By FRANCO PANIZO
What was looking to be an incredibly quick comeback now appears to be a test of patience and mental fortitude for Joe Gyau.
Gyau was seemingly on his way to making a lightning-fast recovery from the left knee injury he sustained back in October, returning to full training for Borussia Dortmund in mid-November. But the 22-year-old winger suffered a setback during the past week, as his knee struggled to cope with an increased workload.
Gyau had recently been playing games for Dortmund’s second team, making three appearances since Nov. 21. He was left off this past weekend’s roster, however, due to the knee issues.
While it is not clear how much of a setback this is for Gyau, it seems unlikely that he will crack back into the relegation-threatened club’s first team until after the Bundesliga’s winter break. Borussia Dortmund play their final game before the new year this Saturday, and don’t return to action until Jan. 31.
Gyau made one substitute appearance for Dortmund this season before suffering his knee injury in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 1-1 draw vs. Ecuador on Oct. 10. He had surgery to repair the damage, and U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann stated just before then that the speedy winger would be out of action until at least January.
What do you make of this development? Worried that Gyau might be trying to rush back too soon? What do you think are his chances of making the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 2015 Gold Cup roster?
Share your thoughts below.
Great. Another glass guy whom we will never see play at full potential.
Klopp >>> Klinsmann
This isn’t a terrible controversial statement.
Although…. at the moment….
Set back almost seems like the wrong way to phrase things especially when you may be rushing a player back from injury. Give the kid some time to heal, folks.
Let us not forget that Gyau was injured on that horrible pitch in Hartford which is where UConn’s football team has its home games. The stupidity of Sunil and Friends scheduling a game at a football stadium IN THE MIDDLE of the college football season is just mind-boggling. There were no other stadium with a grass field that is not also a football venue? No RB Arena? No RFK? Seriously, what has Hartford done for the US Soccer community? Let’s see, failed to support the Bicentennials back in the NASL and likewise did the same with the Hartford Hellions of the MISL. It should be noted that the Hellions played in 1979-80, which was also the year the Hartford “Mall-o-seum” reopened in the middle of the season (It had collapsed during the winter of 1978 because of record snow) and the HH had played part of their season up I-91 in the Springfield Civic Center.
So it was rinky dink of Sunil and Friends to schedule Donovan’s farewell match at a middling venue like Rentschler Field. IMO even playing on field turf at Giants Stadium II or Gillette would have been better than that mud-riddled joke of a pitch at a college football stadium.
Gyau had a meniscus injury, not an ACL. Reading some of the comments, it appears some people think it was the latter. If they removed his meniscus then 6 weeks or whatever he was out isn’t unreasonable.
How come whenever somebody has a setback after an injury or gets injured again the immediate conclusion is the player rushed back too early? This cannot be to blame in every single case.
Stu, Gatt, Boyd, Gyau….. one common factor… they all rushed back in too early… this type of injury needs 2 yrs away from the game before playing in fully competitive games.
Don’t forget AJ w/ the Nats…….must be something about Germans overtraining players
“.must be something about Germans overtraining players”
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t AJ come into camp with that minor injury and he plays in the Netherlands. Gatt plays in Scandinavia and Stu was in England…
I must say, too many people see a re-injury occur and automatically decide/assume that the player was rushed back. I’m sure the doctors and the player himself knew and know much more about the situation than us.
I’m not saying you are wrong but this is pro sports.
Everyone comes back too soon. Just try telling Gyau to take 2 years off. His career prospects could be close to severely dead by then.
GW, what you say can be true, but not in every situation. Lets say I were to put myself in Gyau’s shoes, I would probably tell myself, “I rather be cautious and take more time than end up like Stu Holden”. I am also assuming that a club like Dortmund would say, “this is a young guy, and isn’t even that important to our first team right now. He has a big upside so lets be safe with him.”
I might be wrong in my assumptions but I hope not.
Some players are forced by their club to play. If the doctor says he can’t see anything wrong, you play. They pay your bills.
Others like Gyau, probably want to play because they were so close to the starting lineup. He might see this season as his last chance. They’ll buy big in the summer to bounce back, so he’ll be replaced if he doesn’t find a spot fast.
The winter break is excellent, and I wish the EPL had one. Give the guys a quick rest. They need it. This isn’t baseball 🙂
I would assume Dortmund would take the long view but Gyau is what 21?
How patient were you when you were 21? And I doubt he is a shrinking violet.
some perspective is needed I think. I believe, when the injury happened he wasn’t expected to be back until after the winter break. Then, we heard he was WAY ahead of schedule. So, I don’t see this as much as a setback, as him back on the original track. Look, young kids always want to come back soon, and he may have been feeling too confident and with a little too much hubris. As long as there aren’t structural issues, (and it doesnt sound like there are) this is really no more than soreness
Take your time, kid. We’ve seen this plot way too many times.
It could easily happen without being rushed back, but I get your concern…
Bummer. With the injury problems and how crap Dortmund have been, he would’ve had a decent chance to get some PT
Thank goodness for the winter break.
Hopefully, they can scale things back a bit and he’s ready once the winter break is done.
this is getting insane. stop rushing players back! first Boyd and now Gyau…great.
Boyd was not rushed back, he partially tore his ACL the first time and if you ask any Orthopedist and someone who also initially tore his ACL, there is no such thing as a partial tear. Once you partially tear your ACL it is not a matter of if but when you fully tear it.