Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy at work, covering high school bowling and playing video games such as EA FC 26. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Trade Emily Sams to Angel City FC

The Orlando Pride announced Friday that the club has traded 2024 NWSL Defender of the Year Emily Sams to Angel City FC. In exchange, the Pride received a club-record $650,000 in intraleague transfer funds. Sams had requested a trade and departs Orlando after three seasons with the club. The Pride had given Sams a contract extension 11 months ago through the 2027 NWSL season. She made 86 appearances for the Pride across all competitions, scored one goal and added two assists, and played a crucial role on the back line to help Orlando secure both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship during the 2024 season. Sams also earned seven caps with the U.S. Women’s National Team. Orlando will now need to focus on finding a replacement at center back.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

We’ve got plenty of MLS moves to catch you up on from the last few days. Nashville SC announced Friday the club has signed former San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Cristian Espinoza to a Designated Player contract through 2028 with options through 2028-2029 and 2029-2030. The Earthquakes have signed Cristian “Chicho” Arango to a new contract through 2027, with club options for the 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 season. Austin FC has reached an agreement with midfielder Dani Pereira on a contract extension through 2027-2028 with an option for 2028-2029. D.C. United announced the transfer of midfielder Boris Enow to Israeli Premier League side Beitar Jerusalem. San Diego FC has acquired Osvald Soe from Danish Second Division side Boldklubben af 1893. Soe is under contract through the 2027-2028 MLS season with options through 2029-2030. Meanwhile, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano is reportedly not in San Diego FC’s plans for the upcoming 2026 MLS season. Lastly, Toronto FC has reportedly submitted a transfer bid to Norwich City for forward Josh Sargent.

Third Round FA Cup Recap

There was plenty of drama and some notable upsets in the third round of the FA Cup. On Friday, Wrexham knocked out Premier League side Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties after a 3-3 draw. On Saturday, Macclesfield FC, which plays in the sixth tier of English football, defeated defending FA Cup champion Crystal Palace 2-1 in one of the biggest upsets of the weekend. Manchester City demolished Exeter City 10-1, while Tottenham Hotspur fell 2-1 to Aston Villa. On Sunday, former Lion Daryl Dike played 60 minutes as West Bromwich Albion defeated Swansea City 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to move on to the fourth round. Brighton & Hove Albion beat Manchester United 2-1, and Gabriel Martinelli scored a hat trick as Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 victory against Portsmouth. Today, Liverpool hosts Barnsley, and Salford City takes on Swindon Town Tuesday to conclude the third round of the FA Cup.

2025 Africa Cup of Nations Quarterfinals Results

The quarterfinals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations concluded in Morocco, with four teams booking their spots in the semifinals. On Friday, Senegal edged Mali 1-0, with Iliman Ndiaye scoring the lone goal for Senegal to advance. Host Morocco shut out Cameroon 2-0 to advance to the semifinals. On Saturday, Nigeria defeated Algeria 2-0 with Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams scoring in the second half to advance to the next round. Egypt held on for a 3-2 win against Ivory Coast to eliminate the defending champions. Mohamed Salah scored a goal and added an assist as Egypt booked its spot in the semifinals with the win. The semifinals will kick off on Wednesday with Senegal facing Egypt and Morocco taking on Nigeria.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City players report today for preseason training at Osceola Heritage Park.

• Orlando City forward Yutaro Tsukada revealed to his teammates that he is married.

• Robin Jansson, Duncan McGuire, and the Orlando City technical staff shared their thoughts on the importance of preseason training camp.

• Benfica has reportedly expressed interest in acquiring former Lion Facundo Torres, who is currently playing for Palmeiras.

• Major League Soccer players have expressed support for the league’s plan to align with the international calendar, shifting the regular season to a summer-to-spring schedule beginning in 2027.
• Ricardo Pepi scored for PSV Eindhoven over the weekend but came off the pitch in the first half, suffering a broken arm during a 5-1 win against Excelsior. Pepi will be sidelined for two months.
• Raphinha scored two goals as Barcelona defeated rival Real Madrid 3-2 to win the Spanish Super Cup.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

The clock turned to midnight and 2026 arrived one week ago, and in the first week of 2026 there has been a lot of news about coaches, as the managers who started the season at two of the most well-known soccer clubs in the world, Chelsea and Manchester United, both lost their jobs. The manager carousel has been spinning aggressively at both clubs in recent years, so it was not a huge surprise to see either departure, but as we approach the beginning of the 2026 MLS season, the news from England’s Premier League made me appreciate even more the tenure of the man in charge of Orlando City: the iconic, white-shirt-wearing Óscar Pareja, who is about to begin his seventh season in charge of the Lions.

