While we all no doubt missed having Orlando City games to watch during Major League Soccer’s sabbatical for the World Cup, its also probably fair to say that Wednesday’s return to action against the San Jose Earthquakes was tinged with a good deal of trepidation. After all, the Lions had been hammered 6-2 on the road by FC Cincinnati in their final match before the layoff, comfortably had the worst defense in the league, had yet to keep a clean sheet, and had given up a whopping 31 of their 44 goals conceded on the road.

It didn’t help matters that San Jose was in the top five of the Supporters’ Shield standings, was the second-best team in the Western Conference (level on points for first but edged out on goal differential), and had scored 33 goals in 15 games while giving up just 15. It’s true that the Quakes weren’t in great form before the break, winning just one of their last five, but there was still plenty of reasons to worry that Orlando would pick up where it had left off in Ohio back on May 23.

Instead, the Lions not only hammered San Jose 4-0, but arguably should have beaten the Earthquakes by an even more lopsided scoreline. The team played a fluid, position-less brand of soccer that gave the home team absolute fits, and kept a first league clean sheet of the year to boot. It was an extremely unexpected, but exceedingly welcome, performance.

The big question now, is whether it can be replicated.

Well, maybe not directly replicated, as 4-0 wins tend to be relatively uncommon occurrences for even the very best of teams. Rather, can the things that made Orlando successful on Wednesday be built upon and repeated, or was the team’s performance a flash in the pan that we shouldn’t expect to see again?

First, let’s talk about the performance itself.

The highlight was how the team looked going forward. Every player on the field not named Maxime Crepeau, Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, or David Brekalo was constantly drifting anywhere and everywhere in the attacking half, taking up unexpected positions and rarely remaining in the position designated for them by the formation. Ivan Angulo functioned as a no.10 despite nominally playing right midfield, Justin Ellis and Antoine Griezmann could be found anywhere from the opposition’s 18-yard box to the midfield line or deeper, and the same could be said for Braian Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta. San Jose found the positional interchanging extremely difficult to deal with, especially during the first half hour of the game, but did settle in a little better after halftime.

Speaking of Ellis and Griezmann, they were terrors for their entire time on the pitch. As previously mentioned, both of them were dropping deep to receive the ball, exchanged quick passes with their teammates, and then turned to bomb forward themselves or play balls through or over the defense. That quick passing and clever movement was a theme for OCSC as a whole, but the two forwards were the best examples of it with Angulo coming a close third.

The speed of play for Orlando meant that the team had a lot of joy in transition moments, and the Lions constantly seemed to be springing players behind the defense, or running at San Jose’s defense with men in support. Only some poor execution when it came to passing and finishing in the final third prevented the good guys from putting even more goals on the board.

When it came to keeping the ball out of their own net, the Lions did several things very well. For one thing, the defense seemed to be more organized than we’ve seen it this year, aside perhaps from the U.S. Open Cup win against Atlanta. Orlando caught San Jose offside seven times on Wednesday, and on several occasions it was more down to the defense stepping together as a unit and staying in a disciplined line than it was on the Earthquakes being lazy or mistiming their runs.

When San Jose did carve out good chances, Crepeau was a towering presence in between the posts for the Lions. His seven saves will take the headlines, but there were also several instances where he was quick and smart in coming off his line to beat a San Jose runner to a ball and prevent a 1-v-1 situation. He also made several of his best saves on shots that were ultimately ruled out for offside or he almost certainly would have cracked double digits. It was a pre-eminent performance, and he looked to be brimming with confidence after a good showing for Canada at the World Cup.

Now to be objective, OCSC had some things working in its favor. San Jose was without Niko Tsarikis, who has two goals and four assists in 11 games (then again, the Lions were without Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic, and Daryl Dike), and the Earthquakes’ finishing was…not great. Two particular instances stood out: Beau Leroux missing wide left in the 38th minute when he was unmarked at the top of the six-yard box, and Jack Skahan touching a ball toward on onrushing Crepeau in the 57th minute rather than passing to a wide-open Ousseni Bouda for a tap-in. There were also several times when a ‘Quakes player just missed getting on the end of a ball in a dangerous area, or when bad giveaways in dangerous areas by the Lions went unpunished.

San Jose also made some unforced errors of its own, like the turnover that led to Griezmann’s goal. Then there was the set piece marking, which was atrocious. Brekalo and Ojeda were both completely unmarked for their goals, and it was shockingly bad defending for a team that hadn’t given up any set piece goals going into Wednesday’s game.

Now, what exactly should we make of all this?

