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Staff Roundtable Week 4: Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers

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10 years ago

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After a week off for the international break, Orlando City will get back to the business of winning a Major League Soccer championship this weekend when defending MLS Cup champion Portland visits the Citrus Bowl. The Timbers are a dynamic team that proved their worth in the postseason in 2015 after finishing third in the Western Conference during the regular season.

Four Lions played during the off week, with Kevin Molino, Darwin Ceren and Cyle Larin representing their countries in World Cup qualifying. Tommy Redding took part in the Dallas Cup with the U-20 USMNT. Meanwhile, several reserve players got some time with Orlando City B last weekend. Orlando City is ready to get back at it and so is The Mane Land staff. Joining us at the big, round, purple table this week is Andrew Harrison, Sean Rollins and Robert Vega.

Let's get right to the questions:

Orlando City went into the international break with some momentum, going unbeaten in the three games in March, finishing with a road win at New York City FC. How does the team keep (or regain) that momentum after the layoff?

Andrew: The answer is simple: just keeping doing what you were doing. Okay, some guys were gone from training last week but they were still getting games. They were still staying match sharp. The Lions just need to return from the international break injury free and I think they will find it easy to keep the momentum going in April due to the systems that Head Coach Adrian Heath employs and the style that is asked by coach on game day.

Sean: The schedule's going to get harder going forward, making it more difficult to maintain their momentum. Orlando City must get some better play out of key players. The team was dominated by NYCFC their last time out, after a poor outing. It should help getting Kaká back to add leadership and stability to the team. It'll be difficult with Portland, New York, and SKC coming up, but this team hasn't played its best game yet.

Robert: I get it that the team was unbeaten in March, but it doesn't really feel like there was much momentum. Outside of the furious finish in the opener, it hasn't really felt like the team was rolling. The NYCFC game was a win, sure, but I don't think anyone came away from that game feeling like it was the start of something special. It was more like the great escape. That said, whether we're talking about keeping or building momentum, the key will be getting some consistency in the lineup. With Larin over his illness, Kaká finally returning, and Nocerino getting a bit more time to learn his teammates' names, getting everybody comfortable in their roles will be what gets this train rolling.

Cyle Larin opened his Orlando City account against Portland in 2015. He has three goals in three games with the Lions in 2016. Does he continue his 34-goal pace against the Timbers or will the tough international matches against Mexico break his rhythm?

Robert: I love the "fun with small sample sizes" game! Larin's on pace for 34 goals, Hadji Barry's on pace for 11 assists, and my wife's on pace for 102 heart attacks after I scare her by screaming "shoot the damn ball!" Obviously Larin will have many scoreless games, and while I'm not a fan of his overall game, he has shown a knack for getting and holding position and finishing the play. Portland has yet to have a clean sheet this season and has given up two goals in each of their past two games. With Kaká back, I think Orlando City will create more good looks at goal, and I think Larin will finish one of them to take his streak to four. Ultimately, though, he'll finish the season with less than 34 goals. Maybe 32.

Andrew: Larin has been through the international break a few times now and I don't think that will throw him off. The biggest challenge for him would have been the back line of Portland, however, with Liam Ridgewell out through injury, the usual partnership of Ridgewell/Borchers is not available to Caleb Porter and therefore the defending MLS Cup champs have already shipped five goals, so expect to see Larin get his name on the score sheet.

Sean: If anybody scores for Orlando City Sunday night, it's likely to be Larin. This season he's clearly the target man for the team, which will give him more chances, something that didn't happen until later last season. The fact that Kaká is back will probably draw some attention away from him as well.

City hasn't lost yet this season but has struggled to score goals. What must the team do to start filling the net more regularly?

Sean: The service into the area needs to be better than it has been. A good ball into the box can make a world of difference to a striker. It's also important for Larin to be in the right place, at the right time. This is how Chris Wondolowski scores so many goals. It's why Larin scored against NYCFC.

Robert: Outside of the NYCFC game, the team has done a good job of maintaining possession, but hasn't been able to build up the play to where they're generating enough legitimate scoring opportunities. The crosses have been dreadful and the finishing, outside of Larin, has been pathetic. Somebody else on the team has to step up as a threat in the final third, and it doesn't necessarily have to be scoring goals, but even just creating the opportunities.

Andrew: SHOOT. They have to learn to take more shots. Molino has to shake off the yips and be willing to just take a shot. That goes for other players as well. The best opportunity to score a goal is take a shot. Larin has taken 11 shots this season for three goals. The next player with the most shots is Winter who has taken five, and this should come as no surprise but those people are the only people to have scored for Orlando City this season.

Which of the following will benefit most from the return of Kaká to the lineup: Kevin Molino's play in the final third, Larin's goal-scoring opportunities, or Orlando City's set piece quality?

Robert: I'm going to go with Molino's play in the final third. With Kaká back, Molino should have a little more freedom and space to do Molino things (and maybe to shoot). For the most part, I look at Kaká's return the same way I look at adding an elite closer in baseball. It's not that the closer's play in and of itself makes the team so much better, but his presence puts everyone else back into a role that they're comfortable in. Kaká's presence draws attention that frees other players up and puts them in less stressful positions. Now, it would be nice if someone else could take some more pressure off Kaká, but that wasn't the question.

Andrew: This is a tough one but I have to go with set piece quality. We have no goals from set pieces this season despite the number across MLS being higher than in previous seasons and we know that Kaká has the ability to help rectify this situation. I believe that Molino is the only one who can resolve his scoring difficulties, as playing next to Kaká last season didn't get him on the score sheet before his injury and Larin hasn't had any problems scoring goals so far, and, with Kaká's calls for him to be less selfish in providing for others, Kaká's biggest asset to Orlando City will be his set piece ability.

Sean: I think Kevin Molino's play in the final third will improve with Kaká's return. One reason why Molino has struggled is that he plays faster than others around him. Unfortunately, he's unable to slow his pace to theirs. Kaká can and will play at Molino's speed, which is why he enjoys playing with Kevin so much. Being on the field together will benefit both players.

What match-up must Orlando City win on Sunday to defeat a tough Portland side and come away with the first home win of 2016?

Andrew: Despite many answers to this question, I am going with their playmaker, Diego Valeri. His tireless effort and ability to create something out of nothing for DP striker Fanendo Adi makes him the biggest threat to Orlando and it will be up to our defensive duo Cristian Higuita and Darwin Cerén to keep him out of the game while also handling Portland's other significant midfield threats of Darlington Nagbe and Diego Chara.

Sean: Last year Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell proved to be a difficult pair to crack in the middle of the Portland defense. As the lone striker and big body up front, it'll be important that Larin doesn't get frustrated by the center backs (though Ridgewell is out) and matches up aggressively. This should create opportunities for players in the midfield on goal.

Robert: Tommy Redding against Fanedo Adi. Adi has been hot to start the season with three goals this season, including two against RSL. Redding was fantastic against David Villa last week, and will need to replicate that performance against Adi. Redding and Hines will have to neutralize the big Nigerian if they are to be successful. Orlando City is unlikely to score in bunches, so keeping Portland limited will be essential.

* * *

That's your roundtable discussion for Week 4 in preparation for the Portland Timbers. 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

2 weeks 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

3 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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