’s side would put City in, despite the Lions defending valiantly for the most part throughout a difficult 120+ minutes.

For supporters, it was incredibly frustrating that last night was the second ever home Eastern Conference Semi-Final in which Orlando City SC have been reduced to 10 men.

Yet again denied a chance to see 11 vs. 11 heading towards the crucial latter stages of a single elimination fixture, let the record be known that I believe Schlegel’s sending off was just and the correct decision from Jon Freemon.

Ultimately, when you receive red cards in games of this magnitude, it makes the task of progressing incredibly difficult, if not near-on impossible in the minds of players and supporters.

Timeline-wise, Mauricio Pereyra‘s untimely red card against New England Revolution in 2020 and Rodrigo Schlegel‘s untimely red card against Crew last night are three whole years apart.

Yet, there is the lineage of Orlando City SC becoming overly emotional in the heat of post-season battles and making rash decisions that have cost us dearly.

With untimely red cards proving our major undoing on both occasions, this is an agonising truth to accept as a supporter, I know.

At the beginning of this blog, I wrote that last night’s crushing defeat stung on so many levels.

Just two days ago, I was presumptuously looking at British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights to Orlando ahead of December 9 for a potential 2023 MLS Cup Final hosted at our Exploria Stadium home, such was the level of my belief in the team scaling their MLS Cup mountain this year.

In all my years watching Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer, Oscar Pareja‘s class of 2023 genuinely felt like a roster that could go all the way to lifting MLS Cup as second seed, given our subsequent home field advantage this year.

With every fibre of my being, I genuinely thought 2023 was the year, and it even seemed as if the MLS pundits were finally thinking so too.

Now I look back on it, the recent and untimely FIFA international break only gave #OCTwitter and myself more time to now agonisingly conjure up daydreamy feelings about contesting 2023 MLS Cup in Central Florida, a prospect that has now been cruelly snatched away in one fateful night.

As longtime fans of Major League Soccer, we know better than anyone that the MLS Cup Playoffs are no respecter of strong regular season form with teams having to get it right on the night.

Make no mistake; I thought Columbus Crew were deserved winners in the end.

An incredibly entertaining team with an all gas, no brakes approach to soccer under Wilfried Nancy, the Ohio side played protagonist with steely determination and energy for most of the 120+ minutes.

It’s difficult for us to admit but there was something very admirable about the way in which Crew set out their stall early, playing the game they wanted to play in hostile enemy territory.

A difficult game to referee, Jon Freemon was admittedly harassed and surrounded by City players most of yesterday evening.

Freemon is actually a previous villain of Orlando City SC having failed to help Silviu Petrescu spot Patrick Mullins diving against R. J. Allen, a game ironically also against Crew back in 2018.

With Orlando City SC players seemingly growing more infuriated and ill-tempered by the minute, things spilled over with some on-field fracas after the full-time whistle.

A night unfortunately laced with ifs, buts, and maybes, allow us to summarise.

We apologise in advance, but pre-warned you that this blog wasn’t going to be an easy read!

Ifs

  • What if Martín Ojeda buried that buzzer beater strike to seal a Papi special for the ages?

  • What if Pedro Gallese didn’t come off his line for Cucho Hernández’s second killer goal that effectively sealed the Lions’ Eastern Conference Semi-Final fate?

  • What is Facundo Torres buried that chance early in the first-half?

  • What if Iván Angulo didn’t take that extra touch and got that first-half shot off earlier before Mohamed Farsi’s crucial interception?

Buts

  • We could’ve taken more control of the game, but the experienced Mauricio Pereyra struggled to make inroads all evening, losing himself for large periods.

  • Duncan McGuire has enjoyed a rookie season for the ages, but Ramiro Enrique looked a far bigger goal threat after being introduced as a second-half substitute.

Maybes

  • Oscar Pareja took precautions by subbing off Wilder Cartagena who was already on a yellow card, and maybe he should’ve treated Rodrigo Schlegel the same, introducing Antônio Carlos earlier before what many City supporters thought was inevitable (e.g. Schlegel’s red)?

  • Maybe Oscar Pareja should’ve simply applauded Rodrigo Schlegel for his upturn in personal form, yet realised that Antônio Carlos is ultimately the better defender, starting the Brazilian over Schlegel despite the Argentine’s form?

  • Maybe we would’ve had the momentum mentality-wise, had Patrick Schulte not made that incredible reaction save with his legs in extra time?

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially in soccer, and these are all questions that Oscar Pareja, the players, supporters, and the Wilf family would’ve had running through their minds over and over last night, this morning, and probably into the weeks ahead too.

Right now, some divisiveness between City’s fanbase has reared its head again, as is often the case right after gutting results like last night.

In one corner, there are some feeling that earlier in 2023, and seemingly again last night, that Oscar Pareja isn’t the man to take Orlando City SC to an MLS Cup title by playing a style that is ultimately found out against top quality opposition when the going gets tough.

For those in this camp, the general sentiment is that another attacking dimension is required for City to truly attain success.

Ultimately, they argue that Pareja has failed to deliver an MLS Cup for a fourth consecutive season, despite the backing of the ambitious Wilf family, spending big on transfer fees for the likes of Facundo Torres despite impressively having the lowest salary spend of all MLS clubs in 2023.

