Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! Our midweek news is a little bit brighter than it has been in the recent past. Also, there is news, which is nice after a long off-season. Orlando City’s first regular-season match is Saturday and The Mane Land will be back in full swing. We’re happy to be back and look forward to having you read our stuff and listen to The Mane Land PawedCast. Let’s get to the links.

New Lions Signing Reportedly Imminent

We’re still waiting on an announcement from the club, but Tom Bogert is reporting that Orlando City has acquired Houston Dynamo wingback Griffin Dorsey to start at right back for the Lions. While not a huge signing, this is welcome news for a position group that was lacking after the departures of Alex Freeman, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Kyle Smith. Dorsey was a regular starter for the Dynamo, meaning he has plenty of MLS experience.

Pride International Call-Ups

The Orlando Pride might not have any USWNT players, but there are still international call-ups happening. Anna Moorhouse once again received the call from the England Women’s National Team. The Lionesses will play qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland.

Moorhouse wasn’t alone as Solai Washington will represent the Jamaica Women’s National Team. The Pride signed Washington out of FSU last month. Jamaica will play Nicaragua in a Concacaf W Qualifiers match.

Average Grade for Orlando Pride

It’s been quite a while since we’ve gotten any signing news on the Pride side of things, and that hasn’t changed. I won’t tell you my grade for this off-season yet. You can submit that as a question for the next SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride Podcast if you want to know. I can share that Merritt Mathias gave it a C.

MLS Season Approaches

The fact that not one single regular-season match has been played won’t stop MLSsoccer.com from putting out a Power Rankings list. Spoiler alert: Orlando City isn’t at the top of the list. The site also put out a list of the 10 biggest newcomers to MLS. Orlando City’s Iago got an honorable mention, so I guess that’s something. There’s also the list for 11 players to watch. This list has players already familiar with the league playing for new clubs. Orlando City’s new keeper, Maxime Crepeau is one of those players mentioned.

Free Kicks

• Toronto FC is making some late moves bringing in Raheem Edwards after he was waived by the New York Red Bulls, and forward Emilio Aristizábal on loan from Colombian side Atlético Nacional.
• If you can’t be honest about family, who can you be honest about? Bryan Lozano illustrates this point.

• Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni allegedly violated the league anti-racism rules with comments made to Madrid striker Vinicius Jr. There’s no place in society for such things.

• If you can get past the hilarity of FIFA following the rules, they released the CAS & Football Annual Report 2025. Cool story, bro.

• Folarin Balogun didn’t wait very long to score a goal for Monaco. You love to see it.

• Orlando City has entered into a new multi‑year partnership with Guatemalan restaurant Pollo Campero.
• I’m really not sure how to feel about this. I guess all press is good press? And I’m all for more support, but still.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the start of the season this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

It feels a little strange to be saying this after what feels like a couple minutes since the end of last season, but happy match week everyone! The Lions are set to take on the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, and hopefully the final preseason match was simply Orlando City’s time to get out all of the mistakes when the games don’t matter. We’ve got plenty to discuss this morning, so let’s get into the links.

MLS Preseason Predictions

With the 2026 MLS season due to get underway this weekend, now is a good time to make predictions on how the various teams will fare this year. When it comes to Orlando City, a lot of the on-air talent at Apple TV who cover the league don’t seem particularly positive about the Lions’ chances. The general consensus has the Lions finishing the year at ninth in the Eastern Conference, although a couple individuals have them sinking as low as 12th, and Max Bretos has the good guys as high as third. Inter Miami and LAFC are the picks to win their respective conferences, while CF Montreal and Sporting Kansas City occupy the cellar spots.

UEFA Champions League Preview

The UEFA Champions League is back this week as the play-off round kicks off later today. The Tuesday slate of games is highlighted by Benfica hosting Real Madrid in a rematch of the dramatic game on matchday eight that saw the Portuguese outfit sneak into the knockout round with a last-minute goal. The match between Weston McKennie’s Juventus team and Galatasaray should also be a great spectacle, and the Istanbul outfit’s intimidating atmosphere could make the difference against the Italian side. Wednesday sees Bodo/Glimt host Inter Milan in its frozen home above the Arctic Circle, while Club Brugge will try to use its own home-field advantage to grab a result against Atletico Madrid.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

The winter transfer window might be over for European teams, but that isn’t stopping the transfer rumors from continuing to fly. We start with Manchester United, as the Red Devils are reportedly eyeing up a move to sign Alexis Mac Allister from Liverpool this summer to help solve some of their midfield struggles. Meanwhile, Brighton and Hove Albion is said to have made another offer to sign promising young winger Said El Lama from FC Koln, despite the German team’s reluctance to sell him. Elsewhere in England, Chelsea and Tottenham are both reportedly interested in signing Bayern Munich center back Kim Min-Jae. Finally, Tom Bogert says St. Louis City is close to signing forward Sergio Cordova on loan from BSC Young Boys.

FA Cup Fifth Round Draw

The draw has been completed for the fifth round of the FA Cup, and it’s thrown up some intriguing matchups. The one that’s grabbed a lot of the headlines is Wrexham hosting Chelsea at the Racecourse Ground after making it to the round of 16 for the first time in 29 years. Newcastle United will host Manchester City in another big clash, while West Ham United will take on a Brentford side that was given a real scare by National League side Macclesfield Town on Monday in a 1-0 win that took an own goal to send the Bees through. League One side Mansfield Town has been given a tortuously tough test in Arsenal, but the lower division outfit does have the benefit of playing the match at home.

