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PawedCast Episode 284: Montreal Rewind, Orlando Pride, Fire Preview, and More

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Orlando City liked its 2-0 win over CF Montreal on Decision Day 2021 so much that the Lions duplicated it to start the 2022 season. Montreal came to town and had a frustrating day, while Alexandre Pato ended some of his frustrations and the Lions remained unbeaten on opening day while winning for just the second time in eight tries in the opener.

We break down Sunday’s match and select our Man of the Match. We also discuss the relief of seeing Pato score. Plus, the captainship of Mauricio Pereyra, the Lions’ broadcast crew is back, and an update on the Gaston Gonzalez transfer front.

The Orlando Pride picked up their first preseason win at the hands of the University of South Florida. Newcomer Darian Jenkins scored twice and that’s a good thing. Plus, the Pride’s Challenge Cup broadcast schedule is out.

Speaking of schedules, OCB got its first MLS NEXT Pro schedule for the upcoming season. The Lions will be playing 12 home and 12 road games this year and hopefully some postseason matches as well, if all goes to plan.

This week’s mailbag is interested in the starting XI and which Lion will see the most yellow cards this year. 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.

And we closed the show by giving our key match-ups and score predictions for Saturday’s road match at Chicago.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!


Here’s how No. 284 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City took all three points in the season opener for just the second time in MLS and is now 2-0-6 in season-opening matches. The Lions will be without Robin Jansson next week because not all of the things can go right.

32:37 – The Pride blanked USF on the road in a preseason scrimmage and it was a big day for Jenkins. Plus, where to catch the Pride during the Challenge Cup and the upcoming OCB season.

41:52 – It’s mailbagbox time and Dave once again steals Michael’s score prediction during our key match-ups and predictions segment.

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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