Pareja took charge in Orlando back in 2019, and at 6.1 years as head coach, he is currently the second-longest tenured head coach in MLS, behind only Brian Schmetzer of the Seattle Sounders. The average tenure of the 28 (Atlanta has yet to hire a head coach) non-Pareja coaches in the league is 1.98 years, so Pareja, at just beyond six years in charge, has been at the club for slightly more than three times the league average, and he has been a lot more than slightly effective ever since taking the reins, as you can see from the chart below:

• * For this chart I used the result of the game at the end of regulation or extra time, I did not give a win or loss based on the result of penalty kicks, which is too bad, because Orlando City is 8-3 in shootouts since Pareja became head coach.

Pareja’s 210 games in charge of the Lions is the 15th most in league history by a head coach at a single club, and if the Colombian is still the coach after the 33rd league game this season, he will move into 10th place on that list. The points-per-match values in the chart above show why he has been in Orlando so long, as transfermarkt.com‘s tracking ranks him 30th on the all-time list in points per match among the 179 MLS coaches who have coached at least 25 games at one club. That site has Pareja at 1.60 points per match, so perhaps it is giving wins and losses instead of draws based on shootout results, or perhaps their math is just a bit off (I know a mathematics major who can help), but the main point is that since Pareja came to Orlando he has consistently been an excellent coach — among the top 20% (16.7%, if we are being specific) in league history in points per match.

One of the coaches that Pareja ranks behind on that list, funnily enough, is one Óscar Pareja from his time as the head coach of FC Dallas. Pareja coached 180 games in Dallas and earned 1.61 points per match, ranking 27th on transfermark’s list, but if Orlando City can put together another strong season in 2026, Pareja with Orlando City may jump Pareja with FC Dallas by this time next year.

That, of course, is a big if, as the 2026 roster is slowly coming into shape but still appears to be short a few players. Sean Rollins wrote earlier this week about some OCB players who might make their first-ever appearance with the senior team this season, and Gustavo Caraballo, Justin Ellis, Colin Guske, and Zakaria Taifi all could play more this season than they did in 2025, each with the idea that they could be the next Alex Freeman and go from a handful of MLS minutes in 2025 to thousands in 2026. Lightning does strike quite often in the City Beautiful, so it could happen, but it is more likely that the front office will acquire a few more seasoned professionals to fill out the roster.

Once the roster is filled out, it is likely that Pareja will do what he has done in — according to fbref.com’s tracking — 93% of his matches as head coach in Orlando by starting a back four. Three of the four spots seem set at the moment, with left back the one question mark going into training camp. It is possible that the team signs another center back, and David Brekalo continues to play as a left back or becomes a backup, but the more likely scenario is a Robin Jansson and Brekalo pairing in the middle with Freeman on the right, and Pareja oversees a training camp battle to choose a left back among several competing players.

In four of Pareja’s six seasons the club finished the season with excellent goal differentials across all competitions, finishing +15 in 2020, +14 in 2023, +17 in 2024, and +17 again in 2025. The Lions were dead even in 2021 and -2 in 2022, making the combined total for the six seasons a healthy +61. While he has played a 4-2-3-1 most often, he has adapted around the team he has every season, playing a 4-4-2 for most of 2026, for example, and so whether the front office acquires another left back, center back, or neither and goes into training camp with a bunch of young players competing to earn roster spots, Pareja has more than earned the trust of the team, front office, and fans that he will be able to take what he is given and, to turn a famous Orlando City phrase on its head, show us that Papi can do that.

Stability is an often underrated component of a team’s success, and while Orlando City’s roster will only bring back a maximum of 65% of its minutes played from last year, bringing back Pareja and his strategic planning acumen is an unquantifiable boost for the team. The best years in the club’s MLS era have been under his leadership, and while the Lions finished lower in the standings last year than in prior years, that was really more about the rest of the Eastern Conference playing well than an Orlando City regression, considering that the Lions earned the second-most MLS regular-season points in club history during the 2025 season.

Pareja’s six years of experience ranks second most in MLS and is longer than all but three coaches among the 92 professional teams in England’s top four divisions (Premier League, Championship, League One, and League Two). It is not a coincidence that the recent years have been among the team’s best with those large positive goal differentials and deep runs in the MLS playoffs and Leagues Cup.

Sustained excellence is extremely difficult in sports, and while Orlando City only has the one U.S. Open Cup in the trophy case during the Pareja era, according to fbref.com’s tracking, only five MLS clubs (LAFC, Inter Miami, the Philadelphia Union, the Seattle Sounders, and the Columbus Crew) have more wins in all competitions than Orlando City since he took over before the 2020 season.

