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Staff Roundtable Week 3: Orlando City at New York City FC

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10 years ago

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It’s Week 3 and with that comes Orlando City’s first road trip of the season. The Lions travel to the Big Apple to take on the soccer Yankees Manchester City B New York City FC on Friday night for Viernes de Futbol. Orlando City hasn’t done well on baseball fields over the last year, losing at NYCFC, Louisville City, and Jacksonville. But on the bright side, Cyle Larin has a hat trick in both trips to New York in the last year.

At any rate, it's time to unleash our Week 3 roundtable conversation on you. This week, we've got Wade Williams, Brent Petkus, and Daniel McGann seated at the big purple table. Let's get their takes on what's been going on with Orlando City and the game ahead against New York City.

The club is still tinkering with how best to manage without Kaká in 2016. What can the team do better (or at least differently) in the attack to generate more quality chances on goal without the captain?

Wade: It appears to me that the biggest issue in the final third is chemistry. Kaká is the master gear in this system — all other gears move when he moves — so when he is removed, gears stall, pistons misfire, and we wind up with over 20 crosses in a match, or nobody on the end of Kevin Molino’s one-touch passes around and in the box. Familiarity will breed success, the group is too talented to be this incompetent for long.

Brent: I think Orlando City is doing its best currently to manage without the captain. I feel the attack is lacking in the final third. We have talked at length about Kevin Molino and how he is destined for a breakout year. The problem is we haven’t seen the goal scorer Kevin Molino from the USL days. I really am looking to see Molino shoot in more situations. Rafael Ramos has to be more consistent in the attack. His crosses have been all over the pitch.

Daniel: The issue right now is turning the majority of possession that Orlando has been seen over the past two games into more chances. The team seems to be hesitant in the final third, outside of Cyle Larin, to let shots fly. This was especially seen in the Chicago match, where Orlando went up by a man for the majority of the match, held almost 65% of the possession, and still failed to pull three points at home. If Orlando is going to succeed this year the Lions will need to turn the possession and accurate passing strengths that the club saw in 2015 and at the start of this season into more goal scoring opportunities.

Antonio Nocerino finally made his debut for City on Friday. While anyone who expected him to waltz right in and dominate probably got a rude awakening, he did show glimpses of being a skilled possession player. How much longer do you expect it to take the Italian to fully make an impact on the field?

Daniel: Unfortunately, Nocerino may need a bit more time to find form in MLS than what he may be expecting. He stated that he would need approximately two weeks to be fit for Orlando. The reason being is that MLS is a totally different monster than most leagues in the world, especially Serie A, where travel demands can really take a toll, while pitch conditions, (*cough* NYCFC) can also cause issues for incoming players. Given those issues in MLS, the quality that Nocerino displayed even if in minor spurts looked to be on a different level than most within MLS and, with a return of Kaká, those two could form a dangerous and exciting combination.

Wade: It is hard to answer this question with no definitive timetable for Kaká's return. I would expect it to take a couple matches with his old buddy to be fully comfortable, but we were treated to some flashes of his skill and creativity in his debut. Should be a very fun player moving forward.

Brent: No matter how great a player is it will always take a few matches to get accustomed to the style of the league. MLS is no exception. Nocerino will come into form sometime in mid-April. The big question about Nocerino is how he will play alongside Kaká. For many parts of Friday's match, his play reminded me of Kaká's. He was doing well possessing the ball and making dangerous passes in the midfield to spring Molino, Winter, Larin and Ramos. I think he is a utility guy that can be used in the defensive midfield position and out wide.

Adrian Winter was probably the best player on the pitch after his introduction against Real Salt Lake and again in the first half against Chicago. Is the Swiss midfielder a 45- to 60-minute guy? Is there anything he can do to save some energy for the final 30 minutes?

Brent: Winter will be the first sub onto the field once Carlos Rivas returns back from injury. Winter’s role is to provide a spark and he did that in the first match. During the first half of the second he was easily Orlando City’s best player. The problem occurred in the second half when he disappeared. I don’t think he should be saving any of his energy. I believe he was the fittest player in camp during the beep test. I would rather see him off the bench.

