Orlando City

Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Published

5 years ago

May 9, 2021

Orlando City remains unbeaten after a 1-1 draw at home against New York City FC. After a scoreless first half, Nani gave the Lions a lead in the 52nd minute for his third goal in three games. But João Moutinho, who came on to replace Ruan after halftime, conceded a penalty and Valentin Castellanos slotted it away to equalize. It was a game filled with chances for both sides, but neither was able to capture all three points, as has happened so often in this evenly matched series.

Here’s how each Lion individually rated in the match, along with who was named the Man of the Match.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7.5 (MotM) — The Peruvian goalkeeper had his busiest game of the season, making three saves. His first and easiest came in the seventh minute when he dove to stop a shot from Andres Jasson outside of the box. Later, in the 28th minute, he made a crucial save one-on-one against Castellanos to keep the score level. But his biggest save came in the last moment of the game. Jesus Medina was in on goal and it looked as if NYCFC would steal all three points. But El Pulpo went low and covered all angles to make the crucial stop. If I could take the Man of the Match title and divvy them up three ways to Gallese and his center backs, I would. The three of them have done extremely well to only concede two goals this season, a giveaway and a penalty. But today’s honor goes to Gallese, even if he wasn’t able to make the save on the penalty. His confidence and positioning ability deserves some recognition, especially late with the game on the line as he put himself in the best possible place to not be easily beaten.

D, Ruan, 6 — Ruan’s speed was a factor early on, with the Brazilian sprinting down the field on a counter and making a tight pass that almost found Tesho Akindele in the box. His crossing ability still needs some fine tuning as both of his attempted crosses were unsuccessful, but he’s getting better at lifting his head up with the ball at his feet instead of taking shots at bad angles. He was the outlet for most of Orlando’s offense until going down in a tackle where he tracked back to stop a surging Jasson. He was limping in the final minutes of the first half and didn’t return in the second half, replaced by Moutinho. Ruan finished the match with 26 touches and 17 passes with an 88% success rate. Defensively, he made three clearances, tying for most on the team.

D, Antonio Carlos, 7.5 — The center back led the team in touches (89), interceptions (3), and passes (75) in a strong performance full of great moments. Of those 75 passes, 69 of them found their intended target for an impressive 92% success rate. Going up against a group of clever players from NYCFC, Carlos made sure that they weren’t able to capitalize on the many chances they created. Keep an eye on Carlos in set pieces moving forward. Orlando’s corners and free kicks usually wound up near the Brazilian’s head and it’s likely by design rather than chance. Carlos was only able to get his head onto one for a shot that went wide, but if he can improve this part of his game then he can become one of the best center backs in the league.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 7.5 — If there is one thing to learn from Schlegel’s performance last night, it’s that he is so much more than a folk hero or feel good story for Orlando. The Argentine center back is a defensive juggernaut, and not just because his head seems to hit the ball harder than the X-Men villain’s would. While he was a force all night, his best minutes of play came around the 20th minute. Schlegel slid to deny Castellanos on the end line and then blocked Maxime Chanot’s shot on the following corner before getting back into position to make life difficult again for Castellanos. He had 63 touches, two tackles, two interceptions, a headed shot right at Sean Johnson, and completed 90% of his 52 passes. There were so many times in the past where the absence of one center back would cripple Orlando’s defense. That’s no longer the case thanks to Schlegel.

D, Kyle Smith, 6 — In the first half, he had a tough match-up against Anton Tinnerholm, one of the best right backs in MLS. He was also beaten by Castellanos in the 28th minute in a play that ended with a shot on goal for NYCFC, but improved defensively as the game wore on. Ruan exited after halftime and Smith drifted back to his preferred right side of the pitch. NYCFC wasn’t too threatened by him offensively and he didn’t give them much of a reason to be, apart from some nice series with Urso on the wings. He had a weak shot from an awkward volley that might have been an attempted pass but it was gobbled up by Johnson anyway. Neither of his two crosses found their mark, he picked up a yellow card, made two clearances, and had one tackle in a full shift. Smith had 73 touches in this one and completed 83% of his 52 passes.

MF, Junior Urso, 7 — Urso had a bit of a quiet first half with little room to work with in the center of the field, but was a man possessed in the second half. With Ruan off the field, the offense needed a new dynamic and Urso stepped up to the plate. The Bear had a shot saved after a good series of passes along the right side, and minutes later he beat a defender with a nutmeg dribble in the play leading up to Nani’s goal. It was great to see Urso pushing forward in the attack, but he was no slouch on defense and pitched in with two tackles and an interception as well. He had 68 touches in this one and a decent 90% success rate on 51 passes.

