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Staff Roundtable: Orlando City vs. NYRB and Vancouver; Pride Face Chicago Red Stars

Published

10 years ago

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Orlando City fell 2-0 to New York Red Bulls Wednesday night, leaving the Lions still in search of their first win (and goal) of the Bobby Murphy era. Will they be able to slow down the Vancouver Whitecaps midfield enough to earn it this weekend?

The Pride did what needed to be done to secure three points against the Boston Breakers. Can they find back-to-back wins against Chicago?

Michael Citro, Austin David, and Brad Newton discuss all this and more in this week's edition of The Mane Land Roundtable.

Brek Shea has found himself in the captain’s armband in both games under Bobby Murphy. Do you see him as a reputable leader for this club?

Michael: I don't know, honestly. I'm not down in the trenches with him. He's very quiet and soft spoken in interviews but on the field he doesn't seem that way. I don't know if he's a cerebral enough player to wear the armband. Look at Wednesday night. He was sitting on four yellow cards and needed two more games without a booking to have one rescinded, and he takes a silly card for dissent. If Rivas truly has visa issues and can't go to Canada, that move leaves the club without a left wing. That doesn't scream "captain material" to me, but ultimately the players and coach have to make that decision.

Austin: In terms of being a prototypical "captain," Brek Shea is not that. He can be a fairly quiet and reserved guy both on and off the field and has a tendency to get a bit hot headed in moments of the game, making silly mistakes. He's also more of a "lead by example" kind of captain, rather than a vocal leader. At the same time, he has been a professional player for a longer time than most others on the pitch and the players seem to respect him, so I can understand why both Murphy and Heath chose him as a captain at different times during the year.

Brad: Putting it nicely, no. Shea hasn’t really had the same pull with this team that someone with the tenure that Kevin Molino has (who, despite his performance on Wednesday, I believe should have been wearing the armband). The rumors of Shea being on the bubble and in potential trade talk haven’t really produced anything, but more than him being a leader, I would expect him to be a piece that brings in some fresh legs as a new era begins in Orlando.

With no goals scored in the last three games, how can Murphy get these Lions scoring again?

Austin: I think the team’s confidence is shot right now. After that 4-0 drubbing they took at the hands of FC Dallas, they haven’t been the same team on the pitch. Obviously that loss was paired with their coach being fired, which probably doesn’t help things. Plus, the players are hearing all kinds of criticism from fans and media alike, which just adds on to the frustration. Somehow, Murphy needs to get inside the players’ heads and boost their confidence. Convince them that they are good players, convince them to stop being so hesitant in front of goal, convince them that, as a unit, they can beat any team. They’ve proven that they can score with the roster that they have, so they just need to prove it again. That could be the biggest thing to help with this scoring drought.

Brad: Aside from finding a Lazarus Pit to lower the team into so they're magically healed and find their old form again, I'm not sure. Hopefully, the squad's captain comes back healthy and in form and the dynamic duo of Kaká and Larin finds a way to salvage a season that isn't entirely out of grasp yet.

Michael: I applaud Murphy for trying something unconventional. It didn't work, but at least he tried something. I felt like the last time the Lions went to Red Bull Arena under Heath they forgot why they scored five goals there last year — Rivas to Larin. New York had no answer for the Brek/Rivas combo down the left and the Colombian's crosses to Kid Fantastic were spot on that night. Murphy could have gone back to that for Wednesday's game but chose instead to stick Rivas up top. He's just not good in an isolated striker role, which we've seen in the past. Maybe he tears it up in training in that role, but in games he just doesn't get much done.

I would like to see Murphy try Baptista at CAM, keeping Molino out wide to the right. Trust The Beast to give you a solid 65-70 minutes and take advantage of his size and strength underneath Larin. Aside from that, there is nothing of quality coming in from the flanks. The service of the fullbacks must be better.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC are next on the docket, and have proven to be an explosive MLS offense with the second-highest total goals scored thus far. With Orlando City’s back line struggles, will they be able to do anything to slow down the likes of Kekuta Manneh, Christian Bolanos, and Pedro Morales, or will they be forced to try outgunning the Whitecaps?

Michael: The Lions have been better defensively of late, but when you can’t score and basically can’t even get forward, you’re stuck defending all game long, like we saw against Houston and New York. Murphy seems to be placing more emphasis on not conceding but this team has been a mess offensively since the departure of Adrian Winter with Kaká sidelined. Teams are able to collapse on Molino and render him ineffective since no one else seems capable of taking on and beating defenders 1-v-1. I expect we’ll see a similar game to Wednesday…defend, defend, defend and hope to get one on the counter. I don’t expect a better result based on what we’ve seen, especially with Shea suspended and now Harrison Heath injured.