Wade: I think he’s a spark, a part time player, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Across all sports, players like this have made incredible impacts for their teams. Boston Celtic great Kevin McHale was a two-time Sixth Man of the Year. John Havlicek invented the role. Desmond Howard won a Super Bowl MVP as a specialist. Mariano Rivera is one of the most revered pitchers in the history of baseball. Having a small role is fine when you maximize it, and Winter has been maximizing his time on the pitch in impressive fashion.

Daniel: The way Winter plays is really built around hustle. To ask a player to dial it down when he succeeds in that role could be challenging not only for the player but also for the coach. In a perfect world, Winter should be able to stay his same 45-60 minute energetic self while the team has the depth to either use him off the bench or sub him out early, but we all know from last year depth in MLS can fade very quickly and Winter may need to show the ability to evolve into the role needed by Heath and crew if that happens again this year. I believe he can.

Orlando City has lost in its last three road matches on baseball fields (at Yankee Stadium last year and friendlies at Louisville City and Jacksonville). Is there something about the club's tactics or shape causing this or is it simply a case of the home team knowing its field better and taking advantage?

Brent: The tactics of Orlando City make it difficult to attack on a smaller field, as Orlando likes to use the width of their outside backs to create space between the center backs. A smaller field makes the space smaller and forces you to play more direct. Most of the goals from last year's game were from long balls played to players with speed. Speed will kill on the small field and if Rivas is healthy he will greatly help the Orlando City cause. I would think you will see a similar lineup from Orlando City with Cyle Larin up top and Molino and Winter on the outside.

Daniel: Orlando is a team that likes to overlap from the back and find open space on the wings. Unfortunately, when you're playing on a barely legal pitch because of "size" issues, that can be very difficult. The tighter confines in Yankee Stadium may not actually play well to any soccer style but it can definitely hinder teams who like to play the ball wide like Orlando. Here is to hoping that MLS stops allowing games on junior pitches sometime soon. It only hurts the game.

Wade: I try not to look too much into friendlies, but this is a trend that can't be ignored. It reminds me of stories from those classic Celtic teams that would purposely run their trap defense to lead the ball handler into "dead spots" on the wooden floor. One team is familiar with those dead spots, and one team isn't. Well, when we head to the Big Apple to play the Soccer Yankees, one team will be familiar with the (laughably) odd size and dead sod on the pitch, and one team won't be. However small an advantage it may be, it is still an advantage.

We've got one last chance to grab a win in the month of March. Do the Lions get it done on the puny and ludicrous Yankee Stadium pitch? Why or why not and how does it unfold?

https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gifWade: Of course Inchy’s boys get it done. I’m specifically looking for Kevin Molino to break out. In two games he’s managed an assist, two shots on goal and roughly one million key passes. Those close-but-not-quite plays will soon be additions to his earth-shattering highlight reel, with some sweet additions coming at the expense of the NYCFC back line this weekend.

Daniel: I joined a podcast for Blue City Radio and was asked this same question — maybe not in the same context — and I will reiterate that playing in a hostile environment without Kaká and the team still seemingly having some out-of-form moments, I still believe Orlando can come away with a point. So, my expectation for this match is a 2-2 draw, with Orlando coming home to really put it to Portland. Either way, this team will need a win soon or the Lions could find themselves looking up at most of the teams in the Eastern Conference standings.

Brent: I think they do. The streak has to stop somewhere. The only thing that has me concerned is how the center backs of Tommy Redding and Seb Hines are going to deal with David Villa. This will be the test for me on whether or not this back line can survive this year. Villa will get his opportunities and he is good for a goal. If Redding and Hines can keep him off the score sheet we will be celebrating a win. If we can’t keep Villa from scoring multiple goals, look for Aurelien Collin to make his return to the lineup. For Orlando City, I think you are going to see the skill of Nocerino shine in the midfield. He is going to have lots of opportunities to beat the midfield of New York City FC. Larin will get another goal and I see Nocerino getting one as well. Prediction: Orlando City 2 NYCFC 1.

* * *

That's your roundtable discussion for Week 3. Feel free to add your answers to these questions or explain why our staff is right/wrong in their predictions or analysis in the comments section below.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

4 days ago

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July 22, 2026

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Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

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Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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