MF, Sebas Mendez, 6 — Compared to last week’s match against FC Cincinnati, Mendez had to work in a much more crowded midfield this time around. There were a few errant passes early on from him, but he settled in and carved himself out a spot to connect Orlando’s defense and offense. He led the Lions with five tackles, tied Ruan with a team-high three clearances, and made two interceptions. On offense, his only shot of the game sailed high into the stands, but he did set Mauricio Pereyra up well for a shot. The Ecuadorian was second in touches with 85 and made 64 passes at an 84% rate. His only attempted cross of the game was unsuccessful and Mendez wasn’t able to impose his will on the midfield like past games this time around.

MF, Chris Mueller, 5 — No player was affected more by Ruan’s exit than Mueller and he was eclipsed a bit by Urso on his side of the attack. Mueller had no shots in 80 minutes of play, and in fact passed up a couple of good opportunities to fire a shot. He had a hard time finding his place in this one and only had 39 touches and 23 passes — albeit at a good 87% rate — also connecting on one of his two crosses. Mueller was dispossessed twice and had a habit of dribbling into trouble in a quiet game that was far from his best. He does get some brownie points for deflecting a free kick that could have been dangerous though.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6.5 — Pereyra led the Lions in key passes with three as he continuously found players in great positions. The Uruguayan made the assist on Nani’s goal, becoming a revolving door to turn an incoming pass from Urso into perfect service for Nani in one of his favorite spots on the field. He had an 81% success rate on 54 passes, which is pretty good considering the usual distance and boldness from the type of passes he attempts. Pereyra also had the ball teed up for him by Mendez outside of the box, but his shot went wide. He was subbed off late in the second half and had 69 touches. Defensively, he had the second-most tackles on the team with three and had one interception. Pereyra also won three fouls, committing two of his own.

F, Tesho Akindele, 6 — Perhaps no one on the team ran more, or harder, than Akindele did throughout his 71 minutes of play. He still has moments where his touch lets him down, like when Nani delivered a good ball in the box in the first half. But his hold-up play was good for the second-straight match and he made multiple runs to split NYCFC’s center backs that went unrewarded with a pass from his teammates. His only shot attempt was blocked by a desperation lunge by a defender. Regardless, Akindele did all of the little things. If there was a loose ball in Orlando’s attacking third, Akindele was usually chasing it down and his pressing forced NYCFC into turnovers or poor long balls on occasion. He only made nine passes, but all were on target and one was a key pass. Subbed off in the 71st minute for fresher legs after running like a madman all game, the Canadian finished with 17 touches on a night when the opposition’s tight shape limited opportunities.

F, Nani, 7.5 — The captain did it again, working his magic at the top of the box and firing the ball into the back of the net. He was patient as he picked out what he wanted to do with the ball and then got his shot off before NYCFC could close down on him. It was a bit of an off night for his distribution though considering all four of his crosses in open play were unsuccessful, although not all were his fault and it was difficult to center the ball to a teammate with all of NYCFC’s bodies in the box. His one key pass was from one of his five corner kicks and he ended with 44 passes at a 77% success rate. Nani’s other shot of the evening was blocked and there were some miscues late when Orlando tried to switch play and take advantage of Tinnerholm’s exit. Still, it was a good game from Nani beyond his goal as he racked up 75 touches, two dribbles, a tackle, a clearance, and an interception, and often dropped to provide a calm outlet from New York City FC’s pressure — something that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

Substitutes

D, João Moutinho (45’), 5.5 — Whether it be from rust or fatigue, his tackle in the box that led to the penalty was a bad one. To be fair, Ishmael Tajouri-Shradi put the left back in a tough position and Moutinho took a stab that landed on the midfielder’s foot. It was rough to watch as NYCFC was given a lifeline back into the match, but life goes on and Moutinho will shake it off. Aside from the one bad moment, Moutinho was actually a bright spot at both ends of the pitch. In the most action he’s seen this season, Moutinho had 43 touches and was successful on 77% of his 31 passes. He had one cross, a key pass that found Benji Michel’s head in the box.

