Orlando City values
With a quiet focus, Servando Carrasco separated one ball from the others laying beside his feet. He was a good distance from the goal, which he gave a steady stare before slinging a shot into the back of the net.
Everyone else left about 10 minutes earlier, but Carrasco wanted to work longer on shooting from afar, a skill asked of him more now that he fills a box-to-box position in Orlando City’s midfield.
His late training session wouldn’t surprise anyone who knows him. His work ethic and steady commitment has been praised by club staff past and present. Lions coach Jason Kreis knows what to expect when Carrasco steps on the field. He’s a player who fights for his spot on the pitch each week and delivers a consistent performance every day.
Role players like Carrasco are littered throughout not only Major League Soccer but all sports, providing massive value to their teams while often overlooked by outsiders.
“Servando is a type of guy who I do think is undervalued in this league, absolutely,” Kreis said.
“There’s a whole host of players like him that you know you’re going to get an eight out of 10 every day, and so you can always feel confident to play a guy like that because you know what you’re going to get and you can adjust things around them.
“Some of the other guys, who can be a 10 one day and a two the next, those are the frustrating ones and the hard ones to deal with.”
It takes a certain mentality to be that guy, the one who can remain positive, focused, determined and deliver quality performances regardless of whether he is in the starting XI or on the bench.
Kreis guarantees no starting roles and said he has an open mind each time he assembles a game-day lineup, which means he needs a long list of athletes open to playing any role and no one on his team should expect to be given a starting job.
Kreis rattled off players around the league fitting that mold: Andrew Jacobson (Vancouver Whitecaps), Kyle Beckermann (Real Salt Lake), A.J. DeLaGarza (Houston Dynamo), Sean Franklin (D.C. United) and Orlando City’s Will Johnson, who was the presumed starter at defensive midfielder during preseason but shifted to right back after various injuries, opening the spot Carrasco assumed the past two games.
“Role players have a role, they’ve got to steady the ship, and star players get paid the big money to win you games,” Johnson said.
“You have to have guys with the right attitudes, and Servando is a great example. I’m not sure I’ve met many role guys who take pride in what they do as well as he does. In terms of importance, every team need ’em but at the same time, they’re easier to find than your Giovincos and they cost less money.”
That’s the key for management. Reliability plus affordability equals value.
Lions general manager Niki Budalic called those players “extremely valuable, especially in a salary cap league.”
Carrasco’s guaranteed salary came in at $99,625 last season, according to figures released by the MLS Players Union. Johnson’s was higher at $395,333.33, which was
just above the league average and nowhere near the highest-paid players.
“The key for Servando is, he’s extremely committed and focused and he’s completely team oriented,” Budalic said. “We appreciate Servando. People outside the club may not, but for us he’s extremely important.”
Last season, Cristian Higuita and Darwin Cerén were a formidable pair in the defensive midfield, if both were healthy. Injuries and Cerén getting traded to San Jose midseason offered Carrasco an opportunity, which he relayed into a career season.
He finished the year with 21 starts, 31 appearances, 2,001 minutes and two assists. His total minutes prior to last year ranged from 26 to 1,230, and he’d never started more than 13 games in a season.
In December, Carrasco renegotiated a contract with Orlando City.
With players coming back from injury and the signing of right back Scott Sutter, there soon will be a four-way competition between Carrasco, Johnson, Higuita and Antonio Nocerino for two defensive midfield positions. But whether Carrasco serves as a substitute or an every-day starter, he plays and prepares the same.
“If you just sit back and you say, ‘Why am I not playing? Why this?’ you start to ask yourself way too many questions and you should be putting that effort toward something productive,” Carrasco said. “That thought might linger into my head, but you’ve got to take that and funnel it into something positive.
“Even when I was in college and I knew that I was going to start, I still approached every practice with the same mentality — trying to be better, improve each day and learn new things. I just want to win. The main thing is the team is always first. Whatever is working, if we’re getting results, that’s all that matters.”