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PawedCast Episode 392: Orlando City’s Roster, Signings and Departures, Oscar Pareja’s New Deal, MLS SuperDraft, 2024 Schedule, and More

It’s been a busy first few weeks of the off-season.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Our best-laid plans to go monthly in the off-season didn’t last very long. We’re back after only 16 days with a brand new show and it’s a big one. The club has been extremely busy since we released episode 391 and we just had to talk about all of the goings on we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks.

Our show starts with our discussion of Orlando City’s roster decisions after the 2023 season and a look back at what we got right and wrong in our predictions from our last show. Mostly we were right, but that’s not too difficult when you know the contract situations. Still, there were some mild surprises. We discussed those and how the departures of captain Mauricio Pereyra and center back Antonio Carlos could affect the Lions heading into 2024. In more positive news, we’re ecstatic the club brought back Wilder Cartagena on a new two-year contract. His partnership with Cesar Araujo has been great for the club and the results on the field.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about Orlando City’s 2024 MLS SuperDraft picks and their roles, Florida’s state parks, cruises and all-inclusive resorts, 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.

After tackling our listeners’ questions, we dove into more recent news. We talked about Oscar Pareja’s new contract to stay on for the next two years, the loss of assistant coach Josema Bazan, the Lions’ draft picks, the club’s first friendly of 2024, Orlando City’s Concacaf Champions Cup draw, the upcoming MLS schedule, and the league’s attempts to pull a fast one on the U.S. Open Cup. Man, what a full show!


Here’s how No. 392 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City’s post-2023 roster decisions, how well/poorly we predicted them, the departures of the captain and Antonio Carlos, and Wilder Cartagena is staying.

18:17 – The mailbagbox has questions about a variety of topics.

42:33 — Oscar Pareja is staying, Josema Bazan is not, Orlando’s draft picks, a preseason friendly announced, the 2024 schedule, and more!

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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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 72: Pride News and Roster Projections

Carrie Lawrence calls it a career and our annual postseason walk through the Orlando Pride’s roster.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Still basking in the glow of an NWSL Championship, we reconvene this week without a match to recap and little news to share. However, there was one development over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as defender Carrie Lawrence announced her retirement from the game on Black Friday. We discuss what Carrie’s retirement means for the Pride.

After the brief Pride news portion of the show, we dive straight into our mailbagbox, which is much shorter this week. During this poetic edition of the mailbagbox, we answer questions about whether we can imagine sitting next to one of our regular listeners at an NWSL Championship and if Marta could have an opportunity to right a wrong. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. 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.

After the mailbagbox, it’s our annual “Stays/Goes” segment, in which we go through the entire Orlando Pride roster, looking at each player’s contract situation and trying to determine which players we expect to be in purple again next season (and which ones will move on). Haley Carter and company will want to build on the best season in league history, so there are bound to be a few more departures if the club can lure even more talent to Central Florida.


Here’s how Episode 72 went down:

0:15 – Carrie Lawrence calls it a career and our mailbagbox is much more manageable this week.

20:11 – Our annual Orlando Pride roster review and projections for 2025.

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 458: New York Red Bulls Rewind and Listener Mail

The Lions are out of the playoffs one game shy of the promised land.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City’s 2024 season is over. It was a weird one, with the Lions underachieving until July before becoming one of the league’s best teams. The dominos seemed to fall into place for a run to MLS Cup, with the top three seeds being eliminated and a defense that allowed almost nothing the last few games, but the only shot on target across two matches ultimately was one too many. It was a great defensive postseason for the Lions, although the team still has to learn to score goals when the games matter most.

We looked back at the match, checked in on our score predictions, and made our selections for Man of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about New York’s tactics, and it also had a whole lot of trivia questions for us. We did pretty well overall, I think, but trivia isn’t out forte. Still, it was a lot of fun to try to figure things out with logic, sometimes successfully and often less so. 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.

That is a wrap on the “normal” season schedule for the PawedCast, but we’ll be back next week to weigh in on any OCSC news and take our annual stays/goes walk through the roster. After next week, we’ll be playing it by ear, but you’ll get at least one show a month in the off-season (Who are we kidding? It’ll probably be more than that.) Keep sending us your questions and we look forward to maybe getting a little more rest for the next few weeks.

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. 458 went down:

0:15 – We hates John Tolkin forever! Also, hey…cover the back post, you guys.

18:54 – Our mailbagbox asks us about kicking the ball out of play and tests our knowledge of the 2024 Lions and MLS as a whole. Spoiler: We knew more about the Lions.

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