F, Benji Michel (71’), 5.5 — The forward didn’t make much noise as a substitute in this game, his only shot coming from Moutinho’s cross. It was an awkward angle for him as the ball wasn’t from out wide, but Michel was able to dig low like a volleyball player and then spring up to flick the ball in on goal. Johnson handled it with ease, but props to Michel for making something out of it. His running and energy forced Johnson to rush a long ball attempt that resulted in a turnover. He had eight touches and completed all six of his passes, adding a tackle as well.

MF, Andres Perea (80’), N/A — Although he wasn’t on the field long enough for a proper grade, I liked what I saw from Perea on set pieces. There’s a level of alertness he has that is pretty valuable late in games. In the 85th minute, Nani’s corner was dealt with but Perea made sure to be onside before Smith hit a weak volley that Perea rushed down. Late on, he made a similar dash on a free kick to try to make something happen. It’s hardly anything groundbreaking, but it’s nice to see.

MF, Silvester van der Water (80’), N/A — The Dutchman didn’t connect on either of his two passes and had seven touches. His biggest contribution was being fouled in the 88th minute in a good position for the Lions to whip a ball in.

That’s how I saw the individual performances of the Lions in a tough draw against NYCFC. Let us know what you thought and make sure to vote for who you think deserves the title of Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

Player	Votes
Pedro Gallese	33
Rodrigo Schlegel	7
Nani	13
Antonio Carlos	5
Junior Urso	1
Other	0

Related Topics:Player Grades SBN_migrated

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/5/26

Lions called up for international duty, USMNT roster announcement, UEFA Champions League roundup, and more.

Published

1 hour ago

November 5, 2026

Ben Miller

Image of Justin Ellis dribbling the ball between two Monterrey defenders.

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Happy Thursday, beautiful readers. Decision Day is almost upon us, but we can’t go getting too far ahead of ourselves just yet. There’s plenty of soccer news taking place in the here and now, and that news is what we need to talk about this morning. Let’s have a gander at today’s links.

Lions Set for International Duty

Three Orlando City players have been called up (so far) to represent their nations in the upcoming November international window. Justin Ellis will join the United States Men’s National Team as it faces Haiti across two legs in a Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal.

The American dream continues ⭐

Following Saturday's regular-season finale, Justin will represent the United States in a two-legged Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Haiti 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nvoxP0eMi6
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) November 4, 2026

Maxime Crepeau is back in the fold for Canada for its Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal matches against Guatemala.

Oh, Canada 🇨🇦

Following Saturday's regular-season finale, Max will represent his country against Guatemala in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals 👏 pic.twitter.com/YA7MjkCodV
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) November 4, 2026

Finally, David Brekalo will join Slovenia for a pair of matches against North Macedonia and Switzerland.

Slovenia bound 🇸🇮

After wrapping up the regular season on Saturday, David will join his national team for matches against Switzerland and North Macedonia. pic.twitter.com/OLvcnWEAef
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) November 4, 2026

Congratulations to all three players, and good luck!

Mauricio Pochettino Names November Squad

In addition to Justin Ellis, Mauricio Pochettino has named the full 25-player roster that will take on Haiti in the Concacaf Nations League. Former Lion Alex Freeman is unsurprisingly included, and the roster also sees the return of big guns like Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, and Folarin Balogun. Philadelphia Union youngster Cavan Sullivan is in too, while defender Reed Baker-Whiting and midfielder Santiago Castaneda will have chances to earn their first caps with the USMNT. The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on Nov. 14 at Inter Miami’s Nu Stadium, with the second leg set for Nov. 17 at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium.

UEFA Champions League Recap

Matchday four of the UEFA Champions League is in the books, and we were treated to a wild Wednesday of games. The most eye-popping result of the day belonged to Cesc Fabregas’ transcendent Como side, which went on the road and thrashed Lens 9-1 to settle nicely into fourth in the table. Fenerbahce scored in the 73rd and 79th minutes to come back and secure a 3-2 win over Liverpool at home, while Real Madrid got a 92nd-minute winner from Federico Valverde to break the hearts of AEK Athens fans in the Greek capitol. The other big result of the day was Porto putting a 4-1 beatdown on Napoli at Estadio Do Dragao, and with Napoli eighth in Serie A and 27th in the UCL table, Massimiliano Allegri’s days at the club could be numbered.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

Every season is transfer season, so let’s take a look at some of the most interesting rumors floating around at the minute. We start with Juventus, which is reportedly contemplating moves for Benjamin Sesko and Folarin Balogun in the January window, as the Italian side is said to be on the hunt for a physical striker. Real Madrid is reportedly close to signing former Manchester United youth player JJ Gabriel, who asked to leave the Red Devils in September. Sunderland is said to be interested in signing Almeria midfielder Stefan Dzodic, although the club would likely face competition from Atletico Madrid and several other English clubs. Finally, Napoli reportedly intends to submit a bid for Barcelona midfielder Gavi during the January window, as he has had difficulty securing regular playing time for Hansi Flick this season.

