Loud & Proud Orlando

Introduction

One of the ways we can break down the first part of the season is by comparing players based on their first half stats. I think this can give people a good idea of what direction this team should take for the second half of the season. There are a few breakdowns that stick out, such as: Griffin Dorsey vs. Zakaria Taifi, Robin Jansson vs. David Brekalo vs. Iago vs. Adrián Marin, Braian Ojeda vs. Eduard Atuesta vs. Luis Otávio, and Maxime Crepeau vs. Javier Otero. I’ll be starting a series called “Lion vs. Lion” that will take a look at a few of these comparisons to give fans a decent idea of how players stack up against each other, maybe even changing the idea of who should start or who should be on the bench. 

A few items of note before we get started with the comparison: to make everything more even, I will be looking at “per 90 minute” numbers as opposed to pure totals. This gives some players who missed time a more equal chance of being compared fairly. Unless it’s noted, assume that’s the stat. On the graphics you’ll see later, those numbers are based on percentiles that are measured against other players at their position in the league. This helps compare them versus the rest of the league while in the text we’ll also talk about “per-90 minute” stats.

Disclaimer: the data was collected and analyzed through the match vs. Nashville SC 7/25/26.

Player Comparisons: Griffin Dorsey vs. Zakaria Taifi

Though I named a lot of comparisons, let’s start with the right back position as there are some interesting things that pop out there. To some, this comparison may look a bit strange as many fans assume that Griffin Dorsey is the presumed starter. This is not only because of the GAM we traded to get the right back from Houston Dynamo but it’s also because of the offensive production he’s had in the first half. However, if you look at the numbers (and the match tape) there are moments where his defensive numbers don’t match his attacking output.

Zakaria Taifi is the only other player that has played right back for Orlando City this season but he was also assumed to be “the next guy up” after Alex Freeman was sold before the season. Orlando moved quickly to bring in Dorsey but Taifi had moments this season, during the league season and in the U.S. Open Cup, to show off his skill set. So as I normally do, I will break it down by skill area and we’ll take a look at both players to see what conclusions we can draw and we’ll start with defensive stats since both are defenders.

General

Before we jump into the individual stats, let’s look at both players from a macro perspective. I will use graphs from Wyscout to look at this data:

Griffin Dorsey-Graph

Zakaria Taifi-Graph

Combined Radar

Defending

When looking at defending, we’ll start with some basic defensive stats. For “defensive contributions” Taifi ranks in the 69th percentile while Dorsey ranks in the 59th percentile. When we dig deeper into defensive contributions, Dorsey ranks out better in “tackles” where he ranks in the 57th percentile while Taifi ranks in the 38th percentile. “Interceptions” swings the other way where Taifi ranks in the 71st percentile and Dorsey ranks in the 54th percentile. Then with “blocked shots” Dorsey is at a staggering 96th percentile and Taifi ranks in the 78th percentile. What these first group of stats tell me is that Dorsey is a slightly above average defender compared to his peers in the league. The stat in that category where he really excels is blocked shots, something fullbacks are not asked to do all too often but still impressive and meaningful for the team. Taifi is a slightly different story as most of his stats are at an above average level outside of his tackling numbers, which rank below average. Before I draw bigger conclusions about defense, let’s dig a bit deeper into defense.

The next set of stats starts with “recoveries”, where both players rank well below average. Dorsey ranks in the 16th percentile while Taifi ranks in the 10th percentile. When we look at “dribbled past” numbers, Dorsey ranks out at an elite level, ranking in the 89th percentile. Taifi on the other hand is just above average ranking in the 52nd percentile. Many of Dorsey’s recoveries happen in the offensive zone for Orlando as they reset possession while many of Taifi’s happen in the middle zone or the defensive zone. Turning our attention to “clearances”, Taifi ranks out at an elite level sitting at the 89th percentile while Dorsey ranks in the 51st percentile. For “goals conceded while on the pitch”, Taifi ranks just below average in the 45th percentile while Dorsey ranks in the 16th percentile. This set of stats are a bit more of a mixed bag but Dorsey ranks average or a bit worse on most stats except for dribbled past where he’s strong, while Taifi ranks about average except for recoveries which are much lower and clearances that are much higher. Overall, this group of defensive metrics favor Taifi.

