Austin FC is realizing that on the injury front, things can always get worse.
As it heads into Saturday’s game at Houston, its first Copa Tejas contest of the season, El Tree received more bad news when it was revealed that center back Leo Väisänen tore a ligament in his knee during Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Chicago Fire FC in the US Open Cup.
Väisänen went down with the injury late in the first half but played the final few minutes before being subbed out at the break.
Austin FC coach Josh Wolff said Friday that Väisänen tore the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and will probably be out at least two months, although further testing by the team’s medical staff needs to be done to see whether surgery is needed.
“It’s disappointing, and you obviously feel for Leo as he’s been very good,” said Wolff, whose squad has been hit with non-stop injuries since the season began. “You just have to keep moving forward. It’s part of the deal. You look around the league, and there’s a lot of injured players right now. Obviously, there’s an accumulation of games in May, more than I’ve ever seen, but a lot of teams are facing similar things.”
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To be blunt, this is about the worst news El Tree could have short of midfielder Sebastián Driussi suffering a season-ending injury. Up to this point, Väisänen has been the team’s MVP and the rock of a defense that has weathered numerous injuries very well.
The news makes it likely that Austin FC will exercise its option to keep defender Aleksandar Radovanovic, whom the club has on loan through the end of June. Veteran defender Nick Lima now seems poised to see continued time at various spots across the backline.
It also improves the chances of El Tree being active during the summer transfer window.
“We’ll certainly have to think about some things,” Wolff said. “Part of the role I’ve taken on since Claudio (Reyna) stepped down (as technical director) is how we can keep making our roster better in the short term while understanding what our needs are in the offseason.”
And while the news on Väisänen is somber, the schedule goes on, although the club is back to missing four starters against the Dynamo compared with the lineup it fielded in the season opener.
Austin FC (4-5-4, 16 points) will try for its third straight win in league play and is the defending champion of Copa Tejas, which is a competition involving the three Texas MLS teams that play out during the regular season.
“This is something that’s important to our organization and our fans,” Wolff said. “We’ve had good performances in the last few league games, and the quality and mentality needs to be there right from the start. It’s a rivalry game, and it takes on a bit more of an onus.”
El Tree wasn’t good in the first half vs. Chicago, and Houston (4-5-3, 15 points) is coming off a performance in which it throttled Minnesota 4-0 Tuesday in the US Open Cup.
“The intentions of running behind the (defense) and playing behind the (defense) have to be more resolute,” Wolff said. “The sloppiness we showed (Wednesday) was the most concerning. But we were better in the second half providing pressure on offense.”
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MLS scheduling overload?
Austin FC is in the middle of a stretch in which it’s playing nine times in 29 days.
As Wolff noted, many other MLS clubs are dealing with a high number of injuries, and he said the schedule volume is something coaches and players might address with the league.
“I sit on one of the coaches’ committees for this stuff, so we’ll talk about certain elements of the league, and this will probably be one of the topics in the next meeting,” he said. “It’s challenging. It’s a long season to begin with, the offseason is short, and there are more games this year. There’s certainly talking points. There’s a lot of it in the league at the moment, but some injuries are unavoidable.”
Driussi available?
Driussi is close to returning.
Wolff noted that he looked good in training Friday but wouldn’t say if he’d be available against the Dynamo.
Even if he is, he’d probably play only five minutes late in the game as a sub and wouldn’t see significant action until the June 3 contest vs. Real Salt Lake.
More: Austin FC bounced out of US Open Cup by Chicago Fire FC
Saturday’s match
Austin FC (4-5-4, 16 points) at Houston Dynamo (4-5-3, 15 points), 7:30 pm, Apple TV / 97.5
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Copa Tejas title defense begins for Austin FC without Väisänen