Free Kicks

Orlando City celebrated Wilder Cartagena after the midfielder made his 100th appearance for the team.

Una sorpresa para nuestro centenario 💯 pic.twitter.com/bTZGUhJHNq
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) November 4, 2026

Martin Ojeda has been honored with a special card in EAFC 27.

Check out this teaser for a biopic about Marta.

MARTA MOVIE TEASER 🎞️

The first teaser for the biopic about football legend Marta has dropped, and we've never been more sat for something in our lives. The film about the footballer's journey comes out in April 2027 🐐🇧🇷

🎥: Conspiração Filmes pic.twitter.com/EBabOjFRsl
— The Women's Game (@WomensGameMIB) November 4, 2026

A mind-melting 51 red cards were shown in a South American youth game. Rodrigo Schlegel is smiling somewhere.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. Vamos Orlando!

Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/4/26

Orlando City’s playoff picture, Barbra Banda nominated for the Women’s World 11, USWNT’s preliminary roster, and more.

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2026

David Rohe

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It’s a bit odd to be writing the first Lion Links following the news we dropped yesterday that The Mane Land will be ceasing operations after the end of this season. The outpouring of supportive comments we’ve received has been greatly appreciated by all of the staff. We’ve always done this as a labor of love for the the teams we cover, but more importantly, for you, our readers. Of course, we’re not done yet, so let’s get to the links.

Orlando City’s Decision-ish Day

Orlando City thankfully heads into the Decision Day match against the New England Revolution already guaranteed a place in the playoffs. That’s not to say that the result doesn’t have ramifications. A win combined with some other results can see the Lions climb back into seventh place, avoiding the play-in match. It won’t be easy, given New England sits in third place in the Eastern Conference. Orlando City is just above the line at ninth, and is No. 18 in the final MLS power rankings of the regular season.

Another Banda Nomination

There were only two NWSL players nominated for the FIFPRO 2026 Women’s World 11, and Barbra Banda was one of them. Gotham FC goalkeeper\ Ann-Katrin Berger was the other. The list was decidedly European, with Banda also being one of only four non-European players making the list. Fortunately, the powers that be didn’t lose their collective minds enough to leave Banda off the list.

Orlando Pride Off-Season Begins

We’re all familiar with the “one weird trick” articles, which is kind of what this article about what one question each already eliminated NWSL club needs to answer this off-season is. For the Orlando Pride, that question is “Can Barbra Banda get some help?” That is an important question, but it’s also only one of a dozen things that need to be addressed starting yesterday. It will be up to Caitlin Carducci do get the ship righted over the next few months.

Hayes Names Preliminary USWNT Roster

USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes named a 51-player preliminary roster for the upcoming Concacaf W Championship matches at the end of the month. Hayes will need to whittle that roster down in the next few weeks. Even former Orlando Pride defender Emily Sams made the list — at least for now. There are some NWSL players that have impressed, and others that have not, for the NWSL.

Free Kicks

Antoine Griezmann’s jersey is ranked fifth in the Top 10 jersey sales in MLS. I think that is pretty impressive, given he wasn’t here all season.
Mauricio Pochettino will be selecting a squad for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. He will also need to deal with several injured USMNT players in his selection process.
AS Monaco has added USMNT striker Folarin Balogun to the squad for the Conference League now that he is staying at the club.
The Asian Cup has been postponed due to a series of attacks in Saudi Arabia including one at Riyadh’s airport.
The MLS Disciplinary Committee fined Charlotte FC forward Allan Saint-Maximin for not leaving the field in a timely manner after being sent off in the match against Orlando City.
The Western Conference also has Decision Day drama with six teams competing for three playoff spots.

That will do it for today.

Orlando City

All Good Things…

After more than a dozen years of daily coverage of Orlando City SC / Orlando Pride, this site will soon shut down.

