The Mane Land PawedCast

Orlando City waited exactly one week after Easter to lay an egg. The Lions played easily their worst game of the year so far when the New York Red Bulls visited Exploria Stadium on Sunday, mustering only three lousy shot attempts and getting none of them on target. Orlando City was lethargic, lacked any kind of passing precision, and couldn’t find a way past, through, or over New York. But it wasn...

Orlando City kept up its solid road form this past weekend with a 2-0 win over the Crew in Columbus. It was a standout performance for the Lions, particularly Rodrigo Schlegel — who opened his MLS account — and Facundo Torres, who was influential on both Orlando goals. We broke down the match and ranted a bit about Schlegel getting snubbed for MLS Team of the Week. We also selected our Man of the...

Orlando City got back in the win column at home on Saturday afternoon with a victory over the Chicago Fire. The Lions should have scored more goals, and we all would have enjoyed it more if they had, but in the end, the team is creating scoring opportunities and it seems only a matter of time before they start putting crooked numbers on the board more often — provided Orlando can continue to creat...

Orlando City has probably not looked as fluid and dangerous in a game and still lost as it did on Saturday night when LAFC handed the Lions a 4-2 loss at home. Things didn’t go as planned and that included a chalked off opening goal by Alexandre Pato, a serious-looking injury to Antonio Carlos, some defensive lapses that allowed the visitors to score on their scarce opportunities, and some big sav...

Orlando City was so close to making it back-to-back wins out west, but a foolish foul in the box allowed the Portland Timbers to fire up Timber Joey’s saw and equalize in an eventual 1-1 draw. The Lions still did well to gain four of six points on two of the longest road trips they have in MLS. We break down the draw, discuss Mauricio Pereyra’s injury, and select our Man of the Match. We’re then j...

Orlando City followed a crazy home loss to FC Cincinnati with almost a mirror image game in a 1-0 win on the road against the LA Galaxy. Both games saw the team with fewer chances, fewer shots, and much less possession find a way to win the game. We break down the win over Chicharito and company, with the Lions getting their first dub in the state of California and only their second in the Pacific...

Orlando City suffered its first loss of the season and one would never have guessed that would come at the hands of an FC Cincinnati side riding 14 straight losses and which had yet to score a goal in 2022. But soccer is a funny game and sometimes the joke is on you. So it was on Saturday as the Lions dominated every statistical category but the one that matters most in a 2-1 home loss. In the fir...

Orlando City is only two games into the season but already the Lions have had points stolen from their season-ending total. The 0-0 draw away against the Chicago Fire was an ugly match that perhaps deserved to finish scoreless but Junior Urso’s strike was called good on the field and there was nothing on the replays to show any reason to chalk it off. That didn’t stop Ismir Pekmic, however, as he...

Orlando City liked its 2-0 win over CF Montreal on Decision Day 2021 so much that the Lions duplicated it to start the 2022 season. Montreal came to town and had a frustrating day, while Alexandre Pato ended some of his frustrations and the Lions remained unbeaten on opening day while winning for just the second time in eight tries in the opener. We break down Sunday’s match and select our Man of...

Orlando City put the 2022 preseason to bed with a pair of results — a 2-2 draw vs. FC Cincinnati and a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The Lions are in full preparation mode for Sunday’s season opener against CF Montreal at Exploria Stadium. Before we get to that preview, we look back at the week’s worth of news, including which draft picks were signed and which were released. We also close th...

Orlando City still hasn’t won in preseason play but the Lions got a result on Friday night with a 1-1 draw against a stubborn Colorado Rapids team. Robin Jansson’s goal was canceled out by Diego Rubio in a bit of a defensive struggle that was mostly played between the penalty areas. Young Designated Player Facundo Torres made his Orlando City debut and played well, showing flashes of what Lions fa...

Orlando City got its 2022 preseason underway with a pair of matches within the past week and neither the results nor the injury news was what Lions fans were looking for. The club dropped its opener to Minnesota United — or was it the Chicago Fire? Nah, we’re pretty sure it was the Loons — last Thursday and then fell 1-0 to FC Dallas on Saturday. The latter match had the added angst of seeing new...

