The Mane Land PawedCast Michael Citro

It's PawedCast time again, and since there was apparently only one news story in the entire world this week, we've sunk to giving actual minutes of our show to discussing the as-yet-unsigned Lionel Messi. What does it mean for MLS, for Miami, and for Orlando if and when that signature happens? As with any signing, we'll have to wait and see, but it will at least solve Inter Miami's attendance issues. As with most things involving MLS, there are positives and negatives, and we're here to discuss both.
Matt Pollard has been busy repositioning former SBNation Colorado Rapids blog Burgundy Wave into a Patreon-funded site and he joins us to help us preview Saturday's opponents from the Western Conference. Big thanks to Matt for giving us the inside scoop.
Our mailbagbox allowed us to steal a player from any rival team, which is kind of a neat idea, and MLS should just let us do it. 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.
Finally, we dove into our key matchups and score predictions for the Colorado Rapids' visit to Central Florida this weekend.
Here’s how No. 351 went down:
0:15 – Inter Miami plans to sign yet another DP.
31:35 – Matt Pollard joins us to tell us what's up with the Rapids this season.
52:04 – The mailbagbox and what we think will happen on Saturday vs. Colorado.
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It's early June, so technically it's still time to do some spring cleaning. Speaking of which, the Lions got their brooms out and swept the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night in Harrison, NJ. Ivan Angulo, Facundo Torres, Wilder Cartagena, and Robin Jansson starred on a night when Orlando City's strategy was to stay organized against New York's chaotic press and wait for opportunities to punish the Red Bulls on the counter. That's pretty much what the Lions did on Saturday and it resulted in a 3-0 win against a team that hadn't given up more than two in a match all season.
We broke down Orlando's win in the Garden State and selected our Man of the Match. We also touched on several Lions who were honored for their performances in that game. Oh, and Mikey Halliday is coming home, which is good, but it's because the U-20 USMNT lost in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinals, which is bad.
After our review of Saturday's match, we opened up the mailbagbox. Among this week's topics were Targeted Allocation Money and buying down Designated Players, along with home form vs. road form. 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.
Finally, we discussed a disjointed Orlando City B performance north of the border against Toronto FC II. The Young Lions never seemed in this game and the warning bells were chiming loudly just 17 seconds into the match. It was not a fun night for OCB.
Here’s how No. 350 went down:
0:15 – The Lions didn't have their sharpest passing night, but they put the ball in the net three times, which is always a welcome sight.
33:42 – OCB had a very bad night in Canada.
42:31 – The mailbagbox beckons and we don't claim to be experts on the weird player-signing mechanisms in MLS.
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we have no special guest, however, we still had plenty to discuss.
Orlando City B took center stage early this week with a rare Monday night match against New York Red Bulls II. The Young Lions jumped out to an early lead, fell behind by halftime, and managed to stage a comeback to claim all three points. OCB remains unbeaten at home in 2023 after a wild match that of course featured some Jack Lynn heroics.
We discuss the Young Lions' win over the Baby Bulls and Lynn's torrid streak. Also, we've had more Shak Mohammed sightings recently, as the 19-year-old Ghanaian has been playing better of late with OCB and he scored his first professional goal on Monday night to win the match. It's a great sign from the Generation Adidas draft pick and we look forward to watching his continued development.
After our OCB recap, we opened up the mailbagbox to find a question about Ted Lasso. Don't worry, we handled it with care to keep listeners spoiler-free. 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.
Finally, we previewed Orlando City's upcoming match Saturday night at Red Bull Arena. We included our key matchups and score predictions as the senior Lions take on New York on the road.
Here’s how No. 349 went down:
0:15 – The Young Lions get top billing for this episode. That's new.
16:43 – The mailbagbox believes! Our thoughts on Coach Beard's revelation from the show's penultimate episode (without spoiling the revelation for those who are behind).
30:41 – Key matchups were unanimous and we've got score predictions for the Lions at the Red Bulls.
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Orlando City returned home and once again goals were difficult to come by, which allowed the visitors to score late and take points home with them. The Lions were playing their second straight rivalry match and Atlanta United was ripe for the picking, but Orlando City could only muster one goal from Kyle Smith — getting the PawedCast bump from his appearance last week — and allowed an equalizer in the dying moments of the match. A point is OK but too many of these are feeling like losses.
