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.

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 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.

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.

This week, we learned that it is possible to pepper a goal without making the goalkeeper have to do anything, as the Orlando Pride sent dozens of shots at Chicago Stars FC netminder Katie Atkinson, who barely had to move to stop any of the ones on target. Sure, there was a step and a half to her right to stop Marta's penalty, but other than that, her toughest save came off the face of her own teammate, which she swatted off the crossbar with a desperate, flailing lunge.

Aside from that, the Pride were content to fire shot after shot right at Atkinson's torso.

Eventually, Julie Doyle managed to hit the target without hitting Atkinson, saving the Pride from wasting a dominant performance in almost nearly every other aspect of the match. We look back at a frustrating win (victories are not supposed to be frustrating!), review our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

We also touched on Seven Castain's new contract and subsequent loan to Dallas Trinity. Hopefully, Castain will get minutes and develop her skills to be able to contribute at an NWSL level while Orlando has her under contract.

This week's mailbagbox pitted the Pride against Barbra Banda, asked how the Pride won the double two years ago, 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 Friday's road battle against the North Carolina Courage. The Pride may need to find the net twice to beat North Carolina in its own stadium, and that has proven to be difficult even when Banda isn't playing in international tournaments with Zambia. Where the goals will come from is anyone's guess, but we reviewed the series history, provided our key matchups for the game, and tried our luck at predicting the final score.

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 131 went down:

0:15 – The Pride snapped their two-game losing streak, but it wasn't pretty, and it wasn't nearly as easy as the number of shots suggest it should have been.

21:44 - The mailbagbox rarely complains after a win, but...

42:24 - Orlando heads north to play the Courage. We preview!

A week ago, we got to talk about how the Orlando Pride bounced back from their worst performance in a long time in their 2-0 road loss at Angel City to beat the Kansas City Current 3-0 in one of their best games of the year. The worm turns quickly, as the Pride followed up an impressive win with two listless performances just a few days apart, losing both by 1-0 final scores. Getting swept by expansion Boston was particularly galling, but the loss away to the Utah Royals over the weekend was nearly as maddening.

We treated them as one long, bad performance, discussing the games, looking back at our stupidly optimistic score predictions, and somehow coming up with selections for Player of the Match in a pair of outings that hardly seemed worthy of picking one.

We also discussed Barbra Banda's selection to the Zambian Women's National Team ahead of their run in this year's Women's Africa Cup of Nations, as well as Giles Barnes' departure from his assistant coaching position with Orlando to take over at Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia.

This week's mailbagbox asked whether the Pride will have more games played without Banda while she's away at WAFCON than team goals scored in that time, whether we can generate any mojo for the club to acquire Emma Sears, 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 Friday's matchup with the Chicago Stars. The Pride will be at home, but over the years, being at home against Chicago has not been a recipe for success. We look back at the series history, give our unanimous key matchup to the game, and try to predict the final score. We are not as optimistic as last week. Do with that information what you will.

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 130 went down:

0:15 – The Pride played in two matches and that's about all that can be said in a positive (or even neutral) light about them.

27:06 - The mailbagbox asks us an easy question and also wants us to get metaphysical.

35:36 - A look ahead to the Chicago Stars, a team seemingly there to be beaten, but can the Pride even score?

The Orlando Pride bounced back from their worst performance in some time away at Angel City in Friday's 3-0 win over the Kansas City Current. Given the relative forms the two teams were in when they entered the match, it was a shock result. The Pride were without Rafaelle but the pairing of Zara Chavoshi and Hannah Anderson — flanked by Kerry Abello and Cori Dyke — did well in helping Anna Moorhouse keep a clean sheet. Meanwhile, Marta scored a worldie, Anderson finished a great corner cross from Ally Lemos, and Barbra Banda returned from injury to score off the bench. It was a complete victory and could not have been more needed.

We looked back at the matchup, reviewed our completely erroneous score predictions, and made our selections for Player of the Match. After a game in which we didn't like any of the Pride's performances, we struggled to find one that wasn't above average in this most recent game.

This week's mailbagbox asked about Hailie Mace's role, how much longer Marta will run things in Orlando, 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 a pair of matches coming up this week. First up is Boston Legacy tonight at Inter&Co Stadium, followed by the Pride traveling to Utah to square off against the Royals. It's anyone's guess which Orlando team will show up in either match, but it would be a good time for the Pride to find some consistency. We looked at both opponents and the series histories, provided our key matchups, and made 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 129 went down:

0:15 – The Pride and Current battled throughout, but it was Orlando that finished its chances.

