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PawedCast Episode 228: Orlando City transfer rumors, Orlando Pride News, Concacaf Champions League and More

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As we move into the holiday season, it’s the time for giving. The internet has given us a nice, juicy Orlando City transfer rumor to discuss, so we break down a report out of Portugal and why it doesn’t make sense for the Lions. Also, our sources say it isn’t happening and we believe them, otherwise, they wouldn’t be our sources! Speaking of that, we’ll get into all of the questions that people were asking about when our initial story came out.

There was plenty of news regarding the Orlando Pride, including a report of a trade involving Emily Sonnett to the Washington Spirit. We don’t have as good of a read on whether this one is happening but we still debunk some of the social media noise surrounding the deal. Alex Morgan made things happen in England during her short stay and we’re not talking about on the field. Kudos to Alex for getting the Tottenham women’s team equal facilities for training.

We also discuss the Concacaf Champions League, which wrapped up at Exploria Stadium on Tuesday night. It was a valiant effort from LAFC, and the MLS side nearly did enough to win it, but in the end, maybe Bob Bradley’s side needed to lose in order to win next time out. Or, like Tigres, maybe they need to lose three times to win the fourth. Something like that.

We had nothing in the mailbag this week but we forgive you. It’s a busy time of year. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything —you want us to address on our next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

That’s all for this week.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!


Here’s how show No. 228 went down:

0:15 – Franco Cervi isn’t likely to land in Orlando. We tell you why it doesn’t make sense for the Lions and I rant about Twitter comments because why not?

23:28 – Orlando Pride stars Emily Sonnet and Alex Morgan are in the news. We discuss.

49:11 – The Concacaf Champions League got really Concacaf-y, and what you can expect on The Mane Land in the coming days.

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 461: Facundo Torres’ Transfer, Orlando City’s 2025 MLS SuperDraft Class, and More

Facu officially flies away, we’ve got mail, and the Lions select some folks in the SuperDraft.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

With Facundo Torres officially transferring to Palmeiras on Friday, we reconvened to discuss what it means for Orlando City this off-season and moving forward into 2025. The Lions are sitting pretty in terms of cash, but it remains to be seen how the club will approach having an open Designated Player slot, an open MLS U22 Initiative slot, plenty of General Allocation Money, and a good infusion of cash from Brazil.

There are multiple ways the team can address the situation, but the front office has never been in a position where it’s had an opportunity to stack the team with quality starters and depth.

This week’s mailbagbox asked which current Lion needs to step up most, which of our favorite current and former EPL teams’ players we’d like to see playing for Orlando, and what we like to eat at Christmas. 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.

Finally, we discussed Major League Soccer not broadcasting or streaming the 2025 SuperDraft and the players Orlando City selected Friday afternoon. We’re not huge fans of the draft not being broadcast in some form, and it suggests the event may not have much more of a future. Orlando picked up four players out of college — two from the same school — and every position group except goalkeeper was impacted. Those who sign are likely to spend most of 2025 with OCB.

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.


Here’s how No. 461 went down:

0:15 – The Torres transfer is official and Orlando City has some cash to splash.

17:54 – The mailbagbox wants presents in the form of answers to our listeners’ questions.

37:28 – An overview of the lack of an MLS SuperDraft broadcast and Orlando City’s 2025 picks.

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 460: Facundo Torres, Orlando City and OCB News, and More

The Torres transfer saga, surgery for Duncan McGuire, Kyle Smith’s return, a new Homegrown Player, and OCB news.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Our off-season podcast schedule is off to a slow start, as we didn’t even take a week off, but if the news doesn’t sleep, neither do we. This week’s show opens with a discussion of the Facundo Torres transfer saga as of the time we recorded, which we fully expect to be ruined by the time this post drops (because that’s just podcast life). Torres was off to Brazil, then Mexico, then back to Brazil, and it seems that we’re just waiting for the official word at this point. While it’s never fun to lose a likeable and productive player, the club stands to turn a good profit on his three years in purple and will have some cash to splash on an attacking replacement.

In also-bad news, we chatted about Duncan McGuire’s shoulder surgery and the recovery time needed not only from the procedure itself, but also the requisite time to regain his match fitness. McGuire is going to be unavailable for a while, and we think the club needs to add a striker to start the season as either the starter or someone who can at least push Ramiro Enrique and provide a different look up top.

There’s even more bad news to talk about, as the Lions lost MLS U22 Initiative midfielder Heine Gikling Bruseth before he’d even played a game for Orlando City. It may have been a gamble to leave him unprotected — or maybe it was intentional —and it could have been necessary due to contract language and greater needs with those 12 protected spots in the MLS Expansion Draft. Either way, Bruseth is gone after doing not much more than training with the Lions and warming up on a few match days.

In better news, the Lions re-signed Kyle Smith to a one-year deal, and we are here for it. Speaking of signings, the club added a Homegrown Player, signing OCB midfielder Colin Guske to the first team. We discuss Guske’s game a bit, then transition into OCB’s season-ending roster status update. There were 10 players on MLS NEXT Pro contracts in 2024. One of them was Guske, six are out of contract (but some could return), and three are still under contract.

This week’s mailbagbox asked a pretty good “what if” question, sought our thoughts on MLS free agents, wondered if Felipe is coaching material, 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.

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.


Here’s how No. 460 went down:

0:15 – We break down the Torres transfer saga and discuss what McGuire’s surgery recovery means for 2025.

16:02 – Losing Bruseth, Smith’s return, a new Homegrown Player, and OCB contract statuses.

32:27 – Something we love as much as the mailbagbox is finding loopholes to make some of the questions easier to answer.

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 459: Orlando City Roster Decisions and Facundo Torres Gone?

Breaking news on a potential Facundo Torres transfer and our annual stays/goes segment lacks its usual drama and debate.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City’s end-of-season roster update undercut our annual stays/goes segment, but that’s OK. What it lacks in drama, it makes up for in us being able to say we were right more often. But we’ll get to that.

We open the show with an MLS NEXT scoreboard check and it turns out the Orlando City SC Development Academy is doing just fine.

After that, we bid former OCSC captain Nani an extremely enjoyable retirement. The flashy and fiery Portuguese winger has called it a career and left an indelible mark on the city of Orlando in his couple of years with the Lions. We also debate whether he could end up in Orlando City’s ring of honor at Inter&Co Stadium.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about stuff Alexi Lalas said and what kinds of things we prefer to put off until later. 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.

Finally, we address some breaking news (as we recorded) that Orlando City and Palmeiras had reached an agreement on a transfer that would send Facundo Torres to Brazil. The report from Tom Bogert at the time mentioned the deal was contingent on Torres reaching an agreement with the club, and we debated how the deal makes sense (or doesn’t) for the Uruguayan winger.

That was the perfect segue into our annual stays/goes segment, in which we go through the Orlando City roster to figure out which Lions will still be on the team next year. As mentioned, the roster decisions release kind of makes things clear, but there’s a lot that can happen in an off-season, and if a domino falls (say…the transfer of the team’s leading offensive weapon), it could change the math. The MLS Expansion Draft also could throw a wrench into the works.

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.


Here’s how No. 459 went down:

0:15 – Some Orlando City academy scores and Nani’s retirement.

12:53 – Our mailbagbox is light but mighty.

31:02 – Addressing the breaking news report that a transfer might be in place to send Facundo Torres to Brazil and our annual walk through the Orlando City roster.

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