Since before the start of the Major League Soccer season in 2021, the Columbus crew has taken care of injuries. For most of the year there was talk of the team finally getting well as the MLS Cup defending champion struggled far more than anyone expected.
It has been said before, but it actually seems like the Black & Gold are finally going to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to all of the injuries facing Inter Miami ahead of Saturday’s game.
Last week against Orlando City SCHis center-back Josh Williams returned after a nearly three-month hiatus. Despite the 3-2 defeat, it was clear what influence he had on the team. When the team’s injury report came out Thursday night, left-back Milton Valenzuela, striker Gyasi Zardes and central midfielder Marlon Hairston were all considered questionable.
While this may not seem like a huge win for the crew, all three of these players have missed a lot of time lately and having them back in training and potentially available for Saturday night’s game is a step in the right direction be. When completely healthy, Valenzuela and Zardes are both safe starters, and Hairston is a crucial reserve, especially if Artur fails.
Valenzuela has been out since the beginning of July. Zardes last played on August 18. Hairston, who started seven out of eight games prior to his injury, has not played in over a month.
Winning these players back would be a big boost and could help end a season where the crew is so far three points outside the MLS Cup playoff picture.
“When you have the top guys, there’s a reason they’re the top guys,” said head coach Caleb Porter on Friday. “There’s a reason they’re making more money. There’s a reason they worked. It’s not just because I like them because they’re good guys, it’s because they’re good guys and good players. When you put a team together, it’s like a piece of the puzzle. If pieces are missing, the puzzle doesn’t fit as well and there are holes. We succeeded a bit. “
When Black & Gold are at full strength, Valenzuela defends well, usually blocking the opposing team’s winger and coming forward to create width on the left side of the field and serving the ball into the box with nine career assists.
Zardes is often the target of many of Valenzuela’s flanks. In his four seasons in Columbus, the US international is not only the team’s top scorer, but also the leading American goalscorer in the MLS.
Hairston may be a new addition to the team this year and a player who was originally expected to play directly for the crew, but he has had one in his 10 appearances for Columbus since his debut in late May as a substitute for Artur in central midfield shown good performance.
All of these players, plus Williams, have big game and pressure experience, which the crew will do in the 11 remaining games of the MLS regular season as the team hopes to return to the playoffs.
“That’s why they’re the guys of choice,” said Porter. “They have a good mentality and are constant performers. That’s why they’re chosen because they perform consistently and you know what you’re getting and, under pressure, they could get the job done over time. “
But the Black & Gold missed players not only on matchday this year. As players had to sit out due to injuries, there was not the same level of competition in training.
Top players level up every day and when you have them training on the field the whole team gets better. The crew will benefit from the likes of Williams, Valenzuela, Zardes and Hairston, all of whom compete every day.
“I think that’s a big factor too,” said Williams. “I think this competitiveness around the training facility can only improve your game. And then it’s really a battle over who goes first, who gets game time and that allows the whole team to join in. “
Over the past few weeks, Porter hasn’t had much to choose from when it comes to his starting line-up and substitutes. In the game against Orlando last week, Columbus ran out of two players. That was a trend this season.
With these players now available to choose from, this complicates Porter’s decisions, a headache he would like to grapple with.
“It’s the first time in five or six weeks that I’ve actually had to make decisions, to be honest, on the line-up and on the bench,” said Porter. “There was no choice of who would get dressed. It was who is healthy. And in many ways, the 11 was given based on who is healthy. So this is the first week that I have to make line-up and bench decisions about what is good. And we’ll need it next week because we have three games in eight days. “
Given these players are coming back from long-term injuries and have only recently returned to training, Porter has to manage minutes. While Williams had already played 37 minutes from the bench last week, Valenzuela, Zardes and Hairston are still working fully fit again, which means they’re not ready for 90-minute performances.
“We don’t have guys who are completely done in 90 minutes,” Porter said. “So this will be a real challenge. Two days later we have a game. And you look at Gyasi, you look at Milton and Marlon, if you had a week off after this game you could probably push them a little further. But you know you have another game two days later, so you have to slowly build people up and we have to decide, is it better to start a certain way or end a certain way? All of these things are kind of tricky. “
One thing is tricky. But Porter and the crew will make it difficult for the rest of the season to deal with what the team has to deal with in terms of injuries.