17:38 - The mailbagbox wanted us to weigh in on Julie Doyle's hustle and the three best Pride players on Friday aside from the Player of the Match.

35:50 - A look ahead to games against the Legacy and the Royals.

The Orlando Pride returned to the pitch on Friday but they hardly seemed into it, as they played one of their worst games of the season in a 2-0 loss at Angel City that could have been worse. The Pride rarely threatened Angel City's goal, struggled to defend or keep the ball, and had no attack to speak of whatsoever.

We broke down the match about as much as we could bring ourselves to do so, discussed the various things that aren't working, and looked back at our score predictions. We selected a Player of the Match but we didn't feel good about it.

Following our match rewind, we talked a little about goalkeeper Kat Asman's loan to Denver Summit FC — a move that took place a couple of days before the Angel City match.

This week's mailbagbox asked headphones, improving the Pride's lineup, things that make us feel better, 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 a critical match coming up against the Kansas City Current. The Pride will get embarrassed if they don't improve from their most recent performance, and it's imperative to get something from this game to stay in playoff contention and to try to build back some of the team's lost momentum. We give you the series history, discuss the teams' relative positions in the table, complain a bit about the NWSL website, and 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 128 went down:

0:15 – The Pride were not good in Los Angeles.

15:12 - The mailbagbox helps us heal by asking us about puts us in a better mood.

26:01 - A look ahead to an important Friday match against Kansas City.

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.

The Orlando Pride are still off for a couple of weeks, but the soccer rarely stops. We're back to touch on the United States Women's National Team's trip to Brazil to face three Pride players and their Brazilian teammates. It was kind of an ugly pair of games for the USWNT, which struggled to score goals and connect in the final third. The second of those two matches was a wild affair that devolved into a parade of red cards near the end.

We touch on the reports out of Zambia on Barbra Banda's injury, which seems to be more promising than expected when she went down with a knock against Bay FC. We'll have to wait to see when she can return, but if she's expected to play in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, that is a good sign.

This week's mailbagbox asked a couple of questions about Banda. 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.

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 126 went down:

0:15 – The USWNT went to Brazil to play and didn't play as well as we're used to seeing.

13:06 - The mailbagbox goes through some interesting twists and turns and then we just ramble for a little bit (who, us?).

The Orlando Pride hosted Bay FC and made it two straight wins for the first time in 2026. Orlando continued its successful ways against California-based teams with another standout performance by striker Barbra Banda. The Zambian international scored two goals and set up another to lead the Pride to another big three points on the cusp of the World Cup break. Jacquie Ovalle and Zara Chavoshi came off the bench, taking the Pride two steps closer to having a healthy roster.

It wasn't all good news, however. The game was fun until Banda picked up an injury late in the game and now we wait to see what the severity is. Losing Banda for any length of time is not ideal for a team reliant on her for goals and hovering near the bottom of the playoff places.

We break down the Pride's 3-1 win at home, look back at our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

This week's mailbagbox asked about Nicole Payne, Tallahassee-based side TLH Reckoning, Orlando Pride players as USWNT starters, 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.

After the mailbagbox, we look ahead to the USWNT heading to Brazil for a pair of friendlies. These games should be good tests for Emma Hayes' side, and it will be fun to watch Orlando's Brazilians play for their national team.

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 125 went down:

0:15 – Orlando has its first winning streak of the season with a victory over Bay FC.

19:04 - The mailbagbox takes us into the summer break.

32:45 - The USWNT heads to Brazil to face a good team with several Pride players on it.

The Orlando Pride stayed on the road, which is usually a recipe for disaster. But instead of suffering a second straight multi-goal loss, the Pride rose to the occasion, played with grit and determination, and beat the then-first-place San Diego Wave 1-0 on the road. While Orlando has been adept at getting results in California in the past, there was no reason to expect an injury-plagued, reeling team to look like it was back in 2024, refusing to lose.

We break down the Pride's big road win and how it could be a sign that the club has figured things out, look back at our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

This week's mailbagbox asked about why this Orlando Pride team can't be normal, what if the team had been healthy all season, 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.

After the mailbagbox, we look ahead to Friday's final game before the break as Bay FC comes to Orlando. We look back at the limited series history between the two clubs, provide our key matchups, and make our final 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 124 went down:

0:15 – Orlando continued its road trip and found a way to finish it on a high note.

14:56 - The mailbagbox is not sure what to make of this year's Pride team.

27:14 - Bay FC visits on Friday and we'll see if the Pride can build on the win at San Diego or if it was a moment of magic.