Three Questions: Atlanta United vs. Orlando City

To get everyone ready for Atlanta United’s matchup against Orlando City, we spoke to The Mane Land’s Logan Oliver to get his take on their poor form, head coaching search, and the status of Yoshimar Yotun.

DSS: Orlando’s now on a seven-match losing streak in league play. What’s gone wrong after a promising start to the season?

ML: Where to begin...It seems to have been a snowball effect. The Lions dropped three straight tough matches 2-1, with Chicago and Toronto winning with some fantastic goals in the dying moments. Good performances ended up with nothing to show for them.

With Yoshimar Yotún away with Peru, Amro Tarek in Egypt’s preliminary World Cup camp, and Dom Dwyer and Jonathan Spector out with injury, things got worse. Then, even more injuries piled on and City was at one point playing fullback RJ Allen and midfielder Tony Rocha at center back.

As the losses have kept coming, the morale and energy of the team is obviously lower. Now, interim manager Bobby Murphy is trying out a new formation and naturally there are some growing pains.

DSS: Have there been any updates on Orlando’s coaching search?

ML: There have been a slew of names thrown around as candidates, like former Brazil managers Luiz Felipe Scolari and Dunga, current Iran manager Carlos Quieroz, and some domestic options like Caleb Porter, James O’Connor, and Marc Dos Santos. The general chatter is the front office is leaning toward a domestic guy and they expect to have their man relatively quickly.

DSS: Yoshimar Yotun played in all three of Peru’s World Cup matches before they were eliminated. Do you expect to see him at all on Saturday?

ML: If he can get back in time, chances are good he’ll make the bench. The club has shown no hesitation in throwing players back into the mixer once they return from international duty. He was excellent in Russia and the side has really missed his ability to open things up.