ATLANTA, GA - Forward Ronaldo Cisneros led Atlanta United to a victory over the Chicago Fire with a final score of 4-1 Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But lost corner-back Miles Robinson for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Robinson is scheduled to have surgery later today,” said in a press release from the team.
At the end of the 14th minute against Chicago, Robinson was carried off the field on a stretcher after being injured in a non-contact play. He is also a starter for the United States national team, and his injury could affect the team’s performance at the World Cup later this year.
“Everybody went to see Miles at halftime. They were sad for him obviously,” said Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda. “What we said in the locker room was, the best way to honor him (Miles) and honor all the players with long term injuries is to play up to our standard.”
Robinson was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 MLS draft and played for Syracuse prior to that.
Achilles injuries typically take six or seven months after surgery for recovery, so he could possibly miss the rest of the MLS season and even the World Cup. U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter will likely need to not only rethink his defensive strategies, but also find a substitute for Robinson.
Both Chicago and Atlanta have struggled so far this season, and Atlanta’s main issue centers on frequent injuries of their strongest players.
On top of Robinson, Atlanta recently announced season ending injuries for Brad Guzan, Ozzie Alonso and Dylan Castanheira. Josef Martínez and Machop Chol are also out, but are expected to return before the 2022 season ends.
"I have never seen something this bad in terms of injuries. I have had some years where I was a player or a coach in Seattle where we had a couple long term injuries as well, but nothing like this, especially not in the first 10 games of the season” said Pineda. “We've been checking for everything. We haven't found anything different. We always check and compare day by day, that's our routine, but also they went for a little bit longer time and they check for everything. There's nothing there. I mean, at times you just have bad luck and we just have to try to find a solution.''
Atlanta is hoping for their luck to turn around heading into the rest of the season, seeming to blame their injuries mainly on bad luck.
It has been speculated that the turf is the primary factor leading to frequent injury for the Five Stripes.
“I don’t know if it is the turf or if there is some bad juju in the air, but you can never go into a game thinking that injury is going to happen,” said Atlanta United left-back Andrew Gutman. “You have to play and if something happens you have to deal with it as it comes. I know it’s in everyone’s mind now, but we have to keep our heads down and keep moving forward and hopefully things will turn with injuries and we’ll be solid for the rest of the year.”
Atlanta United is now 4-2-4 with 14 points coming off of a four game losing streak. Next Sunday, May 15, it will match up against the New England Revolution in Atlanta. New England is currently ranked No. 10 in the eastern conference (3-1-5, 10 points).