Possession

Let’s move to possession stats because the numbers continue to get interesting there as well. The most common possession stat is “touches” so we’ll start there. For “touches”, Dorsey ranks in the 4th percentile, well below average with Taifi not ranking out much better in the 19th percentile. The next combination of stats “successful dribbles” and “successful dribbles %” are a bit more even. “Successful dribbles” Taifi edges out Dorsey with a ranking of the 52nd percentile and Dorsey at the 48th percentile. With “successful dribbles %” Dorsey edges out Taifi, with a ranking in the 64th percentile and Taifi ranking in the 62nd percentile. “Duels won” and “duels won %” is also a close category. With “duels won” Taifi ranks just below average in the 41st percentile with Dorsey ranking below that in the 31st percentile. For “duels won %” the players are pretty close with Taifi ahead ranking in the 42nd percentile and Dorsey in the 37th percentile. The last possession stats are “aerial duels won” and “aerial duels won %”. Dorsey ranks out just above average in the 59th percentile for “aerial duels won” with Taifi just below average ranking in the 43rd percentile. If we go a step further and look at “aerial duels won %”, Dorsey remains just above average in the 51st percentile while Taifi ranks out at the elite level, sitting at the 95th percentile. The stats lean towards Taifi with some bright spots from Dorsey when it came to successful dribbles % and percentile ranking for aerial duels won but outside of that Taifi ranks around average with outliers in successful dribbles % and aerial duels won %. Taifi’s possession profile is a bit stronger. He appears slightly more comfortable carrying the ball and fares a little better in duels compared to his counterpart. 

Heat Maps

The last thing I want to look at for possession stats is the heat maps from each player because I think this gives a better idea on positioning or at least, average positioning.  We’ll start with Griffin Dorsey:

Dorsey spends a lot of his time on the right touchline with a pretty even distribution between the defensive third and the attacking third. You see some hot spots in the defensive box and some warmer spots in the attacking box.  

Taifi’s heat map is a bit different. Compared to Dorsey, Taifi spends less time hugging the touchline and more time operating in the right half space. He also has some outlier moments of being on the left side for moments where he fills into other spots or switches the play. You can see that it’s the offensive and defensive thirds where he spends most of his time. 

Passing

After defending and possession, let’s look at passing, another important stat for fullbacks, especially for fullbacks that get up field. The first generic stat we can look at is “assists” which both players are below average but Dorsey ranks out well below average in the 38th percentile while Taifi ranks in the 48th percentile. For “expected assists (xA)”, there’s a huge gap between the two players. Taifi ranks in the 92nd percentile in this category while Dorsey ranks in the 25th percentile. The next categories are all about “successful passes” and “successful passing %”, with some more below average numbers for both, unfortunately. With “successful passes” Dorsey ranks in the 6th percentile while Taifi ranks in the 9th percentile. As we look towards “successful passing %”, the numbers get a bit better with Dorsey ranking in the 41st percentile and Taifi in the 34th percentile. Let’s shift to “accurate long balls” and “accurate long ball %”. Again, both players are below average, with Dorsey ranking in the 14th and 20th percentile in each, with Taifi ranking in the 37th and 42nd percentile. For “chances created,” both players are a bit above average with Dorsey ranking in the 57th percentile and Taifi ranking in the 51st percentile. Despite Taifi’s advantage in xA, Dorsey’s slightly stronger passing percentage and chances created suggest he can still be an effective contributor once Orlando enters the attacking third.

