Orlando City needs to grow up, or that's all she wrote for another year | OneFootball

It was all going so well for Orlando City. Twelve league games unbeaten and sitting just four points from the summit of the Supporters' Shield standings, goals from César Araújo and Ramiro Enrique had them 2-1 up at Florida-Georgia rivals Atlanta United with ten minutes to go.

What happened next defied belief, unless you are a seasoned fan of Óscar Pareja's Orlando City, of course.

Araújo, who but an hour earlier was the star of the show, was on the receiving end of a sporting shove from Atlanta midfielder Mateusz Klich and responded by putting his hands on the Polish international's neck.

Referee Filip Dujic had no choice but to send the Uruguyuan off, which initiated an all-timer collapse from his side. Minutes later, Bartosz Slisz equalized with a magnificent strike from distance, and amidst the home celebrations, a furious Pareja was also dismissed following a confrontation with the fourth official. Then, in the fifth minute of additional time, Jamal Thiaré converted from a Saba Lobzhanidze knockdown to send the Mercedes-Benz Stadium into jubilation.

Pareja was quick to shift the blame to the referee at the inquest. "It's something we're going to be loud internally with, the behavior of the referee," said the Colombian. It was not only baffling, given the unquestionable nature of Araújo's red, but Pareja's musings also reflected a dangerous mentality within this Orlando squad.

No accountability? No progression

The major problem with Pareja's Orlando is that, at least publicly, there is rarely accountability when things go wrong. And this Orlando-versus-everybody victim mentality has often been the source of the Lions' demise.

Following 2022's breakthrough Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup triumph, Orlando has finally emerged as a serious player in MLS. However, since then Pareja and company have failed to deliver a second major honor. This is not for want of talent.

Orlando emerged as the standout MLS side after the Leagues Cup in 2023, boasting one of the league's meanest defenses through the influence of the likes of Robin Jansson and Pedro Gallese, as well as one of its hottest attackers, Facundo Torres. After another slow start in 2024, Pareja's midfield double-pivot of Araújo and Wilder Cartegena stake their claim as one of the league's most effective pairings. This season, Martín Ojeda has proven his meritas a serious contender for the MLS MVP award.

Yet, no silverware has followed in its path. In 2023, it was Rodrigo Schlegel's late red card in a home Eastern Conference Semifinal that saw Orlando fall to Wilfried Nancy's Columbus Crew. This one hurt, not only as Orlando had established themselves as favorites in the East, but because only weeks earlier Pareja's side had defeated the Crew.

In fact, major mentality and discipline issues have undermined every single one of Orlando's championship runs post-2022 Open Cup.

It was the same mentality that saw Orlando narrowly eliminated in consecutive Concacaf Champions Cup campaigns to Tigres UANL and in the early rounds of each of the last two installments of the Leagues Cup. It was the same mentality that saw Orlando make a complete mess of last season's first-round playoff series against a much inferior Charlotte FC, only to be saved by a ridiculous stoppage-time penalty concession from Crown midfielder Djibril Diani.

It was the same mentality that saw Orlando surrender last season's Eastern Conference Final title at home to a similarly inferior New York Red Bulls. This season, that mentality has seen a full-strength Orlando eliminated from the Open Cup at home to Nashville's reserves, and drop points away to CF Montréal (courtesy of a Rafael Santos dismissal) and to the 10-man Chicago Fire.

Orlando is finally a major MLS player, but at what cost?

Of course, the tradeoff is that, under Pareja, has grown undeniably in terms of its standing in the Eastern Conference, as well as overall club cohesion and mentality. But the consistent issues with lack of discipline are not consistent with a club that regularly wins major honors.

Even before Wednesday's dismissal, Araújo has proven himself to be particularly hot-headed. Yet, this red card did come as quite the surprise given his typical ability to commit very regular bookable offenses without repeating the offense twice in the same game.

But red cards have become a bit of a teamwide trend. Alongside his decisive Columbus dismissal in 2023, Schlegel has received a further three red cards in his Orlando career. Even stalwart defender Jansson has a habit of poor discipline, receiving eleven yellow cards across all competitions in 2024, most of which were for needless dissent. As Wednesday showed, Pareja himself is no stranger to a red card from the touchline.

Orlando is already out of one competition this season, and a maiden Supporters' Shield will soon be nothing but a pipe dream if Pareja's side continue to surrender easy points.

Given it is almost impossible for a side as well-run as Orlando not to qualify for the playoffs nowadays, the club's trophy hopes will last until at least October. But unless Pareja and his players start to take some accountability for their volatility under pressure, that maiden Eastern Conference or MLS Cup title won't come anytime soon.