For the first time in Orlando City’s history as a Major League Soccer club, Robin Jansson will not be on the field for the Lions in the postseason. The defender’s retirement announcement means that his time with the club is limited to however long the team can stay alive in the playoffs, and given how the defense has looked this year, it’s not unreasonable to expect that time to be shorter rather than longer. That makes this respite before the start of the big dance a fitting time to reflect on his time as a Lion.

The raw numbers are as good a place to start as any. Jansson retires as the longest-tenured Lion with eight seasons under his belt, and he holds club records in minutes (23,050), games played (263), and games started (256). His six goals and seven assists in league play are perfectly respectable for a center back, especially one whose listed playing height of 6-foot-2 is perhaps a touch on the generous side. The Swede spent three years as the club’s captain and ably carried on the examples that were set by Mauricio Pereyra, Nani, and Kaka.

In terms of the things that don’t show up in the numbers, man, where do you even start? For one, he provided a through link from some of the club’s most trying times all the way up until, and through, its brightest. In his debut 2019 season OCSC was coming off a 2018 campaign that saw it collect just 28 points and score 43 goals while giving up 74.

Jansson’s first season saw a marginal improvement as the team took 37 points and was spared the indignity of the Eastern Conference basement by a woeful FC Cincinnati side, but things still weren’t great. The arrival of Oscar Pareja in 2020 coincided with a first final appearance as an MLS entity (in the MLS is Back Tournament), and a first playoff appearance, all while the standards and expectations continued to be raised. Plenty of good players from that period of time moved on sooner or later, but Jansson remained and provided stability and leadership. It’s telling that when Pereyra left after the 2023 season there was little doubt or debate about who the team’s next captain would be. Pedro Gallese had a good case, but it was only ever going to be the Beefy Swede.

Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In his earlier seasons with the team he had a penchant for picking up bookings due to dissent, and he had more than one avoidable suspension due to yellow card accumulation that drove a lot of us here at The Mane Land crazy, myself included. That said, whether you looked at his outbursts at referees or his effort on the field, it was undeniable that Jansson cared, and cared deeply. A more forgiving way of viewing of his run-ins with officials would be to say that he cared so much that sometimes he simply wasn’t able to stop himself from passionately voicing his feelings about a call he didn’t approve of; although it has to be noted that age and experience saw him largely eliminate those bookings for dissent in recent seasons.

Then there was what he did on the field. I and many others will die on the hill that Jansson is perhaps the best passing center back the league has ever seen. While he didn’t exhibit that ability as much in recent seasons, it was a common sight for years to see him pick his head up and spray a diagonal ball 60 yards directly onto a winger’s foot, or split a team’s lines with one pass from the back up to a forward player. In earlier seasons, he was no stranger to a mazy run from the back either, and while that’s another aspect that faded from his game more recently, he had more than his fair share of slaloming runs up the field as a center back. He took a mean penalty kick too, and was no stranger to being in shootout lineups for a club that had an undefeated record in them until very recently.

We have to talk about the recovery runs. Oh, those damn recovery runs. I could wax lyrical about those by themselves for close to an hour. I lost track a long time ago of the number of times I stood perched in The Wall with my heart in my mouth, certain that Gallese, or Brian Rowe, or Mason Stajduhar were about to be completely exposed in a 1-v-1 situation, only for Jansson — peroxide-tinted hair and all — to come flying across the field and put in a slide tackle that was simultaneously precise and crunching to win the ball and completely neutralize the danger. He seemed capable of covering every blade of grass no matter where the problem was on the field, and it seems unthinkable that he won’t be putting out fires at the back next season and beyond.

Orlando City has had some truly great players in its MLS history, there’s no doubt. Kaká was there when it all began, Nani helped make the club into a playoff contender, Gallese became synonymous with the goalkeeper position, Facundo Torres held the scoring record until Martin Ojeda broke it this season, and guys like Kyle Smith, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Ivan Angulo are notable for being fan favorites, spending extended periods with the club, and having memorable moments during some of the team’s best years. If Antoine Griezmann keeps up his current pace, he’ll be mentioned alongside the likes of Kaká, Nani, and Gallese sooner rather than later.

There’s no one quite like Jansson though. He arrived from Sweden as a relatively unheralded 27-year-old defender, tasked with turning around what was then a historically bad defense into something that even remotely resembled an MLS-level back line. Center back partners, goalkeepers, midfielders, and attackers — all of them came and went and Jansson remained, taking on an ever-increasing role at a club that repeatedly made the postseason and had several deep runs in knockout competitions to go along with a 2022 U.S. Open Cup triumph. He’ll go down as one of Orlando City’s greatest players, if not the greatest ever, and it’ll take something and someone truly special to take that mantle away from him. It’s been a privilege to watch and cheer for him for the last eight seasons, and things simply won’t feel the same without him. Thank you for everything, Captain.

