Lion Links: 12/23/15

It's Wednesday. It's two days before Christmas. For many, myself included, it's the last day of work for the remainder of the year. More importantly, though, it's only 74 days until our beloved team retakes the field. While we will undoubtedly scour the internet from now until then, feasting on every nugget of news and rumor that we can get our hands on, in a mere 74 days, we will again get to enjoy the exhilaration of the beautiful game.

Orlando City better win.

Until then, lets hope these links can hold you over!

Orlando City to face Real Salt Lake in the Season Opener

We now know that the opponent across the field in 74 days will be Real Salt Lake. There will be a slightly different vibe at the Citrus Bowl than there was last season, as it won’t be the inaugural MLS season and the opponent doesn’t have the same star-quality as NYCFC, but I expect that the excitement level will be just as high. This may very well be the beginning of a journey that culminates with playoff soccer. Get all the details on opening day here.

MLS Year in Review

MLS has created a “Year in Review” series, looking back at each team’s 2015 season. For Orlando City, there’s nothing in here that most of us don’t know, but it’s always fun to revisit the season. Kaká was chosen as the Player of the Year because he added “instant credibility.” That’s kind of the safe answer, but I’ll stick with our Mane Land awards from a few weeks back.

Omar Gonzalez Transfers to Pachuca

It appears that Omar Gonzalez’s time in MLS has come to an end, as the defender was transferred from the LA Galaxy to C.F. Pachuca of Liga MX. Gonzalez was at one point a Designated Player, though he was paid down last year so that the team could sign Giovani dos Santos. While this is interesting from a player movement perspective, the true winner here is the means by which Gonzalez was introduced. Words can’t do this justice, so I’ll just refer you to the video below.

It’s official. Liga MX wins. This Omar Gonzalez presentation might be an all-time great (via @pressportmx) pic.twitter.com/UmF8pFt26t

— Miriti Murungi (@NutmegRadio) December 22, 2015

Major League Soccer Versus the Top Four

We’ve touched on this subject already in a number of Links this off-season, but for at least the next five years, it will continue to be a topic of discussion. This time it’s Forbes touching on the subject of MLS against the other major North American sports leagues in a discussion with President and Managing Director of MLS, Gary Stevenson. Stevenson touches on the good job the league has done with the Latin American market, the success with the 18-49 year old demographic, and the work they’ve done with digital media. But, in the end, the discussion again revolves around how to compete in the fall when football gets going. Hopefully, in a few years, though, instead of talking about how to compete, we’ll simply start talking about the ‘top five.’

That’ll do it for the links! For those who celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a very merry one. For those who don’t, I hope you at least get to enjoy some time off over the next few days.