Jamie Watson beats Marcos Alonso down the flank as Bolton took on Orlando.
In the aftermath of Bolton beating Orlando City 3-1 last night, we've had a quick word with Orlando City forward Jamie Watson. Jamie started the match for the Lions and provided a number of good runs and opportunities to give the Wanderers a challenge. Keep an eye out for Jamie because, as we said on Twitter last night, he's far too good for the league that Orlando play in.
Q:The tallest player that Orlando have is Rob Valentino. What was it like playing a team that had players the size of Gary Cahill, Zat Knight, and David Wheater?
Jamie Watson (JW): It's one of those where you just realize that physically they're just bigger. You gotta figure out other ways around them and try not to get beat. If you try to play just agianst them, they're going to kill you. For the first 25 minutes we played around that and did very well.
Q: You guys played a league match the night before. How tired were you?
JW: For the first 25 minutes we went right after them and we were the better team. We made a mistake early and they punished us but we did well catching one of their mistakes and getting it right back. After 25 minutes we strayed away from what coach was trying to do. Fatigue caught up.
Q: I heard you got Zat's shirt. How big is it on you?
JW: Zat's shirt has to go in hot water for 7 different cycles to get it to a respectable size for when I wear it. I wanted his shirt because I respect the way he plays. He actually sought me out for my shirt. We both were subbed out early, he went out in the first half and i got subbed at halftime. He gave his shirt to our team manager and asked for mine.
Q: Biggest lesson that Orlando are taking from the match:
JW: It was an overall experience. They play a little bit quicker. The speed of play is just a diferent level. When you make mistakes against like teams lime that theyll make you pay. They punished us when we made our mistakes and we couldnt punish them right back. The nerves and the growing pains that we had against bolton, making the mistakes, hopefully we can learn from that and realize we can do it and beat Newcastle.
Jamie Watson and the rest of Orlando City Soccer Club go on to face Newcastle United next Saturday, the 23rd of July. Best of luck to them as they take on the Toon.