Atlanta United centerback Miles Robinson will not play in Saturday’s playoff game against New England, manager Frank de Boer said Thursday.
Robinson suffered a hamstring strain during post-game exercises while with the U.S. men’s national team after its win against Cuba on Friday in Washington, D.C. De Boer said there is not an exact prognosis, other than week to week.
“It’s not good for him and not good for the club,” de Boer said.
De Boer said Atlanta United asked the U.S. Soccer Federation to not make Robinson do too much because this is his first year as a starter and he is at the end of a long season. Robinson started 33 league games and performed so well that he was one of three finalists for Defender of the Year in MLS, and also earned his first two appearances with the U.S. men’s national team last month.
“Take care of him,” de Boer said was the request. “He did, in my point of view, too much after the match. Maybe he would have gotten it in our game. We especially said ‘take it easy with him,’ and they didn’t do it.
“We have to have a really serious discussion with the Federation that this doesn’t appear again. This is is a crucial stage of the whole year. We were fighting hard to come here. To miss an opportunity for me to make a choice to put him in the team is gone. That’s very hard for me, but especially for Miles himself. He was really looking forward to play the first game. I don’t know if he can play the second or third if we go through. It’s not good for him but also not for the USA. You want to perform on the highest level when there’s a lot of tension, pressure on, so that’s taken away from him. We have to have a good conversation like adults and say if we say this you have to respect that. We aren’t saying it for nothing.”
De Boer’s criticisms were similar to those expressed by club president Darren Eales to a local radio station earlier this week.
Centerback Flo Pogba, who hasn’t trained with the team this week because he has been on national team duty, can be selected but de Boer implied is unlikely to start because they don’t want to risk an injury. Pogba arrived in Atlanta Wednesday night. The team’s remaining centerbacks are Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Franco Escobar and Michael Parkhurst. Jeff Larentowicz can also play centerback.
De Boer said not having Robinson will affect how Atlanta United plays defense. He said the team will have to be smart when it has the ball and win its one-on-one battles all over the field.
“We know that if somebody breaks loose from the opponent there was always Miles to recover,” he said. “We don’t have that now.”
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