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2026

Michael Citro

Photo of The Mane Land staff from around 2016

An early TML staff photo from a pregame gathering.

Over the last 12 years, I’ve written 3,598 stories for The Mane Land before this one, but I’ve never written one that I wanted to post less than this one (no. 3,599). To rip off the Band-Aid, The Mane Land is closing shop at the end of the 2026 season. We will continue to cover the club through Orlando City’s postseason and provide some retrospective posts and whatever daily news requires coverage before calling it a day in the coming weeks. We will also stop producing The Mane Land PawedCast and SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast at that time.

After starting as a free WordPress site on Sept. 23, 2014; quickly building an audience and becoming part of the SBNation family of sites on Nov. 24 of that same year; and then having to regroup and become a new, independent site nine years later on March 29, 2023; it is with a great deal of sadness and regret that I have to inform you The Mane Land will not continue.

This isn’t a money thing. We’re used to having to pay to play after going independent following SBNation’s decision to cut a huge chunk of its soccer sites three years ago. We’ve recouped some of our expenses through an insanely successful initial GoFundMe drive and a far less successful Buy Me a Coffee subscription campaign since 2023.

But the rigors and stress of being plugged in 365 days a year (give or take a few), running the site, and covering a growing schedule of games each year with dwindling staff resources has taken its toll. It is time to call it a day.

I don’t have a lot of regrets about running TML the last 12 years, but I have one major one — my inability to recruit replacements for staff members who have left. A lack of manpower has forced TML to scale back over the years when I would rather have grown it, and it is a constant source of frustration that we can’t provide a lot of what I originally envisioned, or indeed some of the things we used to be able to provide (e.g., weekend Lion Links, OCB previews, more feature stories, video content, Pride player grades, etc.). Friends and family I’ve spoken with have suggested keeping the site going but only covering the MLS site. That’s just not in my DNA. Women’s sports need to have their signal boosted far more than the men do. Others have suggested just scaling back to a few days a week. I don’t know how to do that and still cover double game weeks. As it is, there are only a few folks on staff that physically live in town and can cover matches in person.

I still enjoy doing this. I’m willing to pay the costs of the annual registrations, renewals, filings, hosting fees, etc., even though they add up to hundreds of dollars annually. It’s about the attrition of the staff over the years. All of us still here are experiencing some level of burnout, and although I’ve willingly stepped in and filled in for others for various reasons as staffers have cut back on contributions, adding to my own already nonexistent bandwidth, the proverbial wall has been hit. I scaled back my activities this season only because Matt and Don joined us and provided some relief, allowing me to take off most of Orlando City’s road games and for Sean, dealing with his own burnout, to attend Pride home games as a Season Ticket Member rather than work the matches.

There just isn’t any solution here that I’m happy with, so I’m going to take care of my mental health.

My deepest thanks to the staff members who have volunteered to cover the club with me over the years. In addition to myself, there are 94 other people who have either contributed to at least one story, provided photography services, copyedited, served as social media or comments admins, or some combination of those tasks since 2014. That’s a lot of people, and although there are far more who contributed for less than six months than who contributed for at least five of the last 12 years, every single contribution has my deepest appreciation.

Not many people make any money as soccer bloggers, and certainly no one at this site has made anything more than a few bucks’ worth of beer money, and even that hasn’t happened since 2024. So, it is astounding that apart from just a couple of guys who joined prior to the 2026 season (Matt [last name redacted at his request] and Don VanDemark, who are the only reason this post didn’t come 11 months sooner), this current staff has people who have been with The Mane Land for: two years (Andrew DeSalvo), six years (Joshua Taylor), eight years (Dan MacDonald), nine years (Ben Miller), 10 years (Marcus Mitchell), 11 years (David Rohe), and 12 years (Sean Rollins — the 10^th contributor ever to join the staff, just days before we moved to SBNation).

Without the folks above and dozens like them who have come and gone through our virtual office (and who are listed below this post) our local coverage of Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB would never have happened. I could not have done it without them all, especially the last few years.

Screen shot of our original show, UpRoar from 2015.

I offer my sincere thanks to our readers and podcast listeners who have volunteered to do something/anything to help us out. I couldn’t even find the time before the season started to onboard a couple of prospective volunteer editors. This is my failing and no one else’s, and I own it. I’ve known for years that I’ve been overextended. For a while, I was hosting four different podcasts and writing three blogs in addition to working my day job. It was never sustainable, but I always felt like if I could just keep things going a little longer, some new staff members would eventually come along. Fool that I was. I have cut back in other areas but it hasn’t been enough, and some of those other side gigs pay enough that I have to keep them.

