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Staff Roundtable: Orlando City hires Jason Kreis, Prepares for Columbus Crew SC; Pride Set to Face Seattle Reign

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10 years ago

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The Bobby Murphy era is winding to a close as Orlando City SC prepares to take on Columbus Crew SC Saturday night. The Lions managed to score two in a draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC — the first goals under the interim coach’s watch — but will they convert that momentum into three points? Jason Kreis has been named the new head coach for the club, and this roster may see the 4-4-2 diamond formation sooner rather than later. Are these Lions prepared to fill it out?

Kaitlyn Savage has been in great form for the Pride recently, and looks to protect the net well enough for the Pride to get three points over the Seattle Reign.

Logan Oliver, Scott Crumbly and yours truly discuss all this and more in this week's edition of The Mane Land roundtable.

Orlando City found the back of the net for the first time in three games last weekend, scoring twice to draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The defense seemed to really collapse around Kevin Molino early, giving Júlio Baptista and Cyle Larin space to work with near the top of the box. Molino’s field vision has been knocked before — he’s been seen with his head down taking an extra touch throughout his MLS career — but has shown stellar improvement. Do you feel he’s turned a significant corner in this respect? Should we expect more assists from The Original moving forward?

Scott: Molino has taken a step forward this season following his injury-shortened 2015, and it's a shame to think where he could've been with a full season under his belt from last year. But it seems Molino has grown into his role with Orlando City in '16 and we're seeing a natural progression, including improved vision as he gets used to being a focal point for opposition defenses while playing without Kaká on the pitch for much of this year. This season hasn't panned out quite as Lions fans would've hoped to this point, but six assists to go with six goals from Molino has been a bright spot so far. With 1.5 key passes per game coming from No. 18, I think we'll see him continue to provide service for his teammates moving forward.

Wade: The Original has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. He started slowly, but found his form after the captain displayed his confidence in Molino in demanding he take — and make — a penalty kick. He's grown stronger and more decisive on the ball, believing that he not only can play in this league, but thrive in it. Expect #Molinomania to run as wild as ever as 2016 wears on.

Logan: Molino's play this season has given legitimacy to all of the speculation about whether or not he could be an impact player in MLS. The good news is that the goal-scoring part of his game seems to be back, and he was always more of a set-up man before he added the goals to his game. I believe he'll get back to that sooner rather than later.

Had Baptista scored his penalty kick, the Lions could very well be looking at three points instead of one. If Captain Kaká isn't on the pitch, who is your choice to take the PKs and why?

Wade: Depending on who is, you could go several different ways. The Original is always a good choice, and has the official endorsement of the captain. I feel Carlos Rivas could benefit from easy chances at net to get his confidence up, especially if he is to be given more opportunities in an attacking role.

Logan: Carlos Rivas is the only other guy on the roster who has proven he can score pens reliably, but really no one else has been given the opportunity. Larin would be my first choice, just because he can put the power and pace on the ball to beat the keeper.

Scott: Without Ricky on the field, I think Molino should be the fill-in for spot-kick duty. We saw him step up and confidently convert a penalty in the win over Portland back in April, and he's the offensive spark the team looks to when the captain isn't playing, so it seems like a natural role for him to embrace. While strikers like Baptista and Cyle Larin are options, we've never seen Larin take an MLS penalty and Júlio didn't do himself any favors in his audition in Vancouver.

Jason Kreis has been announced as Orlando City’s new head coach just days before Saturday’s match with Columbus Crew SC. Do you expect to see his trademark 4-4-2 formation immediately? What XI do you expect to see fill it out?

Scott: Kreis made it a point to say that he prefers to let his personnel dictate the formation rather than to force a formation onto a team, but I do think we can expect to see the 4-4-2 diamond even if it isn’t an immediate switch. Kaká slots in as the midfield creator at the top of the diamond, while Cristian Higuita provides the ball-winning and breakup ability to sweep and provide an anchor at the back. For the two shuttlers, a player like Darwin Cerén has the motor to cover the necessary ground to fan wide and also provide cover for his fullback defensively, while Molino can also create width and take advantage of the passing opportunities created by the four-man midfield.

The fullbacks like Brek Shea and Rafael Ramos/Kevin Alston are accustomed to providing width going forward, which they’d continue to do without two true wing players in the diamond. The tricky part of the 4-4-2 would be who to partner up top with Larin, who we’ve only seen in a center forward role in his season and a half in MLS. Baptista isn’t really a natural partner up top as both are bigger, more physical hold-up players. Carlos Rivas could potentially provide a quicker complement to play off Larin in a pairing, or the club could bring in reinforcement.

