Now according to Dylan, who has certainly never held biases about players.
Four players who did impress:
Michael Seaton
There were doubts about Seaton’s ability to post another successful season from pundits across the league. They were wrong, and foolish, because Seaton loves when people doubt him. He rolled up his metaphorical sleeves and got to work.
Rather than sitting up top and waiting for the ball to reach him, Seaton started dropping deep into the midfield to move it himself. The 23 year-old made the most of a year with very little service to him, netting 13 goals in total and further assisting five more. His work ethic and attitude were remarkable, even during the very slow opening four months of the season.
Seaton, one eye for the ball, and another for goal. Photo courtesy of Liza Rosales/Orange County SC.
Did I mention that he scores goals? With another double-digit haul this season, Seaton eclipsed Thomas Enevoldsen to become the club’s all-time top scorer. Whether it was a set-piece or open play, Seaton showed that bully season was again alive and well in 2019. Fingers crossed we get more of it in 2020.
Darwin Jones
In early June, Braeden Cloutier said “it’s rare for a winger at this level to net six goals in a season, let alone in a couple months.” And DJ never stopped, netting six more after moving alongside Michael Seaton in July. It was a big change from a somewhat quiet 2018 for the journeyman, and Jones looked to be loving it, flashing his bright smile all season long.
He was undroppable and largely unstoppable, never going more than a handful of matches without tallying a goal or assist. Fellow Seattleite Jordan Morris has received nonstop plaudits for reinventing his game in a new position in 2019, but I reckon it was Darwin Jones who was more impressive. The forward is still just 27 and now entering his prime. He’s easily one of a number of Orange County players that should get looks from first-division clubs this winter.
Joe Amico
It wasn’t always easy for the fullback: he opened 2019 as an emergency centerback, was goaded into a red card by Irvin Parra in June, and dropped shortly thereafter after a bad performance against Portland. Yet Amico came roaring back into the team, testament to his attitude and ability to do whatever was asked of him, playing wherever he was needed. It was that attitude that saw him make 27 appearances, filling in so well during Kevin Alston’s absence that Amico even kept the captain off of the pitch for a week following his return.
During this run of what was ultimately 17 consecutive appearances after being dropped, he scored his first professional goal in early October. Equally adept in either fullback position, Amico has really come into his own. The Fan Favorite Player of 2019, he’s earned a permanent supporter in me.
Christian Duke
The hardworking midfielder’s 2019 nearly came to an end in a freak accident during preseason, with Cloutier announcing that the midfielder would be out for “at least three months.” Rumors started swirling in May and June that the (now) 28 year-old wouldn’t return at all. And halfway through July, he was back, notching an assist in his second game back from injury, appearing in every remaining match of the year and totaling over 1,000 minutes.
In his return, OC looked revitalized. His midfield partner, Aodhan Quinn, was obviously thrilled. While Duke’s play doesn’t produce glamorous stats, his tireless play passes the eye test and buoyed Orange County’s second half resurgence. Consistent, talented, and most of all hard-working, the defensive-minded midfielder was a fan favorite of both casual fans and the County Line Coalition, consistently leading the team over to support the fans after matches.
Duke assisting Jones in July… it was like he’d never missed a match. Photo courtesy of Liza Rosales/Orange County SC.
Duke thanked the fans one last time on social media this past weekend. He will be missed.
And four who didn’t:
Harry Forrester
I hate to say I told you so. But… I told you so. Fans of his former teams used a variety of words and phrases to describe him, from “naturally talented,” lazy and [having] an attitude problem,” “spice boy,” and perhaps the most common: language that is outright unprintable. British fans love to moan… but they were right. He seemed more interested in posting on Instagram, he walked down the tunnel smiling during losses… whatever attitude problems saw him leave Rangers, Tractor, and Machine Sazi were evidently still with him in Orange County.
But for seven lovely weeks at the end of the year, Forrester was a man in form, providing assists and goals with regularity. Like a switch had been flipped, he was selfless and dominant. He was finally the player he was supposed to be all year long, and it was just in time for the playoffs. It was beautiful, and damn it, he began to make me doubt my initial distrust of him.
And then he went and got himself sent off in the biggest match of the year after trying to be hard and act like Allen Iverson, dragging his boot across the face of Luke Mulholland (or someone, honestly it doesn’t even matter who).
Cheers, Harry.
Jerry van Wolfgang
The Dutchman rarely pots more than a handful of goals a season, which is fine. With Michael Seaton and Darwin Jones combining to reach the quarter-century mark, it wasn’t a big worry. He’s much better at taking players on and beating his man to create a chance. He’d done it plenty for us in 2017, playing on either wing. He repeated it to varying levels of success while the club struggled for results early in the season.
Following the formation change, van Wolfgang was more often than not in the middle, playing as a 10. It seemed like he never really hit his personal stride in the middle of the park, as he created plenty of chances but went a bit incognito behind the aforementioned forwards.
His link-up play between Aodhan Quinn and Darwin Jones was consistent throughout the season, but his individual flair never really showed. I’d like to see him again, but I’d also like to see him again.
He wasn’t poor, but he didn’t stand out. And we definitely didn’t see enough of his right foot on set pieces. Photo courtesy of Liza Rosales/ Orange County SC.
Leonardo
With 136 MLS appearances over eight seasons, Leonardo was the experienced signing for our back line. His stats don’t suggest he was disappointing, and he contributed to the attack massively against New Mexico United in March… but his play often failed the eye test. Much like Jos Hooiveld in 2018, Leonardo was a massive yet kind-hearted centerback.
And much like Jos Hooiveld in 2018… he consistently made one juvenile error per game that resulted in an extremely dangerous opportunity for the opposition. This was especially the case in an away match in Austin, in which he gifted fellow countryman Andre Lima a goal in the 11th minute before walking away from Kris Tyrpak in stoppage time to gift the Bold all three points. Michael Orozco then took his place in the squad, relegating the Brazilian to the bench. Leonardo made one final appearance in October, filling in for the suspended Orozco, and managed a cleansheet… but he never looked the better or best of the three main centerbacks we had. There are definitely big questions surrounding his future, and despite only being 31, his longevity is perhaps the biggest worry. It seems there are similar (and faster) options for a depth-center back.
Carlos Lopez-Cortez
Despite having been out of contract for eight months, the young goalkeeper looked wonderful in preseason, coming up with some spectacular acrobatic saves that likely earned him a 2019 contract. After that… things were far from spectacular on the pitch. Some poor positioning nearly punished Orange County a few times during the opening match in Reno, though it was his free kick delivery that resulted in the extra time penalty that rescued a point.
Things got even worse the next week. The young keeper was caught out again, except Tulsa managed to punish him. Repeatedly. Five times, in total. The match against Tulsa, the second match of the season, would prove to be his last competitive appearance for the club, conceding five goals in a horrific performance before being dropped in favor of Aaron Cervantes. Lopez-Cortez couldn’t supplant the teenager’s starting spot, only featuring twice more in friendlies against his former club Tijuana and the US U17 side. The club gambled on a young player who can still develop, but I don’t think he currently has a place on a side challenging for the cup.