Lion Links: 9/19/23

What. A. Weekend. Orlando’s three teams went undefeated and ensured about as good a start to the week as you could possibly ask for. That means I started this week riding high and there are plenty of opportunities for it to get better as Orlando City plays tomorrow and Sunday, with Orlando City B taking on FC Cincinnati 2 on Sunday. All of that action means there’s a lot to cover this morning, so let’s get after it.

Lions Earn Recognition After Comeback Victory

Ramiro Enrique and Martin Ojeda were both included in the latest edition of the MLS Team of the Matchday for their roles in Orlando City’s wild 4-3 comeback win against the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Ojeda had a goal and an assist, while Enrique had a brace and an assist and scored the winning goal with practically the last kick of the game. Enrique was also justifiably named the Player of the Matchday for his heroic effort. He joins Cyle Larin, Kaká, and Nani as just the fourth Lion to be named Player of the Matchday, so he’s certainly treading on hallowed ground. Congratulations to both guys, and keep up the good work!

Tab Ramos Reportedly Joins Revs

Tab Ramos has reportedly joined the New England Revolution as an assistant coach. If true, Ramos will try to help interim manager Clint Peay contain the chaos that has enveloped the club in recent weeks. The Revs are still third in the Eastern Conference, but players reportedly refused to train last Tuesday due to a lack of transparency concerning the events around Bruce Arena’s resignation. With all of that going on, it perhaps isn’t surprising that the Revs lost to a woeful Colorado Rapids team on the road on Saturday, and fans will hope that Ramos, who managed the Houston Dynamo for two years, can help get things back on track.

MLS Cuts Matko Miljevic

CF Montreal’s Matko Miljevic has had his contract terminated by the league following an absolutely wild story coming to light last week. Miljevic was reportedly playing in an amateur indoor soccer league using a fake name and subsequently received a lifetime ban from it after punching an opposing player in the face. Needless to say, a story like that doesn’t stay quiet for long, and since playing in another league while under contract with Major League Soccer is a violation of the contract that every player signs when joining, the league was able to end his contract with fairly little fuss. Thus ends one of the more bizarre stories to come across my figurative desk this year.

Injury Bug Ravages Manchester United and Chelsea

Injuries are beginning to pile up at Manchester United as Aaron Wan-Bissaka will now reportedly miss anywhere from a few weeks to two months after sustaining an injury in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Brighton. Luke Shaw, Raphael Varane and Mason Mount are also out, but United’s injury problems pale in comparison to Chelsea’s, as the injury bug is chewing a path through the Blues’ squad. In fact, the London club has enough injured players to field a full starting XI that would be worth more than £370 million and features names like Reece James, Moises Caicedo, and Christopher Nkunku. Despite a 0-0 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, Chelsea will likely simply be happy that no one went off injured during the game. United likely wouldn’t complain if it can get a similar result away against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City rose three spots to fourth place in the latest edition of ESPN‘s MLS power rankings.
• Spain called up a number of players from its Women’s World Cup winning squad for its upcoming UEFA Nations League games, but Jenni Hermoso was not among them.
• Julian Draxler has left Paris Saint-Germain to join Al-Ahli in Qatar on a two-year deal, following in the footsteps of PSG teammate Marco Veratti, who joined last week.
• I leave you with what has to be one of the wildest, most Concacaf-y tackles I’ve seen in my 28 years on this earth.

That does it for me this morning. Y’all stay safe out there.