Brad: I do think things get worse before they get better for Orlando. Their next four matches are at Vancouver, at Columbus, Revs at home, and Sounders at home. This match against Vancouver is another in the second miserable summer at Camping World Stadium and aside from seeing a back line that has played together more than 90 minutes, I really don't know what's going to help Orlando's chances before fall.

Austin: You will most likely see a more defensive lineup from the Lions come Saturday. It's an away game, against speedy forwards and talented midfielders and half your roster is basically hurt. It doesn't mix well for the Lions to do anything else but defend and counter for 90 minutes. Pulling out a draw will most likely be the team's goal at this point, with everything else considered.

Kendall Waston and Tim Parker dominate the air for Vancouver, combining for almost five aerials won per game. Is there anything the Lions can do to nullify this strength of Vancouver’s, as it is an obvious weakness for this club?

Brad: Set pieces are a glaring weakness for Orlando City and aside from the obvious in limiting free kicks the Whitecaps get in Orlando's area, I'd try to keep Vancouver honest with their possession and not let them get balls up and challenge them.

Austin: With set pieces being such a glaring problem with the current Orlando City defense, the best thing Orlando can do is simply not give up any opportunities for set pieces. Limiting those chances will hopefully nullify Waston and Parker's effectiveness

Michael: The Lions really struggled to win aerial balls against New York on set pieces. Seb Hines seems the only defender capable of winning balls in the air and Larin can help when he’s in the game. The team must find help in the transfer window because it’s a weakness of the current roster. On the offensive end, if Larin can’t win battles in the air against the center backs, the Lions will need to move the ball quickly and decisively on the ground.

PRIDE TIME

Kristen Edmonds was fantastic against Boston, scoring both goals late to steal three points for the Pride. How did they find themselves in a position to need two goals as the game wound down against a club that had scored just three times coming into the match?

Michael: There are a couple reasons the Pride fell behind. The first is that Kaitlyn Savage had a poor touch on her first attempt on a very slick and wet Camping World Stadium surface. That gave Boston a gimme, which is shockingly in the running for NWSL Goal of the Week. The second is that the team moved the ball too slowly in the attacking third and was not aggressive enough in making runs and playing balls behind the back line early for Jamia Fields and Jasmyne Spencer to run onto. The Breakers weren't much of a threat most of the game, it was just a matter of the Pride being too deliberate, which Tom Sermanni touched on after the match and is something I'm sure they worked on this week. At least I hope they did, because the Red Stars are much better than the Breakers and this is potentially a battle that could decide the fourth playoff spot.

Brad: Like the other Pro club in Orlando, the Pride found themselves playing with a makeshift formation. Although, this was because key players were called up for international duty and the team hasn't had quite had the same amount of time getting to mesh as other teams have in this aspect. I'm willing to give them a lot more leeway, especially considering they got three points from the match, that always helps.

Austin: Much like the men's team, the Pride were forced to use a pieced together formation, due to the international call-ups that will be affecting this team for the next month or so. The main reason the club didn't look cohesive for most of the match was because the team was trying to find a rhythm, since most of the players hadn't played with each other as starters. All things considered, the ladies did an excellent job maintaining composure and continuing to force the ball towards goal, eventually getting those two stoppage time goals.

The Chicago Red Stars come to the Campground next in a battle of two mid-table teams. Tom Sermanni's squad hasn't won back to back games since early May — is this the time to repeat the feat?

Brad: Considering the Red Stars played a really close game when the club was at full strength that Chicago ultimately won 1-0, it'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. One thing to consider is that were it not for Red Stars keeper Alyssa Naeher, it could have been a pretty well convincing win for the Pride.

Michael: Now is the time to play Chicago. For all the pieces Orlando is missing, the Red Stars are also affected by international call-ups. Their top goalkeeper, striker and defender are all USWNT players in Alyssa Naeher, Christen Press, and Julie Johnston, respectively. With the two teams knotted on 18 points in a fourth-place tie, a Pride win would nullify the Red Stars' current head-to-head tiebreaker and push Orlando ahead on points, with the wins and goal differential tiebreakers in hand – with seven matches left in the season. It's a huge game and Orlando has the talent to win it, but the back line must hold together again and the Pride need to get some offense from the front line of Fields-Hagen-Spencer.

Austin: The Pride have a good chance of pulling out two wins in a row. The Red Stars have also had their fair share of international call-ups and one of the big reasons that Chicago only won 1-0 the last time the two teams played was goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who has been called up for U.S. Women's National Team duty for the Olympics. If Edmonds and Spencer can continue their fine run of form, I don't see why Orlando doesn't pull this one out.

***

And this edition of the roundtable is adjourned. Let your opinions be heard below, and don’t be afraid to put down Pokemon Go and pick up a book or a magazine or quite literally anything else.

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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

on

July 22, 2026

By

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

By

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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