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Holden out six months with knee injury

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photo by Chris Brunskill/ISIphotos.com

Stuart Holden's first full season with Bolton Wanderers has been going as well as he probably could have hoped for, but that season has prematurely come to a close.

Holden will be sidelined for about six months with the knee injury picked up in Bolton Wanderers' weekend loss to Manchester United, Bolton announced on its website on Monday. Holden also tweeted he'd be going in for surgery in London later on Monday, though it is unclear what his exact injury is.

Initial X-rays on Holden's injury showed no broken bones, but a re-evaluation of it has ruled out the U.S. national team midfielder until September, meaning he will miss this summer's Gold Cup and the start of Bolton's next season.

Holden suffered the knock going for a 50-50 ball against Jonny Evans, whose studs-up challenge forced Holden to be stretchered off. Holden received 26 stitches near his left knee following the 1-0 defeat.

What do you think of this development?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Gutted. Just tragic and cruel on so many levels.

    Dynamo were setting up a friendly with Bolton this summer, primarily as a way to bring Holden back to Houston. I imagine that game is off now.

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  2. Really a shame, Holden has had the worst luck! His play in the Premier League this season was among the best overseas performances by an American ever. Hoping for a speedy, full recovery. But perhaps in the future he should be more judicious about sliding into these 50/50 situations. It’s not always worth it. Pick your battles.

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  3. Oh well since your not buying it, then i guess that must make it wrong. I mean your right, it only takes 2 games to get back to full match fitness and form. But your right, he never would have been picked if he wasn’t at full match fitness….except for the fact that there really wasn’t anyone else to pick instead of him considering the options at that point and time. But yeah, you sure convinced me.

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  4. holden is unlucky to be injured it was a reckless challenge by Johnny. i feel sad and he will be missed by the USMNT. when he comes back though he will be better than ever.

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  5. Disagree. We love him bc he is a very good. If he played with heart, but was no good, you folks would be tearing him and labeling him as cr**. Bad decision. Let that ball run. Else, go play rugby.

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  6. Better than him not apologizing at all like DeJong, who Stu stated in reports that he never apologized and would’ve forgave him if he had.

    What apology could Evans say? I’m sure he feels horrible about it. DeJong didn’t feel A THING and his tackle was very late and malicious.

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  7. May 16, 2009 … Red Bulls defender Carlos Johnson is set to miss a considerable amount of time after being diagnosed with a broken left foot on Saturday

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  8. United fans seem to hate evans because they think he’s not as good as the player that should be playing there… they had a lot of people out so he got to play, I saw a lot of comments that said “Evans sucks anyways get rid of him already”

    so im sure united fans could care less if he wasnt even on the team lol, then again if he wasnt on the team he would be playing for another

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  9. It could be an injury to his patelar tendon (kneecap), but looking at still photos of the gash, I’d guess Evans’ studs ripped into Stu’s medial collateral ligament (MCL).

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  10. I recorded it & was finishing it yesterday – and thinking – how I don’t get a caught up in the Bradley Father son stuff – but Holden just looked so good and I was thinking this is going to be tough – Son riding the pine at Villa – Holden looking world class – he has to have Holden in middle – and then this happens -and I just got bummed out and even more so with this news..

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  11. -10000

    Accidents happen. Intent and/or recklessness should be the determining factor in the severity of punishment. It would be insane to punish someone for being a fraction of a second too late, but causes an injury, more than a player trying to injury, but failing.

    I hate Man U plenty, but this was a very mildly reckless challenge by Evans. I had to watch it three times to even be convinced that it was worthy of a red card. Holden just flew in so quickly and fearlessly that I looked look Evans was too slow. Sucks for Holden and the US National team. We lose our most exciting prospect and are stuck with a limited central midfield and an empty bucket for even longer.

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  12. Having Dempsey and Donovan on the wings with Holden as CAM would have been incredible–whatever our issues with our other positions, that’s an attacking midfield that could do some serious damage to other teams. However, we do have a lot of depth at the CM. Maybe not as good as Holden, but we’ll manage–we’ve done okay without him. What’s sad for me is that we’re missing out on what we could have done WITH him, at least for the next six months.

    I don’t think that the USMNT has as much to worry about as Bolton. Their push for Europe might have just ended.

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  13. On the contrary, that right there is one of the reasons most of us love Stu. He plays with so much heart. My dad is really into baseball and this reminds me a lot of Ken Griffey Jr. One or the most talented players I’ve seen, but his all out, almost reckless abandon that he showed on defense shortened his career and numbers wise he was no where near what he could have been.

    It’s hard to tell Stu to stop going into challenges like that. That’s who he is and I respect the hell out of him for it. I just hope he comes back as the same level of player…knee injuries are serious. I do hope that Stu does a better job of picking his spots, but the thing is, it isn’t his fault he got hurt. That was a horrible tackle, and a hospital ball.

    I’m almost wondering if we go back to a 4-4-2 now. I wouldn’t mind seeing Agudelo and Jozy or Dempsey up top as much as I would hate to play two holding/defensive mids.