I am not big on making new year’s resolutions, but in 2026 I resolve to show my appreciation more often for the consistent success that Pareja has brought to Orlando City.

Vamos Orlando!

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! It’s been a pretty busy week, but we have a weekend of what is hopefully some rest and relaxation to look forward to. I don’t have many plans beyond some deep cleaning of my apartment, but it should still be a nice couple of days. Let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Nico Rodriguez Loaned to Atletico Nacional

Orlando City loaned winger Nicolas Rodiriguez to Atletico Nacional in Colombia through 2026, with an option to buy as part of the deal. The Lions added him as an MLS U22 Initiative Player in January of last year, signing him to a three-year deal. He recorded a goal and an assist in 17 appearances across all competitions for Orlando, starting in just four games. This loan notably frees up an MLS U22 Initiative slot for the Lions to make use of, while also giving Rodriguez an opportunity for more minutes to hone his game.

Orlando City Announces Preseason Schedule

Orlando unveiled its schedule for this year’s preseason and training will begin on Jan. 12. There will be a closed-door scrimmage against the USL Championship’s Lexington Sporting Club on Jan. 24 before the team heads to Mexico for a training camp from Jan. 25 to the end of the month. The Lions will then play two more closed-door friendlies once they return, playing at Nashville SC on Feb. 7 and at FC Cincinnati on Feb. 11. Orlando’s final preseason game will be on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, when the Lions take on the Colorado Rapids in a match exclusively open to season ticket members, who will receive an email to RSVP for it.

Orlando Pride Acquire Defender Hannah Anderson

The Orlando Pride traded for defender Hannah Anderson, sending $70,000 in intraleague funds to the Chicago Stars in exchange. Anderson joins the Pride on a contract through 2027. Drafted in the third round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, Anderson has made 28 appearances across the past two seasons in Chicago. Hopefully she can add some solid depth to a Pride defense that has been formidable in recent years but has been tested by injuries.

Orlando Pride and Grace Chanda Part Ways

The Orlando Pride and Zambian midfielder Grace Chanda have mutually agreed to part ways, allowing her to sign with FC Gallos Queretaro in Mexico. The Pride signed Chanda to a two-year deal back in May of 2024 and exercised the 2026 option on her contract last summer. Injury prevented her from playing for the Pride in 2024, and she only made seven total appearances across all competitions in 2025. It’s unfortunate she wasn’t able to become a starter for a Pride team that could’ve used a creative force in the midfield at times last year, but hopefully she’ll be able to get more playing time with Queretaro.

USWNT January Roster Announced

United States Women’s National Team Head Coach Emma Hayes called up 26 players for training camp this month, including Pride defender Emily Sams. It’s a fairly inexperienced roster in terms of minutes with the USWNT, and four players were called up for the first time. Trinity Rodman, who is out of contract, is technically the only player called up not currently on an NWSL team. It will be Rodman’s first time at a USWNT training camp since April, as injuries limited her throughout 2025. The USWNT will play Paraguay on Jan. 24 and Chile on Jan. 27 in a pair of friendlies in California to conclude the camp.

Camping World Stadium Will Host Friendlies

A pair of international friendlies will be held at Camping World Stadium as World Cup teams set up their preparations for this year’s tournament. Colombia and Croatia will clash in the City Beautiful on March 26 before Croatia plays against Brazil on March 31. Tickets for the matches are scheduled to go on sale on Tuesday. According to Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan, construction may prevent Camping World Stadium from hosting other international friendlies before the World Cup.

Free Kicks

• Former Orlando City B player Austin Amer has signed with the Richmond Kickers in the USL League One.
• Another American player may be leaving the NWSL for Europe, as Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey is reportedly in talks to join Manchester City.
• Denver Summit FC signed Jasmine Aikey to a two-year contract. Aikey had 43 goals and 29 assists across all competitions in four years at Stanford and was a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist last year.
• Atlanta United transferred midfielder Bartosz Slisz to Brondby IF in Denmark for a reported $3.5 million transfer fee.
• Alejandro Bedoya signed a new contract with the Philadelphia Union through 2026. The 38-year-old will continue his front office role with the club as well.
• Hector Herrera will reportedly return to the Houston Dynamo, although he won’t be a Designated Player. Every referee should be offered face shields in case he gets a little testy again.

• Minnesota United Head Coach Eric Ramsay will reportedly become West Brom’s next manager. He’s done well with the Loons over the past two seasons, and hopefully Daryl Dike thrives under him.
• Nashville waived forward Tyler Boyd, who recorded three goals and four assists last season.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!