Orlando City officially signed Austrian striker Ercan Kara to a Designated Player contract. The new DP center forward will wear the No. 9 and fill that role for the Orlando attack after arriving on a three-year deal with two club option years. We’re excited to welcome him to the fold and to have a replacement for Daryl Dike, and can’t wait to see how he fits in with the group as the preseason prog...

Orlando City had a busy week off the pitch even as the Lions were getting down to business in preseason training. The long-awaited signing of winger Facundo Torres became official this week but fans will need to wait a little longer for him to arrive after the international window. Torres signed as a Young Designated Player and will be expected to make a big impact in 2022. The wing position also...

Orlando City still has yet to replace three key departures in the attack — Daryl Dike, Nani, and Chris Mueller — but the Lions did retain Alexandre Pato. The Duck returns for 2022 and can hopefully stay healthy long enough to display some of his considerable talent as the club vies for a third consecutive playoff appearance. That might not happen without offensive reinforcements and the news has b...

Orlando City is in the midst of its off-season roster makeover that feels more like a rebuild after losing so much offense in the forms of Daryl Dike, Nani, and Chris Mueller. There haven’t been any additions to the attack as far as transfers, but the Lions did add a couple of attacking players via Tuesday’s 2022 MLS SuperDraft. We’ll tell you what little we know about Orlando’s three draftees. Di...

The Orlando Pride had a busy week with an Expansion Draft, a regular draft, and multiple trades, including the long-awaited details on Alex Morgan’s move to San Diego. We break down the former Pride players selected by expansion Angel City, the trades related to the NWSL Expansion Draft, the details of the Morgan deal, and we go pick by pick through the draft day happenings. Pride GM Ian Fleming a...

Orlando City and the Orlando Pride made their roster decisions following the 2021 season and of course the first of those dropped the day our last episode dropped. Back from vacation, I reconvened with David Rohe to see how close we got on our predictions on the last show. It turns out we didn’t do too badly. We started with Orlando City’s decisions and which ones were surprising and who the Lions...

Orlando City said goodbye to team captain Nani this past week, as the Lions declined to exercise the Portuguese talisman’s contract option. So the club will have at least two Designated Player slots open this off-season pending a decision on Mauricio Pereyra. The Lions will have a new captain in 2022 and we look back at Nani’s career in Orlando. The club also made a new hire in adding Jarrod Dillo...

Orlando City had its season end Tuesday on a chilly night on a terrible football field with a 3-1 playoff loss at Nashville SC. There are worse ways to end an MLS season but the nerves are a little raw at the moment so Dave Rohe and I do our best to take an objective look at the team’s first-ever road playoff match and talk about the adversity the Lions overcame to even get to that point. Only one...

Orlando City reached the postseason without a single player or a head coach deemed worthy of being a finalist for an MLS award for 2021. That’s quite a feat! We discuss the MLS Awards finalists and talk a little about the job Oscar Pareja did over the course of the year. We also talked about the persistent Daryl Dike-to-England rumors and I propose an idea. The United States Men’s National Team to...

Orlando City is back in the postseason! The Lions went to Canada knowing they needed a result on the road against a stubborn CF Montreal side that they hadn’t managed to beat in two previous match-ups in their own stadium. It was a daunting task, as almost every MLS road match is, but it was especially difficult after coming off an emotional letdown at the end of the Nashville game against a despe...

Orlando City was far too lackadaisical in allowing preventable early goals in its 3-2 loss at the Columbus Crew in the midweek, which placed even more importance on Sunday’s match against Nashville SC. And then, well, that happened. It won’t bring Orlando City fans much comfort to know their team did just enough to win that match on Sunday because the customary — and important! — points that come...

Orlando City had a rough week in terms of dropping points in the second half but still managed to add to the team’s point total as the Lions continue their pursuit of a second straight playoff year. Montreal is a stubborn opponent and the Revs just have so much quality that these weren’t the worst draws of the season although they feel like more of the ‘loss’ variety of draw than the ‘win’ type. B...

Orlando City returned to the pitch on Saturday after a two-week layoff and while it would be wrong to say the Lions didn’t miss a beat, they at least captured all three vital points in a road match-up with FC Cincinnati. The win was a lot more difficult than it needed to be, due in part to the Lions’ play in the second half and partly due to no one being able to look at a monitor long enough to se...