Orlando City B came from behind on the road but still wasted multiple good opportunities in a 1-1 road draw against Crown Legacy. The Young Lions then dropped their second straight penalty shootout, earning just a single point for the second week in a row. We opened this week’s show with a brief discussion about a team that seems to be struggling on offense a bit.

From there, we pivot into discussion of the USMNT’s loss to Belgium and all of the madness that led up to it. The bottom line is that most of our concerns about the team showed up on the same day, and unfortunately, that was on a day the U.S. was playing a good European side for the right to go to the World Cup quarterfinals.

Our mailbagbox asked us about USMNT players as MLS players, the Flo Balogun saga, 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 set the table for OCB’s trip to FC Cincinnati 2 on Sunday and discuss the kinds of things we might see in Orlando City’s friendly today against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of the club’s supporters and Season Ticket Members.

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. 541 went down:

0:15 – OCB hung around with another top Eastern Conference team but could not bring all three points home. Plus, the USMNT crashed, burned, and then had its ashes scattered to the four corners of the Earth by Belgium.

26:11 – The mailbagbox asks for predictions. We like those, because we already know we’re bad at them, and yet people keep asking for them.

34:32 – The Lions host an I-4 Derby friendly and OCB heads to the greater Cincinnati area.

The Orlando Pride will get back to business on Friday night with a big road game on the other side of the country against Angel City. It’ll be great to have the team back in action after a month’s interruption to the season.

Before we get into talking shop about the NWSL, Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines returns to the show to discuss the state of the club, working with Caitlin Carducci, the team’s horrible injury luck this season, putting banger-scorer Cori Dyke at striker (OK, not his idea, but it was discussed), what could happen in the transfer window, and more. Big thanks to Seb for joining us. It’s always great to chat with him, even if Dave wasn’t available to be part of the questioning.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about timing in soccer, why stoppage minutes aren’t counted in player stats, what we’d ask PRO referees, 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 the Angel City match late Friday night in California. The Pride will be playing their third consecutive California-based team while looking to make it three straight. Meanwhile, Angel City will be playing its first game under a new manager. We look at the teams’ places in the standings, provide our key matchups, and give you our score predictions.

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 127 went down:

3:36 – Seb Hines joins us to discuss the state of the Pride.

26:59 – The mailbagbox asks about timing.

37:46 – A look ahead to the Pride’s trip to play Angel City.

Orlando City B is anything but predictable. Sunday night, after a lengthy weather delay, the Young Lions looked ready to concede on any number of occasions. They finally did, but then they bounced back to take a second-half lead (seemingly their favorite game script), and just when they were moments away from a win in a huge Eastern Conference matchup against the Columbus Crew, they conceded off a defensive third turnover and then lost the ensuing penalty shootout, dropping two points from a position to win all three.

We briefly touch on the match and especially the painful, decisive play.

We touched on the World Cup, including Paraguay’s improbable elimination of Germany in one of the wildest penalty shootouts in terms of momentum swings, and discussed the USMNT’s loss to Turkey.

Our mailbagbox asked us about changing international allegiances, Mexican internationals playing in Orlando, 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.

Antoine Griezmann is finally in town and training with his new Orlando City teammates. We talked about what that means for an OCSC side that needs to figure out the defensive side of the game. Even attacking players can elevate a team’s defense.

We also discussed the friendlies Orlando City has scheduled prior to the restart of the MLS season. Will Griezmann play against the Tampa Bay Rowdies? That would be a quick introduction to club history!

Finally, we touched on OCB’s upcoming match against Crown Legacy on the road. It’s another team at the top of the Eastern Conference and Crown Legacy can score goals in bunches. The Young Lions have to figure out the defensive side of the game to take their next step.

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. 540 went down:

0:15 – OCB drops points and World Cup teams could use more Orlando City players if they want to advance in the knockout stages.

20:10 – A multi-part question based on a hypothetical situation? That sounds like our mailbagbox.

33:02 – Griezmann is on site and OCB heads to Matthews, NC.