It’s easy to imagine Fire coach Bob Bradley needing to trash an office or break a chair.
After all, how much can someone take before releasing a little pent-up frustration?
Thus far Bradley insists he hasn’t thrown any tantrums over his team’s run of injuries. Earlier in the week Bradley had just enough able bodies to field a team during preparations for Sunday’s game at New England. Here’s why:
– DaMarcus Beasley and Josh Wolff are working for the U.S. national team, which will play the Netherlands in its final World Cup tuneup as part of a doubleheader Sunday.
– Chris Armas is preparing for knee surgery.
– Hristo Stoitchkov, who has a strained medial collateral ligament in his knee, is back to square one in his rehabilitation.
– Jason Moore is recovering from an appendectomy.
– Greg Capano and Miguel Saavedra are off at a youth national team tournament.
“We need to make sure that when you’re missing guys, [the available players] understand how we use this to still make ourselves better and how in the long run, when people start coming back, we can use this in our favor,” Bradley said.
Even those deemed healthy enough to play had aches that under normal circumstances might warrant time off.
Midfielder Jesse Marsch has a nagging quadriceps injury; goalkeeper Zach Thornton has been playing with a broken bone in his right foot; forward Ante Razov has a bone bruise on his knee; and Dema Kovalenko’s hamstring contusion has kept him out of the last two matches.
“I’m way busier than I want to be,” team doctor Preston Wolin said.
The U.S. team has its own injury problems: Goalkeeper Kasey Keller’s bruised left leg could keep him out of Sunday’s exhibition.