Well, when it comes to what Orlando did, there’s an argument to be made that the team’s offensive performance from open play can be replicated. The team has had plenty of time to work on this position-less style of play on the training ground and was still having lots of joy with its quick passing and fluid movement even after San Jose had time to make halftime adjustments. The defense mostly held up well and stayed organized against one of the league’s more potent attacks, and when the Earthquakes did create chances, Crepeau kept up the form he showed in his last four games for Canada.

Orlando could also have benefitted from Tiago and Tyrese Spicer finishing clear-cut chances they were given by Ellis, Atuesta, and Griezmann. Martin Ojeda’s return and the addition of Dike can help chances turn into goals.

On the flip side, this is the first time anyone’s seen the Lions try to play this way, so its always going to be tougher to stop something you haven’t been able to train for. The element of surprise isn’t something that should be discounted when it comes to Wednesday. Other teams may make Orlando pay for some of the shaky moments that it had at the back, and not every team is going to make three big errors that the Lions can take advantage of.

For me, the answer lies somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum. I do not expect the Lions to look like 2008-2009 Barcelona every week, but I also don’t think its fair to say that Orlando simply benefitted from favorable circumstances and bounces. It’s perhaps best to say that OCSC did things that can be replicated, but there’s no guarantee those things will be replicated. The movement, passing, decision-making, defensive organization, and goalkeeping are things that can build a good foundation for success if Orlando can repeat them, and those are the things I’d focus on more than the number of goals or the clean sheet.

At the end of the day, we’re working on a small sample size and shouldn’t get carried away by one game, regardless of how fun it was. Wednesday’s performance wasn’t necessarily an illusion or the truth of what this team is. Rather, it was a glimpse of what this team has an opportunity to be. There’s work to be done and areas that can be improved on, but the Lions showed enough in San Jose for us to have hope for a season that’s looked hopeless more often than not. Vamos Orlando.

I’ve been told that it’s not healthy to hold in negative emotions. Doing so leads to resentment, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. As such, I’m going to take this opportunity to let out some frustrations I currently have about the soccer I care about in my life. Perhaps you share some of these frustrations? I’m hoping that doing so will allow me to let go of the negative and move into a healthier head space. Here we go.

The World Cup

I have mostly enjoyed this World Cup. There have been amazing matches and interesting stories. However, there are some things that have frustrated me. The whole Folarin Balogun red card situation was a debacle from the start. The card shouldn’t have been given and FIFA should have corrected it within 24 hours if it was going to do so. One ridiculously corrupt person shouldn’t have called another ridiculously corrupt person in an effort to make it “better,” because it ended up having the opposite effect.

The USMNT had all the good vibes. The team was playing free-flowing, beautiful football. The rest of the world didn’t have the animosity toward our team or our fans as much as in the past. That all changed after FIFA’s decision. I want to be clear that all of this was decided well above Balogun, the other players, the coaches, and even U.S. Soccer. Despite that, the people harmed were the players and the coaches. I believe it galvanized a Belgium squad that wasn’t playing as well before the controversy. I’m not saying the U.S. would have won the match, but the vibes were off and it showed in the way the team played.

The other thing that is bothering me is the disparity of decisions resulting in potentially game-changing penalties and disciplinary decisions between smaller countries and traditional powerhouse nations so far this World Cup. By disparity I mean 9-0 in favor of the traditional powerhouses. A disproportionate number have been in matches featuring Argentina, but I’m sure everything is on the up and up. After all, we’re talking about FIFA, right? I need to go get my tinfoil hat.

The Orlando Pride

We’re less than two years removed from the Orlando Pride winning the double in 2024. There are plenty of players from that squad still on the team, yet you would be hard pressed to think it’s the same team. To be fair, there are a lot of factors as to why, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Kylie Nadaner is rightly taking time to give birth to future Orlando City player Nolan. We also saw the departures of Haley Carter from management and Emily Sams from the back line. Rafaelle has mostly been an excellent player at center back, but the team didn’t go get someone to play with her. I still believe Hailie Mace was brought in to be a center back despite not really being a center back. The club dropped the ball in not getting an actual center back after Sams left and Nadaner went on maternity leave.

Jacquie Ovalle was brought in to complete an attack that would have included Barbra Banda and Marta. Thanks to injuries, we have yet to see that trio together. The Pride don’t have a viable backup striker, and Banda will soon be gone for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Not adding an additional striker was another personnel failure for the club.

