A week ago, we got to talk about how the Orlando Pride bounced back from their worst performance in a long time in their 2-0 road loss at Angel City to beat the Kansas City Current 3-0 in one of their best games of the year. The worm turns quickly, as the Pride followed up an impressive win with two listless performances just a few days apart, losing both by 1-0 final scores. Getting swept by expansion Boston was particularly galling, but the loss away to the Utah Royals over the weekend was nearly as maddening.

We treated them as one long, bad performance, discussing the games, looking back at our stupidly optimistic score predictions, and somehow coming up with selections for Player of the Match in a pair of outings that hardly seemed worthy of picking one.

We also discussed Barbra Banda’s selection to the Zambian Women’s National Team ahead of their run in this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, as well as Giles Barnes’ departure from his assistant coaching position with Orlando to take over at Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia.

This week’s mailbagbox asked whether the Pride will have more games played without Banda while she’s away at WAFCON than team goals scored in that time, whether we can generate any mojo for the club to acquire Emma Sears, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we looked ahead to Friday’s matchup with the Chicago Stars. The Pride will be at home, but over the years, being at home against Chicago has not been a recipe for success. We look back at the series history, give our unanimous key matchup to the game, and try to predict the final score. We are not as optimistic as last week. Do with that information what you will.

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Here’s how Episode 130 went down:

0:15 – The Pride played in two matches and that’s about all that can be said in a positive (or even neutral) light about them.

27:06 – The mailbagbox asks us an easy question and also wants us to get metaphysical.

35:36 – A look ahead to the Chicago Stars, a team seemingly there to be beaten, but then again, can the Pride even score?

Orlando City is set to resume its 2026 MLS season with a pair of games this week and they are both doozies, as the Lions will travel to California to face Western Conference co-leaders and Supporters’ Shield-contending San Jose, before returning to face Supporters’ Shield and Eastern Conference leader Nashville SC. It’s not going to be a cakewalk, folks, but it will tell us quickly if any progress has been made by Martin Perelman in fixing his defense, especially away from home.

In the meantime, Orlando finished its “second preseason” by beating FC Dallas away on Wednesday in a friendly. Antoine Griezmann and Martin Ojeda scored the goals for the Lions, and it was nice to get some news out of a friendly for a change.

After discussing the friendly, we chat about Daryl Dike’s return to Orlando. The big striker is coming home in the prime of his career, looking to stay healthy and re-establish himself. If Dike can regain his old form and stay on the pitch, he’ll be an outstanding midseason signing.

We also discussed Orlando City’s newest Homegrown Player signings — goalkeeper Tristan Himes and defender Clovis Archange. It’s always nice to have players coming up through the pipeline to follow as they try to make their way to the first team.

Our mailbagbox asked us another (multi-part) question about Thomas the Train, when Marco Pasalic might play his last game for Orlando City this season, 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.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 1-1 draw at Chattanooga FC and the ensuing shootout win as the Young Lions bring back two out of three points from Tennessee. Up next for OCB is a match against Huntsville City at home on Sunday. We briefly discussed the Chattanooga game and previewed the Huntsville match.

Finally, Orlando City has two huge games against teams at the top of the league just a few days apart. The trip to San Jose on Wednesday could be ugly if the Lions haven’t fixed their defensive issues, as the Earthquakes are just as capable of burying Orlando with five or six goals as some of the previous teams that have done so this season. Additionally, the second game may be even tougher, as it will be against a team that destroyed the Lions 5-0 earlier this season. Nashville SC has the starpower, the firepower, and the league’s stingiest defense. Getting any points from this pair of games will be difficult. We present our key matchups and score predictions for both matches, and we’re not feeling super confident until we see what the team can do after several weeks working toward Martin Perelman’s vision.

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.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 543 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City beat Dallas in a road friendly, Daryl Dike is back, and we’ve got some new Homegrown Players.

13:20 – The mailbagbox is a little train-centric these days.

24:45 – The Young Lions didn’t play their best but they battled for two points on the road against a good team. The senior Lions will play two of the three best teams in MLS this week, but the additions of Griezmann and Dike should help.

The Orlando Pride bounced back from their worst performance in some time away at Angel City in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Kansas City Current. Given the relative forms the two teams were in when they entered the match, it was a shock result. The Pride were without Rafaelle but the pairing of Zara Chavoshi and Hannah Anderson — flanked by Kerry Abello and Cori Dyke — did well in helping Anna Moorhouse keep a clean sheet. Meanwhile, Marta scored a worldie, Anderson finished a great corner cross from Ally Lemos, and Barbra Banda returned from injury to score off the bench. It was a complete victory and could not have been more needed.

We looked back at the matchup, reviewed our completely erroneous score predictions, and made our selections for Player of the Match. After a game in which we didn’t like any of the Pride’s performances, we struggled to find one that wasn’t above average in this most recent game.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about Hailie Mace’s role, how much longer Marta will run things in Orlando, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we looked ahead to a pair of matches coming up this week. First up is Boston Legacy tonight at Inter&Co Stadium, followed by the Pride traveling to Utah to square off against the Royals. It’s anyone’s guess which Orlando team will show up in either match, but it would be a good time for the Pride to find some consistency. We looked at both opponents and the series histories, provided our key matchups, and made our score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 129 went down:

0:15 – The Pride and Current battled throughout, but it was Orlando that finished its chances.

17:38 – The mailbagbox wanted us to weigh in on Julie Doyle’s hustle and the three best Pride players on Friday aside from the Player of the Match.

35:50 – A look ahead to games against the Legacy and the Royals.