Happy Friday the 13th, Mane Landers! I wish you all the best of luck at avoiding the worst of luck today as we get ready for what should be a nice weekend of soccer. Apart from working, I plan on spending the next few days knocking out some holiday shopping so that I’m not scrambling in a few weeks. But enough about the vise of anxiety that is holiday planning, let’s get to the links!

Yolanda Thomas Named Orlando Pride Head Coach

The Orlando Pride officially named Yolanda Thomas as their next head coach on Thursday, removing the interim tag she had following Seb Hines’ departure on Aug. 31. Thomas has been with the Pride since joining as an assistant coach in 2023 and helped the Pride win both the NWSL Championship and NWSL Shield in 2024. She is now the first Black female head coach in NWSL history, which is awesome to see. Hopefully the Pride can bring in the right players for Thomas to make the most of this opportunity and lead the team back to the playoffs after missing out this season.

Antoine Griezmann a Finalist for MLS Newcomer of the Year

Orlando City star Antoine Griezmann was announced as a finalist for MLS Newcomer of the Year when MLS announced its year-end award finalists on Thursday. The 35-year-old joined Orlando this summer and breathed life into the club, contributing 14 goals and eight assists to help the team qualify for the playoffs. It’s no question that he’s one of the most influential players in the MLS postseason this year and key to Orlando’s chances at a deep run. He faces stiff competition for the MLS Newcomer of the Year award from Houston Dynamo midfielder Guilherme and Sporting Kansas City forward Andre Luiz. While fans don’t have a say in this award, don’t forget to vote for Maxime Crepeau and Martin Ojeda for Save of the Year and Goal of the Year, respectively.

Analyzing Haiti Ahead of USMNT Match

The United States Men’s National Team will take on Haiti on Saturday in the first of two matches in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. David Badia took over as Haiti’s head coach after the World Cup and Haiti won three of its four games in the Nations League group stage to reach the knockout round. Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor has three goals so far this tournament and can do damage as a versatile attacker who can make use of the service and space provided by teammates like Ruben Providence and Louicius Deedson. It should be a good matchup, although the USMNT will certainly be the favorite to advance. Following Saturday’s match in Miami, the two teams will square off again on Tuesday in Cincinnati.

National Soccer Hall of Fame 2027 Class Announced

The 2027 class for the National Soccer Hall of Fame was revealed and it features some of the top players in U.S. soccer history. Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz, and Jozy Altidore were all elected, with David Beckham and indoor soccer legend Tatu also set to be inducted on April 16. Lothar Osiander, who coached the USMNT and led the LA Galaxy to the inaugural MLS Cup final in 1996, was elected from the builder category as well. Former Orlando Pride player Ali Krieger wasn’t too far off from making it according to the voting, so hopefully she gets elected next year.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City Academy defender Zorion Civil was called up for the U.S. U-16 National Team’s training camp in Spain this month.
• Despite the World Cup taking place in the U.S. this summer, there wasn’t much of an increase in overall attendance for MLS clubs this year. Orlando City had a slight decrease in attendance this year compared to 2025, which may not be too surprising considering the club’s struggles this year.
• The USMNT will be without Sergino Dest for its quarterfinal matches against Haiti due to injury.
• New York City FC announced its end-of-season roster update and both Thiago Martins and Keaton Parks are out of contract and won’t be returning to the club next season.
• Manchester United officially sacked Michael Carrick after a rough start to the season that included just one win in 10 games. The club is reportedly close to bringing in USMNT Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino to replace Carrick, so we’ll see how the dominoes end up falling from here.
• Crystal Palace is also making a coaching change, firing Pierre Sage after just five months. Sage was brought in to replace Oliver Glasner, who left for Nottingham Forest, but the club is currently last in the English Premier League standings.
• In the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Barcelona and Arsenal battled to a 1-1 draw, OL Lyonnes crushed Juventus 6-0, and Bayern Munich edged past Paris Saint-Germain in a 2-1 win.
• After leading Argentina to the past two World Cup finals, Lionel Scaloni has renewed his contract as the team’s manager.

That’s all I have for you this time around. Make sure you avoid broken mirrors and black cats today if possible. Have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

Orlando City celebrated Robin Jansson on Saturday evening, giving the club’s longest-serving captain and player a well-deserved guard of honor on the field after the Lions took care of New England 1-0. After eight seasons with the club, Jansson is retiring, and it is already strange to think that the Orlando City back line will never again feature the Beefy Swede.

