Lion Links: 3/11/26

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. The Orlando Pride are finally back in action this weekend, and we’ll get to watch it — unlike the preseason. It’s a good thing too, since Orlando City has been hard to watch. Speaking of the Pride, you won’t want to miss this week’s episode of SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride Podcast and our special guest. Until then, let’s get to the links.

Trio of Missing Lions

Crepeau, Jansson & Gerbet sounds like a law firm specializing in personal injury cases. That is definitely the case when it comes to Robin Jansson and Joran Gerbet, as the two work back from their respective injuries. Fortunately, there’s some progress on that. Both are training off to the side. Hopefully, their recoveries go well and they can return to help Orlando City.

Maxime Crepeau will be absent from Orlando City’s next match thanks to the red card he earned against New York City FC Saturday afternoon. He was also fined by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for not leaving the field in a timely manner. I’d like to say he had a good argument against the sending off, but I can’t, and I’m not the only one.

NWSL Season Approaches

We are days away from the Orlando Pride season opener — and the rest of the NWSL will kick off over the weekend as well. That means it’s time for speculation about the various clubs and how ambitious each was based on its off-season moves. The Pride were not very ambitious, but perhaps the club did not need to be. Despite the supposed lack of ambition, the Pride are still a team to watch, even if others don’t consider the club “must watch” tv.

U.S. National Team Player News & Notes

The fact that there are USMNT players competing in the Champions League is great news in a World Cup year. Johnny Cardoso’s Atletico Madrid beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 with some help from a guy name Antoine Griezmann. Mauricio Pochettino said he also respects MLS players like Sebastian Berhalter. Speaking of Berhalters, former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter said the USMNT is poised for success in the World Cup. We know the team won’t be wearing the denim kit despite Adidas bringing it back.

Free Kicks

• The Lions are not at the bottom of the ESPN MLS power rankings. I am pleasantly surprised.
• Orlando City and the Orlando Pride have renewed the sponsorship with Publix to a new multi-year deal.
• The club also announced a series of single match ticket promotions.
• The Premier League’s new financial rules have others in UEFA a little nervous. It’s not surprising in the arms race for the top players in the world.
• The NWSL announced the formation of the NWSL Health Advisory Council that will take a holistic approach to player health and wellbeing.
• MLS Next has announced a host of new clubs will be joining both tiers of the league.
• Former USWNT player Lauren Holiday is calling for the various women’s leagues to align their seasons much like MLS is doing with the rest of the world.
• The Houston Dynamo are bringing back Ibrahim Aliyu in a trade with the Columbus Crew.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!