Atlanta United injury crisis the worst Gonzalo Pineda has seen
By Chris Smith
When Miles Robinson went down under no contact in the first half of Atlanta United's 4-1 win over the Chicago Fire, supporters, staff, and teammates immediately feared the worst.
The 25-year-old center-back hit the floor after making a routine clearance and immediately slammed his fists into the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf both in frustration and, seemingly, to indicate he thought the surface was to blame.
Aside from his visceral reaction, Atlanta United supporters are now conditioned to assume the worst possible outcome given the club's remarkable injury crisis this season.
After Saturday's match, head coach Gonzalo Pineda confirmed Robinson will undergo an MRI scan on a potential Achilles injury. Should that scan reveal bad news, the USMNT defender will join an ever-growing list of Atlanta United players on the treatment table.
In the space of a month, the Five Stripes have already lost goalkeeping duo Brad Guzan and Dylan Castanheira to ruptured Achilles tendons, while midfielder Ozzie Alonso has a torn ACL, and star forward Josef Martinez required surgery to remove debris from his knee - the result of a previous ACL injury.
The likes of Santiago Sosa, Franco Ibarra, George Campbell, and Alan Franco have also spent time on the sidelines due to various fitness issues this season, while Caleb Wiley also came out of Saturday's win with an ankle injury.
It'll come as no surprise to learn that this is the worst injury crisis Pineda has seen, both as a coach and a player.
"I have never seen something this bad," he told reporters after Saturday's win. "I would say in terms of injuries, I have had some years, whether I was a player or a coach in Seattle, where we had a couple of long-term injuries as well, but nothing like this, especially not in the first 10 games of the season."
Understandably, people are now hunting for the cause of this unusual spate of injuries. Are the medical staff to blame? Perhaps it's the training regime. Or could it be the new turf laid at Mercedes-Benz Stadium ahead of the 2022 MLS season?
But Pineda has jumped to the defense of his staff, insisting they're doing nothing different this season than in 2021 and putting the injury crisis down to pure 'bad luck'.
"Obviously, we have checked everything, we check for everything. We've been checking for everything. We haven't found anything different," Pineda said. "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, but at the same time, I think it's bad luck."
On the club's medical staff, he added: "We have a very good sports science department. We measure everything. We reflect on everything we do. I think they do a very, very good job. Their standard is very high and obviously, we will check again, but I don't think there's anything particularly different to what we're doing compared to last year or even years before it's been very similar. So obviously we're going to check for anything, but I don't think it's the case.”
And on the MBS playing surface: "I'm not an expert. I don't know if the turf can cause injuries or not, I'm not the expert. Maybe you have to ask some experts on that regard.”
Should Robinson's injury be as bad as it's feared to be it'll also be a huge blow to Gregg Berhalter's United States Men's National Team as they prepare for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The results of the center-back's MRI scan are yet to be revealed, but CBS Sports' Roger Gonzalez reports the defender is to undergo surgery on a torn Achilles.