Lion Links: 11/13/16

Happy Sunday to you! Hopefully you are now starting to look forward to the United States vs. Costa Rica game instead of dwelling on the Mexico defeat. Plus, a busy U. S. Soccer weekend continues with the U. S. Women’s National Team taking on Romania again tonight.

We want to wish Orlando City Goalkeeping Coach Stewart Kerr a happy 42nd birthday. Kerr’s work really paid dividends with Joe Bendik this season for the Lions. Now, on to today’s links.     

Tommy Redding Named One of MLS’s Top Teenagers 

Tommy Redding earned some national attention with his inclusion in MLSsoccer.com’s Best Teenagers of 2016. In September, he was included in the 24 under 24 list. Redding continues to progress with Orlando City, starting 16 games this year and appearing in 18.

Orlando City’s first Homegrown Player should be an important defensive piece moving forward with the youth movement Orlando is pursuing. Next year looks to be an important year for his development, but there could be more competition for minutes depending on Orlando’s off-season activities. Be sure to check out The Mane Land’s Tommy Redding Season in Review for more. 

Gashi Grabs MLS Goal of the Year

Shkelzen Gashi was awarded the MLS Goal of the Year on Friday night. The free kick from Sept. 24 is a real beauty — if you somehow haven’t seen it yet. He grabbed an impressive 73% of the votes over Jack Harrison’s individual goal in the final round of the 64-goal bracket. Gashi arguably out-shined his regular season goal with his recent goal in the second leg against the Galaxy last Sunday.

In case you were wondering, Brek Shea’s curling strike for Orlando against Portland made it as far as the quarterfinals. Shea’s shot lost to Giovani Dos Santos’ volley, which was pretty nice, I guess. MLS had some great goals this year, and the Goal of the Year bracket is a great way to make up for a lack of matches on TV this weekend.   

Finger Pointing Within USMNT?

Friday’s post-game comments from players and Jurgen Klinsmann seemed a little alarming with both groups pointing fingers at each other. Michael Bradley seemed to indirectly put some of the blame on Klinsmann, saying that the tactical objectives were unclear. Meanwhile, Klinsmann didn’t hold back in blaming formation woes squarely on Bradley and Jermaine Jones, saying that both players failed to win midfield battles.

After watching the opening half hour of Friday’s match, it’s obvious that something wasn’t working. But couldn’t the guys sort out tactical blunders behind the scenes? It will be interesting to see what formation Klinsmann trots out on Tuesday night — the players’ 4-4-2 or another experimental formation. 

USWNT Preview

The second edition of the USWNT vs. Romania takes place tonight at 9:30 p.m. Allison Lee has you covered with pre-match details over at Once a Metro.  Romania probably wishes it didn’t schedule two matches after the 8-1 defeat it endured on Thursday night. What’s the over/under on Christen Press goals this time? We’ll have more on tonight’s match-up later this morning, so check back with us later.

Gulati Seeks Term Limits for U. S. Soccer Board Members

President Sunil Gulati and U. S. Soccer are considering term limits for the president and board members. Currently, the bylaws do not restrict how long members can serve. The new proposal would limit service to 12 years.

“We [USSF] don't have term limits [but] we've had 45 presidents in 100 years, something like that. FIFA's had eight . . .”

It’s refreshing to see a leader, like Gulati advocate for a new policy that would limit his own office.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Mane Landers.