We’ve known for quite some time that the Orlando Pride have not been playing well. Ever since the restart after the World Cup break, the Pride have been nearly unwatchable, and with Barbra Banda first injured and then off with Zambia for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, there haven’t even been many goals to celebrate, let alone wins.

Despite knowing that going in, your hosts attended Friday’s Pride match against Racing Louisville — the very first time the two of us have been at a game as a fan at the same time. With one of us living in Tallahassee and the other one of us working the equivalent of about three jobs, including being at Orlando City games to cover those for The Mane Land, it just hadn’t happened yet. That changed Friday, and although we did not enjoy the game much at all, we did enjoy being at the stadium, hanging out, and commiserating about how badly the team was playing (misery loves company). The food and beer were good. The soccer was not.

We look back at the Pride’s latest difficult outing, check our oh-so-close score predictions, and I think we picked a Player of the Match, but honestly we should not have.

We also discussed the additions of Zoe Matthews and Gabi Nunes to the roster.

This week’s mailbagbox was incredibly robust, and it takes up a large chunk of the middle of the show. Our listeners wanted to know about goal of the week, long intros/outros in songs, the Pride’s most urgent need, 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 Saturday night’s Pride match in Portland. (Please note that we had not known the full extent of Olivia Moultrie’s injury at the time of recording.) We’re not holding out a lot of hope for a result for Orlando on the road, although the Thorns are in poor form. That’s usually immaterial, as the Pride’s recent trip to North Carolina showed us. We checked on the history of the series, looked at the teams’ relative position in the table, provided our key matchups, and tried to predict the final score.

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Here’s how Episode 133 went down:

0:15 – The Pride were bad on Friday, but the company, food, and beverages were great.

17:42 – The mailbagbox is bursting at the seams, and it was more fun than watching the game this week.

48:08 – Orlando heads to the Pacific Northwest. We think we know what will happen, but we hope we’re wrong for all the right reasons.

Orlando City started its Leagues Cup campaign over the last week, posting a pair of 2-1 games, with a win by that score over CF Monterrey and a loss by the same count against Club Leon. The Lions didn’t rotate much between the two matches, and the legs looked a bit heavy in the second half against Leon. Both games had their share of chippy play and controversy, and now it’ll be difficult (though not impossible) for Orlando to advance to the knockouts.

We discuss both matches, how the goals came about, and some of the controversies that shaped them. We also touched on the rotation and how much of it we’d like to see Wednesday against Atletico de San Luis before league action returns Saturday with the arrival of FC Cincinnati.

Our mailbagbox asked us which Lion will transfer to Europe next, the team’s starting XI if everyone is healthy at the same time, 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 briefly touch on OCB’s game today at New York City FC II, providing a tale of the tape for a reserve side that has been decimated by call-ups in recent weeks.

Finally, we get ready for another Leagues Cup game (against San Luis) on Wednesday and the next MLS match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday. We look at the history of Cincy vs. Orlando, 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.

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. 546 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City may not get to the knockouts of Leagues Cup, and based on a reluctance to rotate much so far, that might be best for the rest of the MLS season.

24:34 – The mailbagbox has another strong showing.

37:52 – OCB, more Leagues Cup, and our FC Cincinnati preview.

Just when you think the Orlando Pride have bottomed out and things might start to turn around, the team shows you there’s a new, lower level possible. The Pride played an apathetic and inept brand of soccer on the road against a struggling North Carolina Courage team, which put Orlando on full blast. The 5-0 loss could have been even worse, and the attack rarely created much threat for the Courage back line to deal with. If this is what life is like without Barbra Banda, the Pride are literally a one-player team, and that’s simply not good enough.

We look back at a lopsided loss for as long as we could bear it, checked our score predictions, deferred our selections for Player of the Match to any fan who sat through the entire game, and pondered what the club’s general manager is doing, whether the players have tuned out Head Coach Seb Hines, and what exactly the plan is to fix the mess that the 2024 double winners have quickly become.

This week’s mailbagbox is understandably bitter and cynical, although we did get to reminisce about shopping for school supplies and Trapper Keepers. 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 Friday’s home game against Racing Louisville. Both of your hosts will be in the stadium as fans for that one (our first time seeing a match together), and we’re curious whether Orlando will show some…err…pride…after such a dreadful showing at North Carolina. We look at the series history, the teams’ relative positions in the standings, and who has been creating danger for Louisville. Then we provide our key matchups and 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 132 went down:

0:15 – The Pride were awful on Friday against the Courage.

14:40 – The mailbagbox has had it.

33:47 – Orlando prepares for Racing Louisville at home.