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  14. You’re right about that… when I saw Stu wide open I was hoping Lee would just slide it over. When I saw his “pass” I had a really bad feeling right away; I knew Evans wasn’t one to let him have it, and I knew Stu wasn’t one to give up on a terrible pass. Something nasty was going to happen, and unfortunately for Stu he was on the wrong end. That’s football, I suppose. A couple inches away and it’s just a clumbsy play and both players get up dust themselves off.

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  15. if he was completely out of fitness and form, why did he start the last two club games before the WC and most of all, why was he selected to the NATS. I don’t buy that. When he played for the 16 min. or so, he looked just find. I think BB just didn’t know how to use him and wasn’t going to give him the CM. A reporter asked him after the WC if he felt he was ready to play CM during the WC, and his reply was “I’m happy BB game me the opportunity to help my teammates and country”, enough said. I feel bad for him and all the fans that wanted to see him play CM for the NATS. Sometimes it is what it is.

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  16. Speedy recovery to SH. I don’t begrudge him for trying to make something of it, but he should have never pursued that hospital ball from Lee. It had ‘bad news’ written all over it.

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  17. it was a 50 50 ball. both players left their feet with their studs up. unfortunate, but it easily could have been evans getting cut open

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  18. And by “like in hockey” I mean that players policing it themselves hasn’t stopped the nasty hits that injury guys. They need a similar policy.

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  19. Am I the only one unimpressed with Evans’ apology? Wow, you showed remorse, hooray. Holden continues to show real class and character, but I think in soccer (like in hockey) that the only thing that really would curtail these kinds of tackles is suspensions in line with the amount of time the injured player has to sit out.

    Evans is “really sorry,” great. Be really sorry for six months you moron. Maybe you’ll think twice about going studs up into a tackle like that, and maybe some other players will too.

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  20. I think our Gold Cup chances take a serious hit with this injury. We have a bunch of CMs, but Stu has a skill set that we are hard pressed to replace. If we stick with the 4-2-3-1 line up, who do we plug into the CAM role….Deuce? MB? LD? Benny? Who can we count on to unlock a defense, while still having an international work rate, and not cause a whole in our line up at another position?

    Best of luck in rehab, Stu.

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  21. I think we should manage without him in the Gold Cup because of our depth in midfield, but Bolton is going to see a serious drop in their team form without him there to cover up for Muamba’s crappy play.

    Feel terrible for Stu though… He seems destined for an armband in the future, but he just cant catch his chance for a serious role with the MNT.

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  22. Holden said on Twitter: “Just had a sincere phone call from Jonny Evans wishing me the best in my recovery, def wasn’t intentional, just unfortunate part of the game”; **very** impressed with his stoicism and positive attitude. Wishing him the best to reach newer heights in his career. His simple style has been so effective in midfield for Bolton. Interestingly, Jack Wilshere of Arsenal joined Bolton (on loan) at the same time as Holden, and you can see a lot of similarities — simple play, attack-minded, fearless attitude. After producing a whole bunch of defensive mids (Edu, Clark, Jones…) and one decent holding mid (Bradley), the US finally has a genuine attack-minded midfielder in the Reyna mold… good luck Stu Holden!

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  23. You’re right. But something has to be done to make these guys think twice before they go that hard. Holden goes into 50/50’s all the time, maybe as much as any player in the EPL, but he seems to be able to find a way to do so with his instep and not his studs. I also think that Holden will come through and be hungrier than ever.

    In the end, I’d much rather see this handled by serious suspensions and loss of pay, rather than vendettas.

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  24. yeah, some of them United fans are pretty sad, I was reading many “who cares, we won the game” comments or variations of such.

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  25. It was obvious he was going to miss the matches against Argentina and Paraguay, but I was looking forward to see him play in the Spain game as well as in the Gold Cup. No need for him to rush now. He should just do his physical therapy after the operation until he is 100%. It does not matter if it takes 4,6 or 8 even months. We need him healthy and fit during qualifications.

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  26. Actually, he wasn’t the problem – Edu looked a bit crowded, and it was obviously he and Jones weren’t communicating well.

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  27. Was just thinking that the likelihood of Bolton imploding in their last few games just got very high. Holden has been their one consistently high-functioning player–he doesn’t have a super-high goal count, but he does set up a lot of plays that turn into goals. I don’t think that it’s coincidence that a lot of their slumps this season coincided with Stu being out.

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  28. I think one of the things to remember about Stuart Holden’s past, current and future injuries, is that the same attributes that make him a good footballer and an asset to any team is his aggressive attitude in ball winning, and it is that same zeal puts him in harm’s way a lot more than most players. While some may think twice about going for a 50-50 ball, Holden, I have observed has little or no such hesitation. You cannot teach this.It is inherent in your work ethic, competitiveness and enthusiasm. This is why in just one short year, he has become a revelation and one of the best midfielders in the most competitive league in the world.

    Although fans of football and the US team will miss this attribute for the rest of this year, Bolton, having one it’s best years (and not just coincidentally) will miss him the most.

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  29. That’s the way Holden plays – full blast into 50/50 balls. It makes him special, he’s small but he’s got heart. But playing that way, I kinda expect he’s gonna be injury ‘prone’.

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  30. Thanks. Didn’t realize that – it’s the one recent game I didn’t watch…

    Obviously, the experiment wouldn’t work if MBradley just tracked back like a D-Mid, instead of playing higher.

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