Orlando City is set to resume its 2026 MLS season with a pair of games this week and they are both doozies, as the Lions will travel to California to face Western Conference co-leaders and Supporters’ Shield-contending San Jose, before returning to face Supporters’ Shield and Eastern Conference leader Nashville SC. It’s not going to be a cakewalk, folks, but it will tell us quickly if any progress has been made by Martin Perelman in fixing his defense, especially away from home.

In the meantime, Orlando finished its “second preseason” by beating FC Dallas away on Wednesday in a friendly. Antoine Griezmann and Martin Ojeda scored the goals for the Lions, and it was nice to get some news out of a friendly for a change.

After discussing the friendly, we chat about Daryl Dike’s return to Orlando. The big striker is coming home in the prime of his career, looking to stay healthy and re-establish himself. If Dike can regain his old form and stay on the pitch, he’ll be an outstanding midseason signing.

We also discussed Orlando City’s newest Homegrown Player signings — goalkeeper Tristan Himes and defender Clovis Archange. It’s always nice to have players coming up through the pipeline to follow as they try to make their way to the first team.

Our mailbagbox asked us another (multi-part) question about Thomas the Train, when Marco Pasalic might play his last game for Orlando City this season, 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.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 1-1 draw at Chattanooga FC and the ensuing shootout win as the Young Lions bring back two out of three points from Tennessee. Up next for OCB is a match against Huntsville City at home on Sunday. We briefly discussed the Chattanooga game and previewed the Huntsville match.

Finally, Orlando City has two huge games against teams at the top of the league just a few days apart. The trip to San Jose on Wednesday could be ugly if the Lions haven’t fixed their defensive issues, as the Earthquakes are just as capable of burying Orlando with five or six goals as some of the previous teams that have done so this season. Additionally, the second game may be even tougher, as it will be against a team that destroyed the Lions 5-0 earlier this season. Nashville SC has the starpower, the firepower, and the league’s stingiest defense. Getting any points from this pair of games will be difficult. We present our key matchups and score predictions for both matches, and we’re not feeling super confident until we see what the team can do after several weeks working toward Martin Perelman’s vision.

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Here’s how No. 543 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City beat Dallas in a road friendly, Daryl Dike is back, and we’ve got some new Homegrown Players.

13:20 – The mailbagbox is a little train-centric these days.

24:45 – The Young Lions didn’t play their best but they battled for two points on the road against a good team. The senior Lions will play two of the three best teams in MLS this week, but the additions of Griezmann and Dike should help.

The Orlando Pride bounced back from their worst performance in some time away at Angel City in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Kansas City Current. Given the relative forms the two teams were in when they entered the match, it was a shock result. The Pride were without Rafaelle but the pairing of Zara Chavoshi and Hannah Anderson — flanked by Kerry Abello and Cori Dyke — did well in helping Anna Moorhouse keep a clean sheet. Meanwhile, Marta scored a worldie, Anderson finished a great corner cross from Ally Lemos, and Barbra Banda returned from injury to score off the bench. It was a complete victory and could not have been more needed.

We looked back at the matchup, reviewed our completely erroneous score predictions, and made our selections for Player of the Match. After a game in which we didn’t like any of the Pride’s performances, we struggled to find one that wasn’t above average in this most recent game.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about Hailie Mace’s role, how much longer Marta will run things in Orlando, and more. 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 looked ahead to a pair of matches coming up this week. First up is Boston Legacy tonight at Inter&Co Stadium, followed by the Pride traveling to Utah to square off against the Royals. It’s anyone’s guess which Orlando team will show up in either match, but it would be a good time for the Pride to find some consistency. We looked at both opponents and the series histories, provided our key matchups, and made our score predictions.

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Here’s how Episode 129 went down:

0:15 – The Pride and Current battled throughout, but it was Orlando that finished its chances.

17:38 – The mailbagbox wanted us to weigh in on Julie Doyle’s hustle and the three best Pride players on Friday aside from the Player of the Match.

35:50 – A look ahead to games against the Legacy and the Royals.

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), 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.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

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. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.