Orlando City crashed out of the U.S. Open Cup in rather timid fashion on Wednesday, but we have no time to dwell on that. There are nine matches left in the regular season, and it is imperative for the Lions to keep picking up points at a good clip if they want to remain above the playoff line. They’ll have their work cut out for them on Saturday, as the team travels up to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution.

A date with the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese, one of the writers over at The Blazing Musket. As always, he did an outstanding job at helping bring us up to speed on New England, and I also answered some of his questions about Orlando City, which you can find over at their place.

This is Marko Mitrovic’s first year in charge of the Revs. How does he want this team to play?

Jake Catanese: So, I think the Revs are still figuring this part out due to a rotating list of injuries they’ve dealt with at times this year. But the simplest answer is New England wants to be balanced and I think beat you on overloads. They want to figure out ways to get someone in behind, get multiple runners into one area on a cross, or figure out some way to get the defense to react to something. New England has long struggled with breaking down opponents who are in a set defensive formation and have like eight or nine guys behind the ball, even the creative maestro that is Carles Gil. Five years ago, we saw the best version of the Revs in a Shield-winning team that could punish you in so many ways on the counter with Gustavo Bou and Tajon Buchanan and operate in a “half-court” offense with Adam Buksa as a target man to aim for. This New England team isn’t at that level, but it’s the most versatile and dangerous team the Revs have had since that squad.

Talk me through the Revolution’s transfer business this year. Who has gone out the door, and who’s come in to replace those guys?

JC: The big moves into the team are Jack Harrison and Daniel Gazdag. Harrison was a much-needed upgrade as injuries to Luca Langoni and a rotation of options playing opposite him were doing well but not having the same impact as a Designated Player-level winger. The addition of Gazdag is the most interesting because right now he’s looking at a super sub role, but given the Revs are still shorthanded up top, there’s going to be a ton of opportunity for him to add on to that game winner he had last week. It’s a great foundation that Chris Tierney and Mitrovic have really established so far.

The big move out was center back Brayan Ceballos being traded to Montreal. This was very much a personal thing, as there were issues getting visas for his family to join him stateside. With Ethan Kohler having a breakout year, the Revs did the Colombian defender a solid. While we’re all a little bummed, since he was a really solid player for the Revs last year, I’m very happy New England was able to work that situation out, even though it probably wasn’t planned and definitely could have hurt the Revs short term. Young center backs Joshua Wynder (Benfica) and Tylon Smith (QPR) were brought in on loan to bolster the back line as well.

New England’s defensive play has been a strength this year, with just 31 goals given up in 25 games. What’s made the Revs so tough to score on?

JC: There are two major reasons for this. First, Matt Turner is back to “I am the best shot stopper in the league” level of play, and his analytics are insane. Also in reference to that tweet, the LOL moment of Turner and Djordje Petrovic occupying the Top 5 almost by themselves is just absurd. Now, the Revs still give up like one or two big chances a game too many at times…and while Turner is good to maybe bail you out once, there’s only so many chances you can give up from close range before you concede. We maintain Matt Turner should have started at the World Cup.

That being said, the second reason is thanks to the Revs’ change in style of play, they aren’t getting punished for mistakes, because those turnovers aren’t happening in their own half. Caleb Porter and the Revs spent so much time keeping the ball in their own half that they gave up a lot of chances off turnovers. This Revs team doesn’t have that problem, because they’re progressing the ball with a purpose and generally have more time to recover if and when they do something stupid. Yes, I still think the Revs are a little vulnerable in the air and on set pieces, but it’s not as bad as it was in previous years.

Individually, we mentioned Ethan Kohler’s breakout into the starting lineup and he’s been tremendous since the World Cup break, but Will Sands has spent the bulk of the year as the Revs’ starting left back and has also done really well. I think the Revs’ best lineup eventually has Peyton Miller and Ilay Feingold as the starting fullbacks, but if you’re going to get solid games from Sands and Matt Polster at right back on a regular basis, then you’re doing just fine and it shows up in the fact the Revs are giving up just over a goal a game, which I think is second in the East behind only the brick wall that is Nashville.

Will any players be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting lineup and score prediction?

JC: Ah, the bad news for the week dropped already, and that is the Revs will be without both Jack Harrison and Alhassan Yusuf for about six weeks, as they both picked up injuries at Citi Field against New York City FC recently. Eventually, Peyton Miller and Brooklyn Raines will join up with the USMNT, and Dor Turgeman and Ilay Feingold with Israel, so the Revs are going to have a really interesting week coming up in their near future for reasons only the schedule makers can justify. Last week against Chicago, the Revs deployed Gazdag at wing, Jackson Yueill at central defensive midfielder, and Matt Polster at right back, but if Feingold is healthy enough for an international call-up, he should be healthy enough to start, and I think that drops Polster to the bench.

4-2-3-1: Matt Turner; Will Sands, Mamadou Fofana, Ethan Kohler, Ilay Feingold; Brooklyn Raines, Jackson Yueill; Peyton Miller, Carles Gil, Daniel Gazdag; Dor Turgeman.

Some extra names to pay attention to off the bench are striker Wilson Harris and winger Luca Langoni. Harris was another one of the under-the-radar signings this summer and has been really solid late in games. Langoni has also missed a bunch of time and is working back to full fitness and is probably in line to get some starts before the year is up as well. New England going up against an improved but still very porous defense, I think they take this 3-1 at home off the confidence of two big road wins last week.

Thank you to Jake for the fantastic primer on the Revs. Vamos Orlando!

