With the Orlando Pride’s NWSL Challenge Cup match against the Washington Spirit just over a week away, it’s time for us to reconvene and begin preparing for the 2025 season. We’ve been away for a few weeks, and the main thing we’ve learned is that the Pride is serious about defense.

To that end, we discuss the club re-signing Emily Sams and Cori Dyke to new deals through 2017, touching on the fact that Dyke has now signed her first three professional contracts in less than a calendar year. That’s an odd yet delightful factoid.

It wasn’t just current defenders that the Pride were interested in signing. Spanish international Oihane Hernandez became the newest member of the Pride. Questions abound about where everyone on the back line will find minutes, but it’s a great problem for Seb Hines to have.

This week’s mailbagbox blindsides us with picking co-ed 7-v-7 sides. Hear us struggle in real time. You can’t get that kind of audio entertainment just anywhere. We also give a comprehensive overview on the club’s international slot situation. 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.

Our weekly season schedule is back. We’ll be back next week to get you ready for the Pride vs. the Spirit at Inter&Co Stadium with another trophy on the line. We’ll also bring you any news that drops between now and then. Welcome back, Pride fans. We made it through the shortest off-season in Orlando history.

Here’s how Episode 75 went down:

0:15 – Orlando Pride news in recent weeks has been all about the defense.

19:07 – The mailbagbox beckons us with a hypothetical for which we were totally unprepared.

Overall, Orlando City — as a team — played a decent game in its 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. But there were some individual mistakes that…yeah, they were pretty awful and not what we’ve come to expect out of the Lions in the Oscar Pareja era. Prior to our breakdown of the Lions’ breakdowns, we discuss the Orlando City news that came out on match day, including two short-term contract signings and a last-minute injury that took captain Robin Jansson out of the lineup.

After that, we get into the nitty and also the gritty of Orlando’s loss to Philadelphia on opening night. Perhaps the only memorable thing will be the start to Marco Pasalic’s career in purple. The Croatian’s brace was a welcome bright spot on an otherwise forgettable night. We also look back at our score predictions, which were well below the total of goals scored on Saturday

The mailbagbox wants to know if we’ve changed our minds about our preseason thoughts after seeing the team play on Saturday and whether Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is ready for a move back to the midfield with the continued emergence of Alex Freeman. 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 looked ahead to Saturday night’s matchup against Toronto FC. There are a lot of new faces on the Reds and both teams will be going for their first win of the season. We take a brief look at the Toronto roster, provide our key matchups, and make 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.

Here’s how No. 466 went down:

0:15 – The Lions played well as a team when they weren’t making horrible individual mistakes in their own end. It was costly.

27:06 – The mailbagbox wants to know if our preseason opinions have changed yet.

38:15 – Our key matchups and score predictions for Orlando City vs. Toronto FC on Saturday.

Orlando City sent out a whole bunch of press releases the day our last episode dropped, so we start this show by recapping that news and those notes. Nico Lodeiro and Michael Halliday are off to Houston, while Wilder Cartagena will watch the entire 2025 season from the sidelines as he has been placed on the Season-Ending Injury list. We break down what all of that means for the Lions.

First-round 2025 SuperDraft pick Joran Gerbet joined us to discuss his arrival in Orlando, what it’s like going from college to pro soccer, how he fits into what Oscar Pareja’s system works, and much more. Big thanks to Joran for taking time out of his opening night preparations to spend some time with us, and we can’t wait to see what his goal celebrations are like.

The mailbagbox wants to know about international slots, what we’d wear on the bench if we were coaching the Lions, if David Brekalo can displace Rodrigo Schlegel, and much 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.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday night’s opener against the Philadelphia Union. Philly may have missed the playoffs, but the Union still have some terrific (and dangerous) offensive weapons. Orlando City will need to be on point defensively to start the season off right. We offer up 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.

Here’s how No. 465 went down:

0:15 – A few news items regarding Orlando City since our last show a few days ago.

10:11 – Joran Gerbet jumps on with us to discuss the adjustment from college soccer to MLS.

25:51 – The mailbagbox is pretty full for there only being a few days between shows.

51:12 – Our key matchups and score predictions for Orlando City’s opener vs. the Philadelphia Union.