Orlando City Vs New York City FC: 3 things we learned – Grinwis saves the day
2. Mueller a star in the making
For most of Orlando City SC’s history, they have had a big-name star lead the way for the club. Kaká was the key piece during the first years following their expansion to the MLS. After a brief gap, Nani has now taken hold of the baton in 2019 with great success. The Portuguese winger has been a vital leader in Orlando City’s turnaround season.
But during this period, Orlando City SC also had younger stars in the making. Cyle Larin, who currently just joined Belgium side, Zulte Waregem, on loan from Besiktas, was once a star striker for Orlando City SC. He was a young player who provided a great deal of excitement any time he was on the pitch. The Canadian international always found his way into dangerous goal scoring positions and went on to record 44 goals in 89 appearances for Orlando City SC.
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After Larin moved to Besiktas in January of 2018, however, there appeared to be a void in a young player that could ignite the crowd like Larin did on so many occasions. Thankfully, the Lions did not have to wait long as Chris Mueller has embodied the passion held by the Orlando City supporters.
Mueller was yet again an electrifying and unstoppable force on Wednesday night. His pace, vision, and finishing ability has been critical to the Lions’ impressive run in the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and in MLS. He scored the lone goal for OCSC in normal time with a beautiful header from a cross by Nani and came up with a goal in the penalty shootout.
Mueller has further developed his game from last season and has already recorded five goals and three assists through 18 games. In 2018, Mueller accounted for three goals and seven assists in 32 matches played. The one area of his game that has markedly improved is his ability in front of goal. He has simply been more aggressive in seeking out goal-scoring opportunities and more composed when those chances arise.
The young American fits well into O’Connor’s system of possession-based soccer with an emphasis on wing play. The ability of Ruan to push higher up on the right side has allowed Mueller more freedom to move about the pitch in an attempt to pick up the ball and push ahead. He is an invaluable asset for the club moving forward and will be extremely important to Orlando City SC’s hopes of reaching U.S. Open Cup glory.