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! There’s plenty of soccer to look forward to this weekend, with both the Orlando Pride and Orlando City in action on Saturday before Orlando City B finishes its regular season on Sunday. Hopefully, we’ll have plenty to celebrate over the next few days. But for now, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Justin Ellis Named to First USMNT Roster

United States Men’s National Team Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino called up 28 players for training camp ahead of the team’s first friendlies since the World Cup. Orlando City forward Justin Ellis has had a breakout season at just 19 years old and is one of 13 uncapped players to earn a spot on the roster. Cavan Sullivan, Zavier Gozo, and Julian Hall are a few of the other young talents to keep an eye out for during these matches. Former Lion Alex Freeman, who scored for the U.S. at the World Cup, was called up as well. The U.S. will take on Peru on Sept. 26 at Inter.co Stadium, so hopefully fans will be able to see some familiar faces. Following that match, the Yanks will play against Chile on Sept. 29 in St. Louis before friendlies against Mexico on Oct. 3 and Canada on Oct. 6.

Lions Called Up For International Duty

Ellis isn’t the only Lion who will be with their national team over the next couple of weeks. Midfielder Wilder Cartagena was called up for Peru’s friendlies, along with former Lions Pedro Gallese and Yoshimar Yotun.

Tyrese Spicer was called up for Trinidad & Tobago’s upcoming Concacaf Nations League matches with spots in the quarterfinals up for grabs. Trinidad & Tobago will play against Haiti and the Dominican Republic before a pair of matches against Curacao.

Defender David Brekalo was also called up for Nations League games and will head to Europe for Slovenia’s matches in League B against Scotland, Switzerland, and North Macedonia.

Orlando City’s Club Profile Revealed

MLS released the club roster profiles for each team as of Sept. 15. These profiles have been a great way to see how each team’s roster is constructed, while also showing the contract and option details for each player. The Lions have all Designated Player and MLS U22 Initiative slots filled, with Eduard Atuesta, David Brekalo, and Braian Ojeda listed as TAM players. The profile also reveals that Orlando has $1.86 million in 2026 General Allocation Money remaining, and it’s hard not to wonder about the improvements that could have been made to the team with that money.

Vlatko Andonovski Joins the Chicago Stars

The Chicago Stars have hired Vlatko Andonovski as the club’s chief soccer officer to right the ship after another rough season. Already eliminated from playoff contention, the Stars have only won five games so far this season and fired Martin Sjögren as head coach last month. Andonovski joins the Stars after terminating his contract with the Kansas City Current on Sept. 7. The former United States Women’s National Team head coach has had plenty of success in women’s soccer and it’ll be interesting to see if he can turn things around in Chicago.

Free Kicks

• The Orlando Pride remained in 11th in CBS Sports’s NWSL power rankings following their 2-2 draw on the road against the Kansas City Current.
• The San Diego Wave signed 18-year-old attacker Melanie Barcenas to a contract extension through the 2028 season. She’s been enjoying a breakout season in San Diego, scoring six goals so far this season.
• Despite being called up to the USMNT, Julian Hall stated that he remains open to playing for Poland, which is where his mother is from.
• From the heavyweight match between Roma and Inter in Serie A to the derby match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, here are the matchups to watch for in Europe this weekend.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

Orlando City traveled to Ohio for a semifinal match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against the Columbus Crew. Unfortunately, this was the end of the Lions’ hunt for a second USOC trophy as the club fell 2-1 to the Crew, failing to advance to the final. This was likely Orlando City’s best chance at a trophy this year, and the congested schedule may prove costly for the club’s chances on the road against a good New England side on Saturday.

Here are my five takeaways from the match.

Of Course it was Martinez

The Lions gave up an early goal, which is never good, but this goal was scored by Josef Martinez. Yeah, that guy is now with Columbus, and of course it was Martinez that gave the Crew the early lead against Orlando City. Antoine Griezmann was the player that kept Martinez onside. The video assistant referee took a look for a possible handball prior to the ball falling for the completely unmarked ex-Atlanta man, but there was nothing to it, and the home team took the lead. I’m fine if I never see Martinez play soccer again.

Welcome Back, Martin Ojeda!

Martin Ojeda started the match, and frankly he didn’t look too sharp in the early going. I should say that he didn’t look sharp until he did. Justin Ellis did some great work to bring the ball to just outside the box, he then sent a great ball across to Ojeda on his left. Ojeda took one touch to set up his cannon of a left foot and blasted a low shot into the bottom right corner past a defender and the outstretched hands of Crew goalkeeper Nicholas Hagan. It was exactly what the Lions needed from their Number 10, pulling Orlando level before the break.

The Double Whammy

There were two minutes in the second half completely changed the tenor of the match. In the 52nd minute, the Crew scored a go-ahead goal. Brais Méndez made a well-timed run to get in behind Robin Jansson and onto the ball from Santiago Rodriguez. There wasn’t anything Mazime Crepeau could to. Then in the 54th minute, Antoine Griezmann went off injured from an earlier challenge at the other end. He came off under his own power, but not having him on the pitch made things more difficult for Orlando City, which looked like a different team without him.

Angulo Put in a Shift

We don’t usually do Player Grades for U.S. Open Cup matches, but Ivan Angulo would have earned a good grade from me for his effort and work rate in this match. As he has in the past, he started on the left wing before moving to right back to finish the match. Even though I thought he occasionally looked tired, he always found the burst of speed when he needed it to either make a run or get back and defend.

A Tired Team

Orlando City looked like a team playing its third match in eight days, while the Crew, who also played three in eight, looked much fresher at home. Martin Perelman made four substitutions in the second half, and while the players who came on brought some energy, the creativity of Griezmann and Ellis (who subbed off) was missing late as Orlando searched for the equalizer. Ultimately, the Crew were able to play keep away to see out the match as the Lions had trouble keeping control long enough to create chances at the end.

That is what I saw in Orlando City’s 2-1 loss to the Columbus Crew. Let us know your thoughts about the match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!