Lion Links: 1/22/19

Good morning, readers. I hope you all had a good Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Personally, I was off from work and caught up on some much-needed rest. It’s a good thing, too, because there’s plenty of news to discuss today, so let’s get cracking.

Preseason Emphasis on Culture

Orlando City opened preseason camp yesterday, and the start of a new season brings with it the chance for Head Coach James O’Connor to implement the sort of culture he’s wanted since he arrived at the club last summer.

The main word that the head coach used was “togetherness.” He spoke about the team needing to work for each other and be a unit after the team’s morning training session at IMG Academy yesterday. The team is staying on IMG’s campus while it undergoes preseason camp until Feb. 3, the day after a match in Bradenton against the New York Red Bulls.

New Signing in the Works?

The Lions have reportedly extended an offer to Alexy Bosetti, a French attacker. Bosetti is currently playing in the French third division with Laval. Bosetti mainly operates as a striker and came to Laval after spending time with Nice in Ligue 1, as well as loan stints at Tours FC and Sarpsborg 08. Reportedly he has offers from OCSC as well as Oklahoma City Energy FC, a club playing in the USL Championship. As of the time of writing he has yet to make a decision, but it’ll be something to watch during the coming days.

SeaWolves Register First Ever Back-to-Back Wins

The Orlando SeaWolves took down the Milwaukee Wave on Monday night for their first back-to-back wins in club history. The match featured four lead changes, but Orlando finished with four straight goals to seal the 7-4 win.

MLS Transfer Roundup

While the past week wasn’t the most action-packed week for transfers that this off-season has seen, there was still a good amount of movement from the various teams around the league. Perhaps the biggest news was Atlanta United’s re-signing of Josef Martinez to a new five-year deal. Elsewhere, Columbus Crew SC re-signed Ricardo Clark, while Minnesota United splashed to sign Ozzie Alonso, a good piece of business to acquire a proven MLS midfielder. Another good move was the Montreal Impact signing Maxi Urruti to a deal that will keep him at the club through 2021, providing some needed firepower for the club north of the border. With just over a month until the new season kicks off, expect the transfers to keep coming, and make sure you have your heads on a swivel.

Why Stajcic was Sacked by Australia

More has come to light on Alen Stajcic being fired by the Football Federation of Australia following a well-being audit that revealed a toxic culture of fear and stress that surrounded the Australian women’s national soccer team. Fewer than 20% of the players said they felt the team environment was helping make them better players or people. Many of the players reported being afraid to ask for help or speak up about the levels of psychological stress that they were feeling due to worries about it being held against them, leading to the coach’s abrupt firing. The well-being audit was simply being conducted to ensure the players had all the necessary support to succeed at the upcoming World Cup, and ended up with a rather unexpected result.

Free Kicks

Starting this year, OCSC season ticket holders will get a scarf as part of their yearly gift.

Here are a few pictures from the Lions’ first day back at the office.

A former Lion has a new team.

And finally, Ashley Cole has joined Derby County.

That’ll be all for me today, folks. Have a great rest of the week and be sure to keep it here for all your Orlando soccer news. Ciao.