TORONTO – Three years ago, Toronto FC walked into Gillette Stadium and took home all three points against the New England Revolution, but lost their top scorer, Danny Koevermans, to a serious knee injury.
On Saturday TFC plucked a point against a much stronger Revolution side, but lost their top scorer once again, with Jozy Altidore now ruled out for 4-5 weeks with a hamstring strain.
“It’s disappointing for sure,” team captain Michael Bradley said. “He’s obviously been in good form and he’s such an important part of what we’re doing. But, that’s life. There’s an entire room full of guys in there who are committed to continue to play well and push things. Now, the guys who haven’t had as much of a chance have an opportunity to step in and contribute and really help push things along.”
Toronto head coach Greg Vanney says he doesn’t believe Altidore’s injury had anything to do with the artificial turf at Gillette Stadium to which his 2012 predecessor, Paul Mariner, had pointed to in Koevermans’ case. Rather, Vanney says, it came down to an awkward body position and a touch of fatigue after playing three games in the span of one week.
“It seems like it’s going to be four or five weeks, but he doesn’t feel like that,” TFC head coach Vanney told reporters at training Tuesday. “The imaging gives you an initial indication but he says he doesn’t feel anything like he’s felt in the past where he’s had to be out five or six weeks. We’ll see how he does over the next few weeks. We’ll manage it and get him healthy.”
The injury to Altidore comes at as inconvenient a time as possible for both TFC and the US national team, with the USMNT forward now projected to be working back toward full fitness just prior to the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on July 7.
Vanney admitted that it was possible that Altidore could find his way back to full health only to be scooped away on national team duty.
“I suppose it’s conceivable,” Vanney said. “We’ll see as we go. I haven’t spent a lot of time talking to Jozy, we were just waiting on the MRI results. But the concern is that if he’s not 100 percent healthy, maybe he doesn’t go to the Gold Cup. But I don’t want to take up that battle just yet with him until we figure that out.”
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For now, Vanney says he’ll look to the rest of his 29-man roster to fill in as the team’s injury list grows longer: Robbie Findley, Steven Caldwell and Joe Bendik remain out, with Bendik the closest to returning. The former two have had recurring issues with Achilles and calf pain, and Vanney says he’s opting for a full rest, rather than a stop-start measure.
“We have other options that we can look at as well, with Jordan Hamilton doing well in the training sessions,” Vanney said. “Seba [Giovinco] could definitely play as an out-and-out forward, and we have other options we can bring in that offer more of an attacking midfield look or more of a winger type of look.
“But we definitely have some considerations. We’ll look for the weekend and see what the best pairing is.”
