Heading into the 2013 preseason, we sat down with Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath and discussed his thoughts on conditioning, preparation, the 2013 preseason and who caught his eye against A.S. Roma. During the interview, we also got a full rundown of the current Orlando City roster and list of free agents, as Coach Heath starts to think about the upcoming campaign.

OrlandoCitySoccer.com: What is the plan for you and Assistant Coach Ian Fuller over the next two months?

Heath: We’ll be watching a lot of football. We still want four or five players but we’re working on them. With the Major League Soccer Combine, USL combine and our own open tryouts coming up we’ll be pretty busy! Ian (Fuller) and I will be looking at bringing in more players to preseason and evaluating as we go along.

OrlandoCitySoccer.com: You recently signed Defender Bryan Burke, what can you tell us about Brian?

Heath: Bryan is the first piece in the puzzle for us for 2013. He really impressed me when he played against us last season for LA. He is strong, has good pace and is the kind of player that will fit well into our system. I think the fans will really like what Bryan brings us.

OrlandoCitySoccer.com: Is the focus of the next month on getting the players in shape or is it already time to start implementing a system for the 2013 season?

Heath: We’ve had a long break and it’ll take some time to get back into shape, but having the A.S. Roma game helped us as we’ve had to prepare with the ball for the past two weeks. I know a majority of them will come back fit as they had a sour taste from the last game of 2012, but we’ll look at some specific conditioning in early preseason. The guys over at SSP (Spectrum Sports Performance) do a great job at getting everyone ready and fit for the season and we’re delighted to be working with them again.

OrlandoCitySoccer.com: How did you think the trialists you invited out to the A.S. Roma match last week preformed and what’s their status?

Heath: We have to be mindful of the fact that we don’t play against that level of team in the regular season, so when we are out of season and playing against a team like Roma it’s tough. That said, we thought all of the trialists handled themselves very well. Within the next month we’ll see what players we want to bring back and who’s available after the MLS Super Draft and go from there.

OrlandoCitySoccer.com: What’s the situation with Kevin Molino, 2012 USL PRO MVP, and the other players that are out of contract?

Heath: We made Kevin several offers before the season ended and tried our best to keep him with us but he is a free agent and weighing his options. We keep the door open on conversations with him and we’d love to bring him back.

OrlandoCitySoccer.com: Where can we expect to see new players coming from for the 2013 Season?

Heath: The USL PRO combine, MLS combine and our open tryouts will all bring new names as we get closer to the season’s start. Plus we will be inviting trialists in during the 2013 preseason, including those from the A.S. Roma game and players we have scouted from Australia, Ghana, Senegal and Brazil.

Orlando City 2013 Roster:
(GK) Miguel Gallardo
(D) Jerome Mechack
(D) Kieron Bernard
(D) Luke Boden
(D) Justin Clark
(D) Rob Valentino
(D) Bryan Burke
(M) Adama Mbengue
(M) James O’Connor
(M) Ian Fuller
(M) Jamie Watson
(M) Anthony Pulis
(F) Dennis Chin

Free agents and players currently not under contract include:
(GK) Sean Kelley (offered new contract)
(D) Wes Allen (offered new contract)
(D) Kyle Davies (option not taken up)
(M) Charlie Campbell (offered new contract)
(M) Erik Ustruck (offered new contract)
(F) Rodrigo Lopez (option not taken up)
(F) Matt Luzanaris (option not taken up)
(M) Kevin Molino (offered new contract)
(F) Max Griffin (option not taken up)

All signings and roster updates will be announced via OrlandoCitySoccer.com. Contracts have been offered to free agents and negotiations are still ongoing with several 2012 players.