Jansson ran Orlando’s defense with authority, and, as we often joked during the past few years, Orlando’s offense ran on Duncan (McGuire). With both players now gone, the Lions have some big running shoes to fill, and the question now is: Who will set the pace?

That was a slow and circuitous route to get to Iván Angulo, which is ironic considering he is by far the fastest player on the team. The Colombian winger/wingback/defender may even be the fastest player in club history, but alas there are no publicly available stats to compare the pace of MLS players past and present. Sofascore has some tracking for 2026, but its top speed measure is dubious, considering that it does not have Angulo as the fastest Lion. I have more confidence in its tracking of total distance covered per 90 minutes and number of sprints made per 90 minutes, and in that second metric Angulo ranks third in the league with an astounding 23.5 sprints per 90 minutes.

Only 31 players in the league average as many as 20 sprints per 90 minutes, and that is in a league with 554 field players who played at least 500 minutes this season, so Angulo is in the top 1% of players in frequently revving up his engines. The crazy part about that statement, however, is that Angulo’s engine is always running. The Colombian led Orlando City in minutes in MLS games this season, playing almost 700 more minutes than David Brekalo, the field player who played the second-most minutes during league play. Overall, he ranked sixth in MLS among field players, and four of the players ahead of him were defenders.

The 2026 season was on brand for Angulo, as he is far and away the leader in minutes played for the Lions since he joined the team in the summer of 2022. He ranks ninth among all MLS field players in that time and is one of only 10 field players who have played more than 11,000 MLS minutes since his first appearance in purple.

Upon his acquisition, then-general manager Luis Muzzi said, “We believe his ability to take players one-on-one and the danger he creates down the flanks are going to be great assets for us.” While Angulo never turned into a major goal contributor, he has contributed a symmetrical 17 goals, 23 primary assists, and 17 secondary assists during MLS play. This is good for a rate of 0.47 goal contributions per 90 minutes, or almost one every other appearance since Angulo nearly always plays the full game when he is in the lineup.

The speedy winger has only played fewer than 20 minutes once in his career, and that was last season in the 5-0 U.S. Open Cup win against Tampa Bay when he made a late cameo appearance. He has only been an unused substitute five times for the Lions — three times in MLS and two times in other competitions. When it comes to being on the field, the man they call Ivancho is the head honcho and has been since day one.

I looked back at every player grade handed out at The Mane Land since Angulo’s arrival, 155 sets in all, every one written in delightful purple pen — at least in my mind. Every time Angulo appeared in an MLS game, he played enough minutes to be graded, a feat only accomplished by 13 players during his tenure with most of them being players who left the club shortly after Angulo arrived (Benji Michel, João Moutinho, Alexandre Pato, and Ruan), goalkeepers (Pedro Gallese, Javier Otero, and Mason Stajduhar), or new players in 2026 that have not played many matches (Nolan Miller and Vinícius Nogueira).

The only truly comparable players to Angulo during his four years are Facundo Torres (80/80), Mauricio Pereyra (44/44), and Antoine Griezmann (18/18), and those three players combine for 142 grades, which is 10 fewer than Angulo, who is at 152/152 and counting. Angulo has also picked up our prestigious Man of the Match award 15 times, fourth most since he joined the club. Here are the most frequent winners of Man of the Match since Angulo joined, and their corresponding average grades from our staff:

An important reminder from this table is that it is always good to get yourself a Griezmann, and it also shows that while Angulo is a constant presence during MLS play and a solid performer, he has struggled at times. An average grade of 6.11 ranks 17^th among the 38 Lions that were graded at least as many times as Griezmann.

At the same time, the Colombian is often asked to do more than all of his teammates, as he is a true two-way player and never gets to rest. The heatmaps below are from the five players that most often played at winger this season, and Angulo’s shows how he is involved in far more plays from endline to endline than those who also play on the wing. In fairness to the other wingers, Angulo also played multiple games on the back line, but he also played multiple games on the back line, something that none of the other midfielders were capable of doing.

*All heatmaps show Orlando City attacking from left to right

Jansson’s departure at the end of this season will leave Angulo and Wilder Cartagena as the longest tenured Lions, and as Angulo is only 27 years old and clearly in the kind of physical shape that most of us can only dream about, he may have a chance to surpass some of Jansson’s career marks for appearances and minutes played.

Time will tell whether Angulo’s legs can continue to handle the workload that Orlando City has asked of him since he arrived in the City Beautiful in 2022. Judging by this season’s performance, he is still running a good race, however, as he ranks as the third leading goal scorer, leads the team in assists, and ranks near the top in several defensive categories.

Let’s hope he has only reached an early checkpoint in his Orlando City run, with many miles still ahead before the purple finish line.

Vamos Orlando!