We break down the Lions vs. Atlanta United and give our selections for Man of the Match. We also checked back to see how our predictions went and discussed Smith's MLS honor this week.
We switched gears and opened our mailbagbox, making a co-ed team consisting of Orlando City and Pride players, and talked a little music as well. 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.
Finally, we discussed Orlando City B's 1-0 road win at Inter Miami II (courtesy of another Jack Lynn goal), a big international moment for Alejandro Granados, and more.
Here’s how No. 348 went down:
0:15 – The hated Atlanta United came to town and stole two points at the end because they're like that.
12:54 – The mailbagbox and a five-star review to add to the pile.
25:00 – OCB took three more points out of DRV PNK Stadium to bring home to Orlando.
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[Note: Apologies for the echoey sound on my mic on this episode (Dave and Kyle sound great). Apparently my mic switched to the built-in laptop mic without me noticing and that's on me. It sounds OK but not as good as usual.]
We're back with a second show in between rivalry matches and we're joined by Orlando City defender Kyle Smith! It's about darn time we had Kyle on the show and we're very thankful for his time.
Before our interview with Kyle, we updated some Orlando City news items and then had a breakout discussion from one of our mailbagbox questions. We selected our Bext XI from Orlando City's history. There were some difficult decisons, but honestly, we felt like most of the spots were pretty easy to pick.
After that, Kyle jumped on with us to patiently answer multiple questions about whether he is, in fact, an accountant or wants to become one. On more topical pursuits, we asked Kyle his approach from week to week when he's not sure which side of the field he'll be playing on or even what position he might play. He also told us who his most difficult opponent in MLS has been, as well as what it's like to face former Orlando City teammates when they move on to another team.
We then shifted back to the mailbagbox for some questions that didn't require quite so much research and thought, and enjoyed a couple more questions that were embedded in a five-star review on Apple podcasts.
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.
Finally, we discussed this weekend's game as Orlando City hosts Atlanta United, giving our key matchups and our score prediction for another Southeast Showdown between the two bordering states.
Here’s how No. 347 went down:
0:15 – Who made the cut on our all-time Orlando City Best XI and how many of them are currently on the roster?
22:33 – Orlando City defender Kyle Smith jumps on with us and we chat about nicknames and some soccer stuff.
38:27 – Back to the mailbagbox and our preview of the Atlanta match.
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Orlando City went back on the road for a tussle with its neighbors to the south in the latest installment of the Tropic Thunder rivalry. The Lions struck first and last in a good overall performance against Inter Miami and claimed all three points in Fort Lauderdale for just the second time in five visits. Ercan Kara continued to pour in goal contributions with one strike and one assist. Not to be outdone, new Designated Player Martin Ojeda did the same. We're breaking down an enjoyable match in which things clicked on both ends of the pitch for Orlando City, and Oscar Pareja pulled all the right strings. We also made our selections for Man of the Match.
Following our match rewind, we welcome The Mane Land Platinum Founder Samuel Atkinson to the program. Samuel wanted to talk about Orlando City and MLS salaries, and we had an interesting chat about the league's pay structure and how OCSC fits into the grand scheme of things. Big thanks to Samuel for the chat, and for his help in us getting our footing as an independent website.
We also discussed Orlando City B's comeback against Atlanta United 2. The Young Lions battled back valiantly and probably deserved more than one point based on overall play, but any time a team is down multiple goals and takes any points out of the match, it can only be viewed as a positive.
Finally, we dipped into the mailbagbox and answered listener questions about soccer position numbers, movie franchises that overstayed their welcome, and former Lion Chris Mueller. 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.
We'll be back later in the week to prepare for Orlando City's upcoming match against Atlanta United.
Here’s how No. 346 went down:
0:15 – The Lions brought all the points home from Fort Lauderdale. That's the optimal outcome.
19:11 – Orlando City salary and Designated Player chat with one of our Platinum Founders.
43:37 – OCB battled for the full 90 against Atlanta United 2, plus a full mailbagbox.
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