Orlando City's Cyle Larin Continues to Evolve

Many pundits had predicted that Cyle Larin would suffer from the infamous sophomore slump. The undies said that due to the historic trends that Larin would have been figured out by other teams. That Orlando would slump because the franchise player would not live up to the first year hype. Well where are those pundits now?  Yes it is still fairly early into the MLS season, yet Larin has not shown any signs of slowing down. In fact he has looked better than he did did last year. He has taken what gameplans the opposing teams have developed for him and countered. He has evolved from just a scorer to a distributor as well. As of this writing Orlando sits in 6th in the East in the playoffs as of now. That is thanks to Larin and his ability to carry the team when Kaka was hurt earlier in the year. Cyle Larin continues to be one of the brightest stars in the MLS.

Cyle Larin has 6 MLS goals. 7 total throughout the 2016 campaign. Of course had so,e calls gone differently earlier in the season, he would be sitting on 10 goals this season.  Before the season started Adrian Heath stated that he thought Larin could surpass the 17 Larin scored last year. He is on the pace to despite the fact that he was injured for a few games. Larin's shot decision has gotten better since last year. Larin no longer looks like the poacher that he was last year. No, this season Larin has proven that he can be a target man and create his own shot. Now that defenses have had to try and take away Larin's poaching ability, he has had to find a way to break down defenses. Look at one of his goals earlier in the season, having two defenders I front of him, Larin split the double team in his own and managed to collect his own rebound and tuck it into the net. He has finally put together not only his power, but agility and intelligence. 

Many wondered last season if Larin was just a one trick pony. Just a goal scorer, who had 0 assists last year. When you compare Larin's game from last year to this year it is night and day. Last year, Larin did not use the pass to get open. Instead he would poach or expect to overpower defenders. This was supposedly a large hole in Larin's game.  Well this year he has used more finesse to correct that hole. Let us take a look at the match against Philadelphia last week. Larin was covered by the defense with the ball out to Kaka. The two then decided to play 1 on 1 with Larin freeing himself with a pass to get into the box for the Kaka cross. If this had been the Larin of last year , he would have tried to go at the defense alone. This Larin is smarter when it comes to moving with the ball. He no longer has to prove himself or go hero ball. 

The other example of the growth of Larin is his assists. Last year the man had 0 assists. This year he has 3. Perhaps it is the fact that he trusts his teammates more, has grown more comfortable with them. Maybe it is because the defenses are more focused on stopping Larin from scoring goals. Whatever the case, the young man has found a way to add this new dimension to his game. Look at last game against New York City FC, trailing 2-1 Orlando City needed a jolt. In stoppage time, Larin was able to break free and was wide open near the goal. The angle  would be tough for a shot on goal, yet not impossible for Larin. As the cross came in, Larin had two options either take a shot on goal or head the ball back into the box. The Larin of last year would have taken a shot at the goal. Instead Larin headed the ball into the box to Kevin Molino who scored the game tying goal. What was more impressive was that Larin's header was fitted into such a tight angle (Julio Baptista was setting up for a bicycle kick) that it was a picture perfect pass. If he continues at this pace, Larin will earn the MLS mvp. 

Of course if Cyle Larin continues at this pace, we will all be seeing him in Europe. European teams:Molde, Lazio, and Birmingham City have all sent scouts to Orlando to scout the player. It will be a sad day when Larin does get offered by a European team and decides to leave. So we as Orlando fans have to appreciate his greatness while we can watch him.  Which is why Orlando City fans, we need to vote Larin into the all star game. So that way we can share with the rest of the country what we already know: that Cyle Larin is one if the best players in the MLS.