PawedCast Episode 278: Pato Returns to Orlando City, Orlando Pride Departures, and More

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Orlando City still has yet to replace three key departures in the attack — Daryl Dike, Nani, and Chris Mueller — but the Lions did retain Alexandre Pato. The Duck returns for 2022 and can hopefully stay healthy long enough to display some of his considerable talent as the club vies for a third consecutive playoff appearance. That might not happen without offensive reinforcements and the news has been light on that front. There have been some reports and a feeling that Facundo Torres isn’t far from being announced, but that’s only one corner of the triangle. Orlando has a lot of work to do and now that the preseason is here, the window for integrating new players in time to make a difference once the regular season arrives is closing.

The club also announced its preseason schedule, which is kind of meaningless if no one is allowed to attend, but that’s beside the point. Scrimmages will be held behind closed doors and we’ll just have to take whatever news we can get when it comes to that.

The Orlando Pride have had a very cost-effective week. The Pride saw top draft pick Mia Fishel sign with Tigres in Mexico’s top flight, so that’ll save the team some money on not having to sign the No. 5 overall selection. Also, the Pride sent Taylor Kornieck and the rights to midfielder Emily van Egmond to San Diego for a nice chunk of allocation money. The Pride is flush with funds, and maybe the strategy is to distract the other team with cash while Sydney Leroux and Marta score goals? We’re sure there will be players added to Amanda Cromwell’s roster. Could be any minute.

…any minute now.

…just at any moment in time.

Anyway, while we wait, we had time to answer this week’s questions. This week’s mailbag was curious to know what we were streaming these days, whether Orlando City has time to make some significant signings, whether the current roster is good enough to make the postseason, and more. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 278 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City has its Duck back but so far, not much else on the offensive end.

33:09 – The Pride keep bleeding players and are apparently trying to staunch that bleeding with allocation money.

50:51 – Mailbag time! Is Peacemaker any good? What are we watching now? And when will reinforcements arrive? We opine!