PawedCast Episode 303: Colorado & Atlanta Rewinds, Transfer Rumors, Pride-Spirit, OCB, Arsenal & Philly Previews, and More

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That’s right! You’re getting the PawedCast a day early this week, folks. Our personal lives are experiencing some of the same fixture congestions as the Lions this July and it made sense to record on Monday night, so rather than hold it, we’re letting it fly a day in advance of its normal slot.

Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB all played consecutively on the same day and all got results. That’s pretty good. For the Lions, Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Atlanta was almost an exact replica of the team’s 1-1 draw Wednesday night at Colorado, only with air that’s easier to breathe. We break down the twin draws and check our score predictions — we did pretty well! The games were so similar that we were unanimous both matches in our Man of the Match picks, and it was the same player both games.

The rumor mill heated up on Monday about the possibility that USMNT forward Nicholas Gioacchini could be an imminent signing for Orlando. He’s young, has potential, and could be exactly what the Lions need to help boost their attack. We discussed that, and the rumblings surrounding Alexandre Pato’s future.

On the Pride side, Seb Hines extended his (interim) team’s unbeaten streak to three matches. It wasn’t all good, as Orlando failed to score a goal yet again, and this time against an extremely weakened Washington Spirit side. However, any point on the road for the Pride is a good point, so we’ll take it.

OCB scored first on Sunday at Chicago (through Jack Lynn, naturally) but Fire II looked likely to run away with the match when it built a 3-1 lead. The Young Lions weren’t going to be the only OSCS side to not get a result, however, and not only came back to tie the match, but then added another goal to win it. It was one of the highlight moments for OCB this season.

This week’s mailbag asked us about the pressbox experience at Exploria Stadium, and boy would it be great if the club actually did cover my beer expenses. Our listeners also wanted to get our thoughts on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Stranger Things because the mailbagbox is a safe space for all topics and not just the beautiful game. 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.

Finally, we talked about the pros and cons of Wednesday’s friendly match against Arsenal, and gave our key match-ups and predictions for Orlando City’s match on Saturday against Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 303 went down:

0:15 – A pair of identical twin 1-1 road draws for the Lions, with very little offense and some exposed weaknesses at the fullback position, plus we are talking Nico Gioacchini!

32:08 – The Pride draw Washington for the second time during this NWSL regular season and OCB shocks Chicago Fire II.

42:40 – Our mailbagbox, what’s good and bad about the Arsenal friendly, and our predictions for a key Eastern Conference battle against the Union.