Free Kicks

• Despite being the new away jersey, Orlando City will be wearing the Sunken Treasure kit when it kicks off the season at home on Saturday.

• Our friends over at Burgundy Wave wrote a great piece about the state of media coverage when it comes to Major League Soccer.
• Haji Wright bagged a hat trick for Coventry City in its 3-1 win over Middlesborough.

That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Start manifesting all three points and a winning start to the season on Saturday, or I’ll send Kingston after you. Vamos Orlando!

Orlando City played its final preseason game Saturday night, falling 4-1 to the Colorado Rapids. There were plenty of takeaways from this game, but one stands out above the rest.

Robin Jansson has been a mainstay in the Lions’ starting lineup since arriving at the club in 2019. The Swede was a key component as the club qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time in 2020 — and every year since. He eventually became vice captain and captain when Mauricio Pereyra’s time in Orlando ended.

Early in his Orlando career, Jansson was quite frustrating for fans. He would inevitably get into altercations with referees resulting in unnecessary yellow cards. The center back was commonly suspended due to yellow card accumulation, making him a potential liability in big games.

However, the 34-year-old has mellowed with age. His ability to keep his calm has made him a much more reliable defender and the obvious choice as Oscar Pareja’s captain when Pereyra departed the club following the 2023 season.

Over the last couple of years, Jansson’s importance to Orlando City has been apparent. Rodrigo Schlegel and David Brekalo were the center back pairing when the captain was missing and his absence was noticeable. While the other options were dependable (most of the time) the back line seemed unstable and disorganized without its leader.

We saw that again on Saturday night.

Jansson is out after undergoing foot surgery earlier this preseason, making Brekalo and Iago the only first-team center backs available with top flight experience. The veteran is expeccted to return later this spring, but Breako and Iago will likely be the starting center backs when the regular season begins Saturday night.

While Brekalo is entering his third season in Orlando, the club signed Iago — a 20-year-old Brazilian — from Flamengo on Feb. 7, making him the club’s newest player.

Just a week after joining his new club, Iago had the most difficult time of all Orlando City defenders against Colorado’s attack. He was beaten twice by Rafael Navarro for goals in the first half, allowing the opposition to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

While the newly signed center back was better in the second half, the pairing still had its troubles. Brekalo got burned by Darren Yapi for the third goal, and the inability of the duo to clear the ball late in the game allowed Lucas Herrington to make it four.

The importance of Jansson is shown not just in his captaincy, but also in the number of games he plays. He’s started at least 30 league games in each of the last three seasons and took part in every MLS contest Orlando City had in 2023. He’s clearly a durable option, but for how much longer?

At 34 years of age, Jansson is past his prime years and might need more time to recover. As a result, Pareja may soon be unable to depend on his captain to play nearly every game.

As we’ve seen over the past few seasons, that could create a significant problem for Orlando City. Regardless of the pairing, the back line has been much weaker when Jansson has not been involved. It’s something that was proven again Saturday night.

This is only one game in a preseason in which the club has produced very little information, so it’s tough to say whether this game is an anomaly or something that should concern fans. But it’s also not like Brekalo and Iago have played much center back.

Brekalo, a 27-year-old Slovenian international, has primarily played left back for the Lions since joining the team two years ago. Despite being a natural center back, only 18 of his 51 starts in all competitions have been in the position. Initially, he was a backup on the bench. Pareja soon preferred Brekalo at left back, resulting in the club trading Rafael Santos to Colorado.

The club signed Adrian Marin from Sporting Braga on Aug. 7, bringing a new left back into the squad. Once acclimating himself to his new home, the Spainard played in the final three games of the regular season. Brekalo started two of those games at center back and was away on international duty for the third. Marin also started Saturday night’s preseason game on the left side of the back line.

Meanwhile, Iago’s lack of experience comes from his age. The 20-year-old came through Flamengo’s academy before joining the first team in 2024. He made 68 appearances for the Brazilian giants’ U-20 and first teams while also captaining Brazil at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

But that experience is minimal compared to the other two center back options. Brekalo has made 65 appearances for Orlando City and played in more professional games for Bravo and Viking. Jansson, on the other hand, has more appearances (237), starts (231), and minutes (20,889) than any player in club history.

While Brekalo and Iago are getting used to regularly playing center back against MLS competition, Jansson has been a regular starter at the position for seven years. That experience allows him to have an unusual knowledge of the league and the opposing attackers in addition to being able to communicate effectively with the rest of his back line.

If Jansson is unable to remain healthy thorughout the coming season or needs more rest than previous years, it could be a problem for the Lions. The team is unlikely to score a large number of goals, making the defensive play essential to Orlando’s success. The captain being out for any period of time is the most troubling scenario.

Orlando City lost multiple starters this off-season, creating questions for the team heading into the season. Some of those include who will start at right back, how will new starting goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau adjust to his new team, and where will the goals come from? But what happens if Jansson is unavailable to play might be the most pressing.

We’ve seen what this back line looks like when the captain is out and it doesn’t look pretty. It’s been a concern over the past few seasons and, judging from the performance Saurday night, is one again this year. Orlando City fans can only hope he’ll be able to be a consistent and healthy part of the team in 2026.