Connect with us

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 417: Orlando City’s Fullback Situation, Philadelphia Preview, OCB-NYRB II, and More

City’s fullback depth will be tested by a good Union side, and the Young Lions got their first home win of the year.

Published

on

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City had a tough enough task waiting on Saturday with a trip to Philadephia to face the Union. That job got even more difficult given the news that fullbacks Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is in concussion protocol and Rafael Santos didn’t train Thursday. We break down Oscar Pareja’s options and talk more in depth about the likelier ones. Without the Rodrigo Schlegel red card, a three-man back line was in play, and could still happen, but it seems unlikely. Kyle Smith and Michael Halliday are the likely starters Saturday night, and Orlando will have to get a big night from them both to help stifle Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza, and Michael Uhre.

OCB played a midweek game, hosting New York Red Bulls II. It was just the second match this season for the Young Lions at Osceola County Stadium, but they jumped out to a good start and then survived a lot of turnovers of their own making en route to a 3-1 win. We discuss the excellent night from Yutaro Tsukada and, of course, it’s always nice to see Shak Mohammed score.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about Halliday’s expanding role with Thorhallsson sidelined, and we were also given the task of designing a new third kit for Orlando City (we present two ideas, actually). 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 turned our attention to Orlando City’s visit to the greater Philly area to take on the Union Saturday, complete with our key matchups for the game — on which we agreed — and our score predictions. [Note: We did not take into account that Julian Carranza is out on suspension for yellow card accumulation, so apologies for the error, but Philly will still be difficult.]

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. 417 went down:

0:15 – A look at Orlando City’s options with Santos and Thorhallsson likely out, and a breakdown of OCB’s first home win of 2024.

21:54 – Our mailbagbox asks about Halliday and the third kits we’d like to see for OCSC.

34:20 – Our preview of the Lions’ trip to Philadelphia to face the Union.

Podcasts

PawedCast 491: New York City FC Rewind, New England Preview, and More

The Lions melt down late at home against NYCFC and now head to their house of horrors in Foxborough.

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City wasn’t content to throw away two points on Saturday. The Lions threw away all three on Wednesday just for funsies. Leading in the 87th minute — by just one goal on more than 20 shot attempts — the Lions did New York City FC a solid and scored a goal for them. Not content with a draw, Orlando City then gave up a 2-on-nobody break off its own corner kick opportunity four minutes later, lighting three points on fire and flushing them down the toilet.

Did we find the game irritating? Annoying? Depressing? Maddening? Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Still, we look back at our score predictions, discuss the important moments of the game, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox has more questions about bread (for some reason), and asks us about serving in the military, strengthening weak feet, 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.

Following the mailbagbox segment, we remind you that OCB is on the road at New England on Sunday.

Finally, we previewed the Lions at the Revolution Saturday at Gillette Stadium — Orlando’s historic house of horrors — breaking down the history of the series, checking out the teams’ relative spots in the standings, providing our key matchups, and making our score predictions.

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. 491 went down:

0:15 – The Lions dominated, led the game late, and still managed to lose at home.

22:16– The mailbagbox has even more bread questions, and it’s a good thing we don’t have gluten allergies.

43:52 – Orlando City has to visit New England because the teams are in the same conference and that’s how it works. But we would rather…not.

Continue Reading

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 490: Montreal Rewind, OCB-Carolina Core, New York City FC Preview, and More

The Lions drop more points at home, the Young Lions win, and NYCFC looms in the midweek.

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City played CF Montreal and it wasn’t a memorable match. Martin Ojeda’s goal was memorable, but other than that, it was a night to forget, as the Lions could never put the game away and then had an unnecessary Rodri Schlegel moment late in the match to drop two precious points at home. The visitors created nothing all night but a few off-target shots from distance, but putting Prince Owusu on the penalty spot in the final minutes of the game turned out to be a bad idea.

For the second match in a row, one of us nailed our score prediction. Even a blind squirrel…something, something. Anyway, we broke down the key moments and actions in the game and selected our Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox is overflowing this week, with many questions about various bread products, which young Lion we think could see first-team minutes, the Lord of the Rings, Orlando City cult heroes, 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.

Following the mailbagbox segment, we look back at OCB’s 3-1 home win over Carolina Core FC. It’s way more than an “OCB Minute,” because the Young Lions deserved it. Justin Ellis is on fire, Thalles scored his first OCB goal, and Carlos Mercado stood on his head.

Finally, we looked ahead to Wednesday night’s match against New York City FC. The Lions will need to find a higher offensive gear while maintaining the defensive effort we saw against Montreal in order to win this six-pointer against their 2015 expansion rivals. We provide our key matchups and score predictions.

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. 490 went down:

0:15 – The Lions struggled to create against one of the league’s worst teams. It wasn’t fun.

22:22– The mailbagbox has an unusually high number of bread questions.

49:45 – OCB wins at home and City gets set to host the Pigeons.

Continue Reading

Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 93: Orlando Pride Signings, Options Exercised, Loans, and More

The Orlando Pride lock down players with new contracts and options exercised, loan other players out, and more.

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride don’t play another game for a few more weeks, but that doesn’t mean stuff isn’t happening with the club. Haley Carter has been busy, and we discuss the club picking up the 2026 option year for a couple of players and signing some other players to new contracts. It was a tidy run of business for Orlando.

Additionally, the club sent a whopping five players out on loan for the rest of the 2025 season. These were not Pride players who were getting minutes, so it can only help them, but it kind of feels like we’ll never see some of them in Pride purple again.

This week’s mailbagbox has a lot of questions. In fact, it has double-digit questions, and that was just from one of our listeners! Is it bragging to say we were up to the challenge? Well, we were, so it doesn’t matter if it’s bragging. At any rate, it wasn’t just one person asking questions, but it was one person asking a lot of them. 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 discussed Orlando’s three Zambians in their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations match against Morocco. Barbra Banda had a great start to the international break, while hopefully Prisca Chilufya and Grace Chanda are gaining much-needed confidence and improving their form ahead of their return to NWSL play in early August.

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 93 went down:

0:15 – The Pride sign a couple of players, pick up the options on a couple of others, and loan a handful out.

17:45 – The mailbagbox is celebrating the summer break with volume, volume, volume!

48:11 – Pride players get back to international play in WAFCON.

Continue Reading

Trending