Lion Links
Lion Links: 2/6/19
Hello everybody, and happy hump day. Orlando City plays a scrimmage today against Louisville City. Only the first 15 minutes are available to media, so there likely won’t be much news coming from it. Still, it is good that the team is starting to get in some games. Here’s what else is happening in the soccer world.
Will Johnson Sees the Culture Change
Orlando City Head Coach James O’Connor has been adamant since last season that Orlando City needs a culture change. It started at the tail end of 2018, and the shift is getting more prevalent this off-season. According to Johnson, the team has been working hard, and O’Connor has brought about that new mentality in the squad.
“We need to be blue-collar,” said Johnson. “We need to be humble. We need to fight for each other. We need to love each other. We need to respect each other. And, ultimately, know that when we show up on a Sunday that every guy has the other guy’s back. There’s no one player who’s bigger than the club. Everybody’s treated equally, with respect. That’s a good basis to start to build a foundation for a winning club.”
Dom Dwyer Injured
According to Joe Kepner, Dom Dwyer is out for the next two weeks with a hamstring injury. While having one of the team’s best players injured is not at all ideal, Dwyer should be back and fully fit for the season opener. The striker will likely miss all of the Orlando City Invitational.
In more Orlando City player news, Josué Colmán got his green card. This gives the Lions another international spot, and hopefully means another signing is coming soon.
Orlando City Ranked 51st in the World, Says Football Finance 100
Soccerex released its second edition of its Football Finance 100, featuring the world’s most economically powerful clubs. The list is compiled to give a snapshot of each team’s overall wealth. In compiling its Football Finance 100, Soccerex…
considers each club’s assets – both in terms of playing squads and tangibles – ownership influence, cash reserves and levels of debt in order to provide a balanced picture of the status of the world’s most powerful football clubs.
Major League Soccer is heavily featured in the list, with 14 representatives. The LA Galaxy are the top-ranked MLS team at No. 18, while Orlando slots in at No. 51. In addition to MLS, many clubs also come from China; the U.S. and China combine for 30% of the list.
The top 10 teams in the world are:
- Manchester City
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Bayern Munich
- Tottenham
- Arsenal
- Real Madrid
- Barcelona
- Manchester United
- Juventus
- Chelsea
USMNT Winners and Losers
Gregg Berhalter won his first two games as the United States Men’s National Team coach last month. He gave a plethora of players new opportunities, and the team started to implement his vision. Joe Tansey from ProSoccerUSA.com gave his list of the biggest winners and losers. Nick Lima was, of course, one of the breakout players, and Gyasi Zardes failed on his chance to prove he can be a focal point in the national team. Who else made the list though?
Free Kicks
- Former USL Lion Brad Rusin retires, while another former Lion, Luke Boden, became an Orlando City youth coach.
- The Orlando Pride’s Christine Nairn moved into fifth in the all-time appearance list for Melbourne Victory. Former Pride defender Steph Catley is third on that same list.
- Concacaf announces its first ever global licensing deal.
- Mexican attacking midfielder Marco Fabián is close to a deal with the Philadelphia Union.
- Seattle Sounders traded veteran defender Waylon Francis to the Columbus Crew in exchange for $50,000 in General Allocation Money.
- Terrence Boyd to Toronto is official.
- Former USF coach Steve Negoesco died at age 93.
- The former head of Guatemalan soccer’s governing body, Brayan Jimenez, plead guilty to corruption in FIFA.
- Christian Pulisic kept Dortmund alive but BVB went on to lose in penalties in the DFB Pokal.