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.
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