Inside MLS is Back: Food pics go viral, how teams are adjusting to 95-degree heat

With reporting from Stefano Fusaro in Orlando, Florida.

There have been tweets about sketchy room service food, in-hotel wildlife and yes, some of the more comfortable surroundings at Walt Disney World's Swan and Dolphin Resort. And yet the pall of the coronavirus remains impossible to ignore as the league pushes toward the start of the MLS is Back Tournament on Wednesday. (Stream all matches LIVE on ESPN and ESPN Networks -- U.S. only)

MLS announced Wednesday that six FC Dallas players have tested positive for COVID-19 since the team's arrival over the weekend. Later that day, sources confirmed to ESPN a report from The Athletic that three more Dallas players, plus one of their coaches, had tested positive. This update came on top of another three positive tests prior to the team's departure from its home base in Texas. (On Thursday, sources told ESPN that a Columbus Crew player also tested positive in Florida, though it's unclear where he contracted the virus.)

- Stream MLS Is Back LIVE on ESPN networks, ESPN app (U.S. only)
- Group schedule set for MLS is Back Tournament

Players had already been fretting in private about the setup before a single one of them had set foot in Orlando. It was only 10 days ago that players received documents from MLS outlining the arrangements at Walt Disney World and the protocols to be followed. The developments of the past 72 hours have done little to dampen the worries of those players and staff already here.

"We were already concerned coming into this bubble environment," one player in Orlando told ESPN on Wednesday. "Now six positive tests within the first few days here? This just adds anxiety to an already tough situation."

For Minnesota United manager Adrian Heath, the positive tests have only added to the sense of discipline he has tried to convey to his players. The team has made it this far, and now is no time to let up.

"Before we train every day, we have a little chat with the boys," he told ESPN via telephone. "We know we're in different times, that this isn't normal. We've said to them, 'As much as you don't want to do it, you've got to keep the mask on. You've got to self-isolate; you've got to be on your own floor. Don't be walking around.' So, literally, we have not moved off the floor that we're on, other than getting on the team bus going into training, and coming back.

"I haven't spoken to another coach from another team. I have waved aloud to them and gone, 'How are you doing?' But there's no stopping and conversing. It's everybody's doing what they can to try and protect not only yourself, but your team and your players."

Yet around the league there is determination -- and, in some cases, resignation -- that the show must go on. As one team executive put it, "I don't see how the league can wind things back."

A steady stream of positive tests just might force it to, though the hope remains that it won't come to that.

Food for thought

The tweets started to appear on Tuesday morning, with Toronto FC defenders Omar Gonzalez and Eriq Zavaleta among those posting images of a rather run-of-the-mill sandwich that looked straight off the set from "Worst Cooks in America," all with a listed price of $65. What ensued was almost a mini-war of words between the players and league that acted like a continuation of the CBA talks -- which included a league threat to lock the players out -- that concluded last month.

As it turned out, Gonzalez and Zavaleta were engaged in a bit of misdirection. Toronto isn't slated to fly down until Friday, but its players were apparently willing to go to bat for some of their fellow players. The meals shown were what players had to accept for only the first 12-24 hours while they were isolated, following COVID-19 testing, yet the point was driven home all the same: The players were not going to hesitate to call the league out on what they deemed to be poor accommodations or preparation. The league then responded with an email informing media of all the different eating options available. As players began to explore the different eating options, the temperature cooled.

"It's a mixed bag," said one player. "The room service lunch is really bad, but overall the food has been all right."

"Every banquet-style meal has been solid," said another. "No different than the meals we would get on the road."