So many of the players who played above their heads in 2024 have regressed since. Julie Doyle and Summer Yates have all but disappeared. Angelina hasn’t looked like her best self, and the same can be said about many others. The Pride lead the league with 14 free agents, meaning there is an opportunity for a rebuild. I don’t like that it comes so soon after winning everything, but here we are.

I mentioned above about Carter leaving. The club did have one notable acquisition in bringing on Caitlin Carducci as her successor. I’m hopeful that the Pride can turn things around, though I think it will mean a lot of turnover in the roster. The issue is what happens while we’re waiting on Carducci to implement her vision. This team is barely hanging onto a playoff spot, and I don’t have a lot of confidence the Pride can grind out enough results to get over the line.

I know that was a lot of negativity, but I feel better after writing it all down. I remain a dedicated supporter of both the Pride and the USMNT. If you’re wondering why I didn’t include my frustrations about Orlando City, it’s because I’m waiting to see what Martin Perelman can do after what is effectively a preseason, thanks to the World Cup break and the arrival of Antione Griezmann. If things don’t get better I’ll revisit that in the future.

Thank you for going along on my mental health journey. Hopefully, you found some peace as well. Vamos Orlando!

When it comes to soccer jerseys, I can perhaps be unfairly critical. I like what I like, and in a time when new jerseys cost at least $100 if not closer to $150, I have to be seriously impressed by something in order to shell out that much money. While I’ve liked most of the jerseys that Orlando City and the Orlando Pride have put out over the years, I’ve never liked one enough to spend my own money to buy one, although I did receive a Heart and Sol jersey as a birthday present several years ago. The one exception has been the Sea Cow prematch top that the club put out in 2023, which I bought instantly and would have happily forked over one of my kidneys to acquire (as any sane person would).

I might very well be adding a new jersey to the closet soon though, because the Orlando Pride absolutely knocked it out of the park with the Unity Kit that they released on Thursday. I’m now going to shut up for a second and let you feast your eyes on this beauty.

That is just fantastic, and let’s talk about why. First of all, the base color is light purple, and while that isn’t traditionally in the Pride’s color palette as they favor a more royal purple shared by Orlando City, it is still purple. It’s also a light enough base color for the team to be able to use it as an away jersey without simply making the background color white. While I wouldn’t necessarily have an issue with a white base, that’s pretty common with away jerseys and the light purple is a good way to do something different while still providing a good contrast between it and an opponent’s dark home jersey.

If you were missing the Pride’s more traditional color of purple, fear not! The decision to use it on the collar and sleeves is a great one, as it gives the jersey a really nice splash of contrast in a shirt that could otherwise risk being washed out by all of the pastel tones that are present. The same color is also present in the badge, name, numbers, sponsors, and jock tag, and pops very well because its used so sparingly.

When viewed from a distance, the collars and sleeves provide a good outline for the kit, while the eye gets a general sense of intermingled pastel tones as the ribbons blend into each other well, and while no one color is definable, it isn’t an assault on the eyes either.

Closer up though, the ribbons are far more vibrant and detailed, and you notice that rather than simply being uniform colors for each one, they’re actually made up of several different colors that blend together and intertwine, and the effect is pulled off really well. For me, its a shirt that be appreciated both further away, and right in front of your face, and that isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

Suffice it to say, I’m a huge fan of how this thing looks. A lot of thought was clearly put into the design, and it was executed well. I want to talk about more than just the way it looks though.

We’re 10 years on from the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub that took the lives of 49 people, and the Pride and overarching ownership have a new way of honoring the victims and remembering a period of time that was so difficult for the city. The rainbow seats at Inter&Co Stadium have served the same purpose since the ground was opened back in 2017, but the Pride will be using the new jersey to honor both the victims and the way in which the city came together after the tragedy, while also putting their money where their mouth is.

The team’s decision to donate $20,000 from sales of the jersey to The Center Orlando and its Orlando United Resiliency Services (OURS) program is a very good touch on what was already a well-thought out kit. The program’s purpose is to provide advocacy, education, and support for the Orlando area’s LGBTQ+ community, and as someone who believes sports teams should be active and positive pillars in the community where they play, I couldn’t be happier to see this. It’s a decision that the team was under no obligation to make, but in choosing to go the extra mile, it proved that the club is more than just empty words and gestures when it comes to issues that hit close to home.

In short, the Unity Kit checks all the boxes for me, including ones I didn’t even know I had. It looks great from a distance, has thoughtful and well-executed details when seen up close, and represents something important while also actively honoring and helping to provide resources for a marginalized community. To everyone who was involved with the concept and execution of this jersey, I salute you. Consider it a job very well done.