TFC out to keep Giovinco healthy
Team believes breaks from action may contribute to star’s injury problems
Toronto FC’s title hopes depend on it.
Now, the Reds hope they’ve found a solution.
The return — and prolonged stay — of Sebastian Giovinco is TFC’s biggest concern entering October.
The Atomic Ant hasn’t played in three weeks after departing midway through a 4-0 win over San Jose with an injured quadriceps.
Coach Greg Vanney said he hopes to have his club’s all-time leading scorer back this weekend.
But he warned it’s possible fans won’t see Giovnco until after October’s international break.
“We originally felt nothing happened. He felt like he was just tight,” Vanney said, referring back to the club’s initial prognosis.
Toronto FC originally called Giovinco’s absence precautionary.
“Then we went into the next couple of days (after the San Jose match) and did MRIs and scans and we saw something that was actually there … Sometimes a guy feels like he can go in a week or 10 days, but the scan might tell you it’s more than that,” Vanney continued.
“We’re trying to err on the safe side and put together what we’re seeing on these scans and what he’s functionally doing into a smart, intelligent timeline.”
If Giovinco doesn’t return this weekend he’s a lock to finally reappear when TFC hosts the Montreal Impact on Oct. 15, the club’s final regular season game at BMO Field.
Meanwhile, the Reds believe they’ve identified certain conditions that might have contributed to the Italian attacker’s string of upper-leg injuries.
“It’s been about looking at his training patterns,” Vanney said. “We’ve looked at the weeks leading up to each one of his injuries — which we do for all of our guys. What were their work loads like? You try and connect the dots.
“Seba has honestly showed his greatest physical strength when he’s playing games consistently — over and over and over. It’s when we have these little breaks and we come back from them that we’re showing signs.”
In other words, not every player needs a night off.
The Reds now believe Giovinco might benefit from playing and training more than many of his teammates.
“For Seba, we want to keep his intensity, game-like stuff high,” Vanney added. “Whereas some of our guys benefit from recovery time, Seba actually benefits more from playing on a regular basis.
“It takes a couple of cases to put these dots together. Otherwise, you don’t exactly know. We’ve also tried to link it as much as we can to his history prior to coming to us.
“I think that’s our biggest thing: The more Seba plays and plays at a high intensity, he recovers quickly. When he has time away from that he seems to be a little more vulnerable (to injury).”
After appearing in 33 of 34 MLS games during his MVP campaign, Giovinco’s minutes have plummeted by 30 per cent this season, leaving TFC without its best player for long stretches.
The club hopes that issue has been solved amid dealing with a host of other minor nicks and knocks.
Jozy Altidore has missed three straight games due to “lower body tightness”.
Chris Mavinga (abdominal) was held out of last weekend’s trip to New England.
“Our intention was never to take the foot off the gas and use last week to recover,” Vanney explained “We were dealt that hand, and we played the hand. We had a lot of guys, whose injuries were minor, who were questionable from day-to-day and week-to-week.
“The risk for putting them out there was greater than the reward given where we are. We played the hand we were dealt with an eye on the long-term.
“Having done that last week we returned back this week with 90 to 99 per cent of guys involved in training and we were able to take steps forward as a group.”
The last remaining question could be Giovinco, who was scheduled to have a follow-up scan Thursday night before he’s officially cleared to re-join his side.
“We’ll push him a little bit more on Friday,” Vanney said. “We’re all optimistic and hopeful we can start to get him back into the fold this weekend, but we’re going to be as smart as we can about all that.”
After watching Giovinco hobble off during last December’s MLS Cup, the Reds know what’s on the line.