Attacking

For the last category, I’ll cover attacking even though there aren’t a lot of stats here. This category is Dorsey’s by a good amount but let’s dig deeper to see why. When it comes to “goals” Dorsey ranks in the 93rd percentile, one of the best right backs in MLS in that category while Taifi ranks in the 46th percentile, slightly below average. In “expected goals”, Dorsey ranks in the 90th percentile with Taifi ranking in the 69th percentile. When it comes to “shots” and “shots on target” the two are much closer together. For “shots”, Dorsey ranks in the 86th percentile but Taifi ranks in the 88th percentile, slightly higher than Dorsey. With “shots on target”, Dorsey gets ahead again ranking in the 94th percentile while Taifi ranks in the 83rd percentile. This category shouldn’t surprise anyone based on what we’ve seen on the field. Dorsey’s offensive efforts have affected the team in a positive way, so he’ll continue to benefit the team there. Beyond the raw numbers, Dorsey’s movement in the attacking third creates difficult decisions for opposing defenses. His willingness to overlap wide players and attack the back post forces opposing fullbacks to defend deeper, often creating additional space for Orlando’s attackers. However, don’t dismiss the offensive talent Taifi can bring to the field. Maybe not at the level Dorsey has but he still has that in his locker. 

Conclusions

While Taifi compares favorably in many defensive metrics, it’s also important to recognize what Dorsey brings that doesn’t always show up in defensive charts. Orlando City’s system asks its fullbacks to provide width, join the attack, and create overloads in the final third. Dorsey’s ability to consistently contribute goals and arrive in dangerous areas is a major reason he remains the first-choice option. It’s also important to remember that Taifi has played considerably fewer minutes. While per-90 statistics help level the playing field, they can’t completely account for differences in sample size or match situations. While Taifi grades out as the stronger defender statistically, that doesn’t automatically make him the better overall starter. Orlando City’s tactical priorities, particularly their desire to attack through the fullbacks, make Dorsey’s offensive qualities a major factor in the lineup decision.

So obviously Griffin Dorsey is the out-and-out starter for Orlando City. He was brought in after the Alex Freeman sale to be the starter which makes sense to any fan. However, based on the numbers you can see in this article, the decision shouldn’t be so cut-and-dried. Zakaria Taifi is statistically the better defender, and in some categories, the gap is fairly noticeable. There’s obviously the argument that he doesn’t have nearly as many minutes so his per 90 minutes numbers could be a bit inflated but while the smaller sample size should be considered, I don’t think it fully explains the differences we’re seeing.

David’s Final Thought

As recently as our last home game (Nashville SC on 7/25/26), the youth continues to shine for Orlando City. Justin Ellis is by far the highest-performing youth player for the squad this season and could end up being the most talented academy player who’s played for the first team when it’s all said and done. But we shouldn’t discount what the other youth players have contributed to the team this season. Bernardo Rhein just started for Orlando in their last home game and put in a quality performance against the supporter shield leaders.

Taifi had the opportunity to start four games in a row this season, with the first one being against FC Naples in the U.S. Open Cup, followed by opportunities against Houston Dynamo, Charlotte FC, and DC United. In all of those matches, he held his own and displayed a lot of what I’ve spoken about above. Not to mention he was subbed on at halftime against LAFC and in the 60th minute against Nashville SC, two of the worst losses this season and it looked to improve the squad when he did get on. He was never given the opportunity to fight for the starting right back spot, and I feel that’s rather unfair. I don’t want to take anything away from Dorsey. He has been quite the presence on the right flank this season, but I would say Taifi was done a disservice.

This team should really look to do one of two things: either allow these guys to fight for the spot week in and week out, putting the best fullback out there, or they need to consider playing Taifi in matches where they want a more defensive fullback and Dorsey in matches where they want to be more attacking. Even if it’s 70/30 spilt in favor of Dorsey, it still would give Taifi opportunities to grow and tune his game. At a bare minimum, he should be getting meaningful substitute minutes to close games out or to give Dorsey a break. That idea has been wildly underutilized with this staff. It’s due time that we look more towards the youth to help bring us to the next level, especially since they are beginning to show out.