Lion Links
Lion Links: 1/2/15
Happy Friday, Lion Nation!
Should a person be worried if they've now had a hangover for the last 36 hours? Asking for a friend.
Soccer never sleeps though, so here we are again, bright and early with your daily links fix!
#LampardGate Gets worse
It now appears that Frank Lampard may NEVER have actually been under contract with New York City FC at all! As outrageous as that sounds, some big names are starting to come out and say that may in fact be the case.
NYCFC source says Lampard’s contract is owned by Man City & isn’t a loan. Only adds questions & doesn’t take away from message being sent.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) January 1, 2015
Truly unbelievable. Hard to imagine how this could get any worse for NYCFC.
Supporters Group Formally Denounces Lampard Move
Oh. It got worse. The Third Rail, the largest independent NYCFC supporters group, issued a statement publicly denouncing City Football Group's and Frank Lampard's decision.
Not really much I can add here. It's as bad as it sounds.
Gerrard to MLS?
Big news here that seems to have moved past the point of being just an unsubstantiated rumor. Various reports say English midfielder Steven Gerrard will decline Liverpool's offer of a new contract and will look to move to MLS when his current deal ends in June.
This would be another good get for Major League Soccer. Is the Liverpool captain past his prime? Of course. But similar to Kaka, Lampard, and Beckham before them, he’s still got quite a bit of very high level soccer left in his legs. Look for the LA Galaxy or potentially even NYCFC to make a serious play.
Alex Morgan Married
It’s a dark day for U.S. Soccer fans: Alex Morgan is off the market. The sultry starlet tied the knot on New Year’s Eve with beau Servando Carrasco, a midfielder with the Houston Dynamo. We’ve got the flag at half-mast at Mane Land HQ, and staff writer @AustinDavid22 has been sobbing at his desk all morning.
The U.S. women will want Morgan fully focused as they head into the 2015 Women’s World Cup in June, where they will face 2015’s Group of Death. Personally, I’m handling everything all right. I’ve always been more of a Sydney Leroux guy anyway.
Premier League Round-Up
There was plenty of English Premier League action on New Year’s Day, in case you needed a break from all the American football. Lampard and Bony scored again, Tottenham won a barn burner at home against Chelsea, and Everton dropped its fourth in a row as an injured Tim Howard watched.
That’s it for today. Let us know what we missed in the comment section, and stay tuned over the weekend for all the latest Orlando City SC news!