LAFC will be without Carlos Vela for a period of time.
Just how long that period will last is unknown.
LAFC head coach Bob Bradley revealed on Tuesday that Vela has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. Bradley added that the star winger’s timetable for recovery is unclear, and that Vela will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.
“Often times with an MCL, the player is able to start running straight ahead pretty quickly,” Bradley told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday. “But the timeframe is really determined as he gets into more cutting and striking the ball as to how long it will take, so we don’t have an answer on that.”
The 31-year-old Mexican sustained the injury early in the second half of this past Saturday’s 2-0 loss to rivals LA Galaxy. He was subbed off the in the 57th minute with a noticeable limp.
Vela was playing in his first game for LAFC in more than five months when he got hurt. The reigning MLS MVP, who last featured on March 8, chose to sit out the recent MLS is Back Tournament due to family reasons.
LAFC, which is 2-1-3 on the regular season, posted an unbeaten 2-0-3 record in the one-off competition in Orlando, Florida. The team was knocked out on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals by Orlando City.
Without Vela, LAFC will once again need the likes of Diego Rossi, Bradley Wright-Phillips, and Brian Rodriguez to carry the scoring burden.
LAFC next plays Real Salt Lake on Wednesday before taking on the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
Man, I hate that.
I really do regard Vela as the best player from North America playing today. Dude might have been from our arch-rivals but honestly compels me to admit he was pure class on the field and shockingly professional and classy off it, given his sometimes uneasy relationship with the Mexican NT and a Mexican media that often portrayed him as a diva.
Every cross-over match against a Euro side, he’d always pants them at some point too, and make pretty emphatic point that he was good enough for any league out there. Always seemed to shock opponents, how good Vela really was.
Hope he gets back and into form. MLS is poorer for his absence.
oh boy, not looking like their year again. Those windows aren’t open for very long.