Lion Links: 11/21/16

Wow, is it Thanksgiving week already? It sure is. As fans of the greatest soccer team ever created, we have a lot to be thankful for don’t we? Perhaps the club will give us even more to be thankful for this off-season by plugging the right holes on the team in order to make Orlando City a playoff team in 2017.

On a personal note, I’m thankful we’re even here. Later this week will mark the second anniversary of The Mane Land’s move to SB Nation. We started out as a free WordPress site getting a dozen or so views per story and now we’re among the leading MLS blogs here at SBN. It’s been an amazing journey and we couldn’t have done it without you, constant reader, as well as the hard work of all current and former staff members.

Speaking of staff, we sure could use some Orlando Pride writers for 2017 and maybe an additional OCB writer. If you’re interested, click here to find out how you can join our team.

Now, let’s get to your Monday morning links (don’t worry about today being Monday, it’s a short work week).

Orlando Pride’s Jasmyne Spencer Injures Ankle

Orlando Pride midfielder Jasmyne Spencer, currently on loan in Australia with Canberra United in the W-League, sustained what The Women’s Game described as a bad ankle injury in her team’s 1-0 win over the Brisbane Roar. We hope Spencer’s injury isn’t too severe and that she recovers quickly.

We don’t yet know the extent of the injury but she seems to be in good spirits.

By the way, Spencer launched her own official website this past week.

In Case You’re Not Sick of Klinsmann Stories Yet…

Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl makes the case for why U.S. Soccer should fire USMNT Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann. I’ve been on Team #FireJurgen for quite some time, personally, but even if I wasn’t, the case for a change is compelling when you consider the colossal Gold Cup failure, the Confederations Cup and this:

Here are the facts: The U.S. is in last place in the 10-game CONCACAF World Cup qualifying Hexagonal with zero points from the first two games—the first time the U.S. has ever lost the opening two games of the Hex (covering a span of six World Cup cycles).

And most of that came on home soil.

For his part, Klinsmann remains confident that the U.S. will qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, saying he’s “1,000 percent sure” his side will go through. (I don’t think he knows any more about how percentages work than he does about team selection.) He told Reuters that he has the support of President Obama.

Klinsmann quoted President Obama telling him at a three-hour brainstorming meeting that also included a Nobel Prize winner, leading scientists and astronauts, that there was still a long way to go on the road to Russia.

"He said, 'Coach, it didn’t go well in Costa Rica, but it’s only the start of the World Cup qualifying and you’ll get back on the right track.'

"He understands that it's a long qualifying process. He also understands dynamics of soccer as a global sport and how it builds bridges."

I guess Obama’s not as dumb about soccer as the rest of us ‘Muricans.

USWNT Members on 60 Minutes

United States Women’s National Team players Carli Lloyd, Morgan Brian, Becky Sauerbrunn and Christen Press were on CBS’ 60 Minutes last night and discussed the inequality between the men’s and women’s game. You knew you were going to get honest and candid interviews when a clip released ahead of the show featured a blunt Lloyd.

“We feel like we’re treated like second-class citizens because they don’t care as much about us as they do the men,” Lloyd tells CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell

These women are fighting hard for equal pay, which is a noble pursuit. There may be obvious economic reasons why the NWSL lags far behind MLS in average salary, but at the national team level there should be a more level playing field, in my opinion — especially when the women have been exponentially more successful on the world stage.

I’m also in favor of anything that provides more exposure to the women’s game, and a feature on the long-running news magazine program qualifies as exposure.

Top 10 Designated Players of All Time

FourFourTwo ranked the top 10 Designated Players in MLS history, giving former LA Galaxy star Robbie Keane the top spot. Kaká didn’t make their list, despite two very solid seasons in Orlando, but current players Sebastian Giovinco, Bradley Wright-Phillips, and David Villa all did.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, Mane Landers. Check back throughout the day for more Orlando City news.