In the other corner, and for those that want Oscar Pareja to stay, they argue that the Colombian is the man that successfully turned around Orlando City SC‘s losing culture in MLS, successfully delivered the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup for two seasons straight, and took the Lions to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season – a far cry from the club’s fortunes in our early Major League Soccer years.

I understand disappointment; don’t get me wrong.

But for me, it’s rather sad that for Oscar Pareja‘s detractors, they quickly and easily forget finishing as Supporters’ Shield runners-up this year, achieving a club record regular season finish, achieving our highest number of wins and points, putting together winning streaks, being the outright best team on the road, and achieving noteworthy away victories against rivals Atlanta United and Inter Miami.

Not to mention the way in which the players and coaching staff dug deep in spring to miraculously turnaround what was proving to be an incredibly average, ordinary, and forgettable MLS regular season.

We recognise that the game isn’t black and white with some grey areas in respect of where other Orlando City SC supporters currently sit in the long and tiresome Oscar Pareja in or out debate.

Indeed, we understand that it is perfectly acceptable for some supporters to be grateful to Oscar Pareja for his time spent with the club, yet still remaining steadfast in their belief that he isn’t the man to take us to the next level and the promised land of hosting or playing in an MLS Cup Final.

Again, let the record be known that my personal loyalties remain with Orlando City SC, not any individual head coach, but I want to draw your mind to something fundamentally important.

When big pressure mounted on Papi in early 2023, Oscar Pareja still didn’t lose the Orlando City SC locker room with the squad digging deep to achieve a 2-2 comeback draw at Columbus Crew on May 13.

From here, the Lions didn’t look back, losing only three MLS regular season fixtures across five months – a mightily impressive feat.

For me, if I see a club on an upward trajectory and players still fighting for their head coach, I’m going to back them to the hilt.

After all, Orlando City SC have no divine right to win MLS Cup.

Just ask 1996 founder members New York Red Bulls about how long they’ve been waiting for ultimate glory in the playoffs!

If the Wilf family are to roll the dice and feel another head coach can do a better job than Oscar can, there is undoubtedly some jeopardy with an important decision like this.

Indeed, they may select another head coach with fresh ideas, yet we know that MLS is a great respecter of continuity when it comes to locker rooms and coaching staff.

Let’s be clear; Orlando City UK has no inside information on whether Oscar Pareja will stay or go this off-season, but right now, the Wilf’s may well be stuck between a rock and a hard place regarding this very sentiment.

In a moment of uncertainty, another fact remains; the fact that Oscar Pareja hasn’t renewed his contract with Orlando City SC all season long.

For a long while now, the Colombian and the club’s hierarchy have mutually agreed that the Lions would see out 2023 before important decisions about the future of the club would be made.

Ultimately, there is no guarantee that firing Oscar and bringing in someone new could spell success.

Then again, a decision like this could prove to be a masterstroke.

None of us have a magic ball!

Nevertheless, these are the kind of decisions that our Front Office personnel get paid the big bucks for and during their two-and-a-bit year stewardship of Orlando City SC so far, the Wilf’s have got things right more often than they’ve got things wrong.

Without overtly stating which side of the fence I’m on regarding Oscar Pareja at this very precise moment, I think you can gather where I stand when you read between the lines of these emotional column inches penned just hours after our jarring playoffs defeat.

With another huge off-season ahead, one where we may see big upheaval yet again, as always seems to be the case in spite of our continued upward trajectory, important decisions will need to be made.

Longtime Lions and elder statesmen like Robin Jansson and Mauricio Pereyra aren’t getting any younger despite Jansson putting in an outstanding 2023 campaign, and Pereyra tallying his most ever MLS assists (12) this year, as well as becoming City’s first ever club captain to hoist silverware last season in the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.

Elsewhere, the stock of younger talents like Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire continues to grow with reported longtime admirers of Torres, Arsenal, and more recent admirers of McGuire, Anderlecht, likely to retain a keen interest in prising these two top talents away from Exploria Stadium.

As you can gather, I’m still bitterly disappointed about last night’s result.

It really hurts but genuine supporters accept these highs and lows as part and parcel of The Beautiful Game.

If it makes you feel any better at all, number one seed FC Cincinnati won the other Eastern Conference Semi-Final 1-0 against Philadelphia Union last night, so we would’ve had the unenviable task of travelling to TQL Stadium to contest the Eastern Conference Final – albeit a venue we managed to achieve a victory at during the regular season.

Orlando City UK wants to take this moment to thank the Orlando City SC players and coaching staff for all their efforts this year.

To our supporters, your passion knows no bounds and we know that like the team, you will be back stronger, better, and more resilient than ever before next season.

Stay tuned for plenty more from Orlando City UK throughout the off-season and into 2024.

As the dust settles on our MLS campaign, we’ll soon have details about how you can vote in our 2023 end-of-season awards.

We hope you all have a great Christmas holiday celebrating with friends, family, and everybody else you hold dear.

In the meantime, Orlando City UK gathered the best tweets following Orlando City SC‘s crushing 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs defeat to Columbus Crew.

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