It’s a sad time for us, but I am excited that our staff will get a much-deserved break. They have earned it. They’ve been so damn great over the years. And I haven’t always been easy on them…burnout, frustration at not realizing my vision, mounting losses by the club we cover…they add up. I don’t mean to take any of that out on anyone but find myself doing it anyway and usually don’t even realize it until later. Big thanks to all of them for putting up with me.

Quick side story, if you’ll indulge me: I went on a three-day cruise a couple of years ago and I did not buy the internet package, leaving the staff to take care of things during my absence. I came back feeling 10 years younger, clear of mind, and more refreshed than I’ve felt in a long time. That feeling didn’t wear off for a few weeks after the trip. It was a wake-up call telling me how hard I’ve been grinding since I was in my late 40s (I turned 60 in September). My mind needs more quiet. I want to have the time to read books again. I want to go to concerts on Saturday nights sometimes without checking the soccer schedule. Beach weekends. You get the idea…normal people stuff. My daughter, who was not yet a teenager when our blog began, graduates from high school in the spring. I want to be as present as I can for her before she leaves the nest and becomes her own person.

I’m so proud of what our little site has accomplished over the years. We are the longest-running source of daily local coverage covering OCSC and have covered the College Cup, the Copa America, the FIFA Club World Cup, international friendlies, the Florida Cup, U.S. World Cup qualifiers, and more, in addition to covering three local professional teams regularly. We got to cover Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup championship and the Orlando Pride’s 2024 double. It’s been a while, but we’ve even broken some stories about the club from time to time, even though that’s not really our main focus, and do you have any idea how hard it is to beat Paul Tenorio to any story? Didn’t happen often, but the couple of times it did, it felt like winning a trophy. It was a treat to spend a couple years in the pressbox next to him, just absorbing.

Big thanks to my comrades in arms in the Orlando City and Orlando Pride pressbox over the years: Paul Tenorio, Alicia Del Gallo, Jordan Culver, Julia Poe, (former TML contributor) Austin David, Mike Gramajo, and (former TML contributor) Kyle Foley. I know there were many others, but that was the core of press row, and I enjoyed spending time with them all.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank so many of the club’s helpful communications professionals over the years: Lenny Santiago, Jhamie Chin, Rafa Cabrera, Lucas Casas, Jacky Ramos, Jackie Maynard, Hannah Drosdick, Rob Hildreth (my fellow Buckeye!), Omar Gonzalez, Lucas Medeiros, and Harrison Garner. I’m sure I’m forgetting some. That happens over the course of a dozen years.

Perhaps the best part of having run The Mane Land all these years has been meeting so many fantastic people through the years, both in the soccer world and in our readership/podcast audience, and I feel beyond blessed to have shared the last 12 years with you all.

This is especially true of our amazing Founders. Without those who contributed an astonishing amount to our pivot to independence after we got whacked by SBNation, we would have closed up shop three years ago. You guys financed us for a couple of years on that one fundraising drive. I also want to give a shout out to our Buy Me a Coffee membership subscribers and donors. It was a small but mighty group, and every little bit helped us keep the lights on. We can’t thank you enough.

Image of Chris Mueller celebrating on the backdrop from The Sound of Music. — We’ve had some fun over the years and had to do *something* with a great picture of Chris Mueller.

What happens next? Well, we have already established an internal series of potential dates for our final posts. Those dates are dependent upon when Orlando City is eliminated or (far less likely, but we’re here for it) wins the whole damn thing. We will end SkoPurp Soccer in another couple of weeks. We’ll keep The Mane Land PawedCast going slightly past the end of the Lions’ postseason run.

The website itself will be up for at least a year. I want to archive the stories, even if I never look at any of them again, because hey…you never know. Maybe I take a year off, discover I’m feeling great and miss the writing, find a larger group of writers and editors itching to cover the club the way we did in the early days, and pick up where we left off. You never know what the future will bring.

Again: thank you all. We aren’t quite finished yet, but in the interest of transparency, it was important to let you know what’s coming.

Below is a full list of all TML staff members from start to end in the order they joined. They all have my eternal gratitude and all are part of this site’s history.