Logan: I don't think we have the depth at forward to run two strikers consistently. We have options, whether it's Rivas, Barry, or Baptista who lines up next to Larin, but there's not a lot of quality after Cyle and Júlio. I think Kreis sticks to five in the midfield and tries to implement his pass-and-move philosophy with what we have. I wouldn't be surprised if we target a striker this window.

Wade: I could see Kreis establishing this formation early, though I think variations are to be expected as personnel inevitably turns over. Along the back, I think our best options are Boden and Ramos on the flanks, given their health. Not encouraging, but both players have played well in stretches. I personally prefer the center back pairing of David Mateos and Tommy Redding, though you could beat them in the air without leaving your office chair. I believe Darwin Cerén would be the man on the bottom of the diamond, as Cristian Higuita is likely to draw more interest on the market when one of the two becomes expendable. Brek Shea seems more effective further up the formation, and he opposite Molino while Kaká works on top of the diamond appears to form a really potent midfield supporting Cyle Larin and Carlos Rivas up top.

Seriously — I would love to see Mateos cleaning up possessions and launching balls deep to Cyle and Carlos. That sounds like a lot of fun to watch.

The Crew were always an intense meeting for last season's Orlando City team. With some of the old players and City's former head coach gone, do you think that animosity will carry over to the pitch this weekend?

Wade: Truthfully, I think this "rivalry" has lost a fair amount of steam. The fun was in the volume last year, and there never seemed to be another good reason a club from Ohio would be considered a rival for Orlando. Look for the clubs to play their games with little out of the ordinary of note. Also, Cristian Higuita losing his temper and getting a yellow is not out of the ordinary. Could be playing Columbus, could be playing your daughter's team from the YMCA — dude's got a 50/50 shot at a yellow card.

Logan: Without Kei Kamara and Rafa Ramos, it’s bound to be a toned-down atmosphere compared to some of the other matches. But Columbus is frustrated with how their season has gone so far and we still have Higuita and Cerén, so I would count on some fireworks.

Scott: There are certainly some differences between this year and last, with both teams sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference table at eighth and ninth place, respectively. Gone is the 22-goal production of Kei Kamara for Columbus, and gone are the managerial services of Adrian Heath for OCSC. We'll see how things play out on Saturday night, but from an outside perspective it seems like tensions would not be quite as high this weekend given how long it's been since the two teams faced off. Some of the chippiness we saw last year seemed to be a result of three matches between the two sides crammed into the middle of the schedule, while both were in better position than they are currently.

PRIDE TIME

Kaitlyn Savage was in strong form in the 0-1 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Red Stars, making key saves when needed and only missing on what was a near impossible goal. How do you feel about her performances so far?

Scott: Anytime you lose a keeper the quality of Ashlyn Harris, the pressure heaped on the backup is immense. Savage's performance against Chicago was the type that Tom Sermanni loves to see, and as long as Savage can avoid being the goat in Harris' stead, she's really doing all that can be asked of her. More of the same please.

Wade: I love watching a good product on the pitch, and you get there with savvy moves from the front office. This was a savvy, championship move. Top teams find quality contributors in odd places, and Kaitlyn fits the bill easily.

Logan: Savage has been an admirable replacement for Harris and the Pride staff seem to have hit a home run with this signing. The competition when Harris returns from the Olympics will be fierce. It's great to know that the Pride have two class ‘keepers on the books.

Seattle Reign lead the NWSL in draws, while the Pride are the only team in the league that have yet to have one. Do you anticipate a definitive result, or will Orlando's drawless streak come to an end?

Logan: They have to get one eventually, right? Orlando had a great victory last time around and this depleted roster still has a lot of fight in it. The offense has been lackluster unless Kristen Edmonds is scoring golazos and Kaitlyn Savage has been great, so I would expect a 0-0 draw.

Wade: I think a draw is possible, but considering there's three outcomes and that's only one of the possible ones, the betting man in me wants to say we'll see a definitive result. The Pride have alternated wins and losses for over a month — I wouldn't be surprised to see the pattern continue.

***

And this edition of the roundtable is adjourned. Let your opinions be heard below, and make sure you find a spot in front of the TV for the games this weekend.

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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

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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