Shane O’Neill arrived at Orlando City during the summer window last year to provide cover for the Lions’ oft-injured back line. While he did give the Lions more reinforcements at center back, he was unable to stem the absolute tidal wave of goals that Orlando conceded on a historically bad 2018 defense.
The off-season acquisition of Robin Jansson and several other defenders provided some clues as to what now ex-Lions coach James O’Connor had in mind for O’Neill, and the season played out according to those clues. O’Neill deputized when and where he was needed but did not play a significant part in the season.