by Taylor Sorrels (@taylorsorrels)
In case you missed it, in the first half of last weekend’s game against Richmond featured a lot of physical play, worst of which was an awful tackle by the Kickers’ Matt Callahan on Guy Abend. Abend was obviously in a lot of pain afterward, and had to be carried from the field. Later reports indicated that Guy’s knee might be okay, and then this dropped today:
LCFC’s Guy Abend was reexamined today and will require knee surgery. Apparently, earlier swelling obscured the damage.
— Wayne Estopinal (@WayneEstopinal) April 8, 2015
That sucks. First, you don’t ever like to see anyone get injured, player or not. Second, Guy is a stand up, well, guy, and we really don’t like nice people getting hurt. Last but not least, Abend is probably the best defensive midfielder Louisville City has on the roster, and losing him for six weeks or so (my uneducated guess, could be worse) is going to make things hard for a squad that’s had trouble owning the midfield so far this season. Most of the roster’s midfield depth seems to be of the attacking variety.
One source of help that is conspicuously absent, to be honest, is Orlando City in the form of loanees, despite that club’s affiliation agreement with LCFC. Harrison Heath hasn’t seen the field once in five games, nor has Tony Cascio or Estrela. Those guys could probably help. Or that Dane Brekken Shea guy. He’d be fun.
Either way, this is a terrible turn of events for such a good guy and good player like Guy Abend, and we’ll just have to hope that he quickly and successfully recovers so we can see him on the field again soon. Good luck, Guy.