You might have heard that Atlanta United has been struggling with injuries and general roster attrition this season. Trust me when I say: It’s probably worse than you think. Here’s a “Timeline of Sadness” (good branding, right?) that might just illustrate how strong the curse on this team has been. That’s right, all of the bad luck, all in one place. We’ll keep this updated as we go throughout the season; just to try and keep track of it all. Hopefully, the higher powers in charge of these kinds of things have had their fill of punishing Atlanta United, but you never know. They seem kind of vindictive these days.
Nov. 30, 2021: Santiago Sosa undergoes sports hernia surgery
Sosa started 25 games in his first season with Atlanta before his surgery. Since then, he’s played just 324 minutes for the Five Stripes while being out with a variety of ailments and issues. Atlanta would at least like to use him at some point as a reinforcement for the midfield—you’ll see why in a moment—but he hasn’t seen the field since a substitute appearance on May 11. Last week he made the bench for the first time since then, but did not make an appearance against NYCFC. Atlanta might need him to be ready to go this weekend though now that Emerson Hy…you know what let’s just go ahead and assume that Atlanta will need every player at every position ready to go soon. There are only so many players left.
Mid-February through early March: Bureaucracy attacks!
Thiago Almada, Sosa and Franco Ibarra all missed parts of the early season due to paperwork-related issues. That meant missing early games and critical training time in the preseason.
Literally 20 minutes into the first game of the season: Luiz Araujo tweaks his hamstring
Tyler Wolff, Josef Martinez and Luiz Araujo ripped SKC apart with a rapid counterattack that led to Araujo bagging the first goal of the season and immediately confirming preseason talks about an MVP-caliber season. It also led to a hamstring injury that kept him out until mid-April.
March 5: Ozzie Alonso held out after seeing a cardiologist
This may have been the most frightening moment of the bunch. MLS veteran Ozzie Alonso didn’t make the trip out to Colorado for the team’s first away game after a cardiologist detected a possible heart issue. After multiple further tests, he returned to the team the next week, fortunately for all in the ATL camp.
April 4: The press release
The fact this isn’t the bleakest moment of the year is astounding. At the time it seemed almost comically terrible. On April 4, Atlanta fans were notified that Ozzie Alonso had torn his ACL against D.C. United and would be out for the season. They were also notified that Mattheus Rossetto had picked up a left hamstring injury that would keep him out for two-to-four weeks. They were *also* notified that Josef Martinez had returned to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to once again examine his right knee and would be out for 6-8 weeks due to yet another setback stemming from the ACL surgery he had in 2020.
Everyone got all that? Good, because we’re still kind of just getting started.
April 6: Dylan Castanheira tears his Achilles tendon
Backup goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left leg during training. From a purely soccer perspective, you normally wouldn’t have to worry too much about the status of the backup goalkeeper, however…
April 18: Brad Guzan tears his Achilles tendon
This was…rough. Just from an aesthetic standpoint. A backpass rolled past a helpless Brad Guzan who'd hurt himself coming out of goal; fortunately, the always-reliable Miles Robinson was first to the ball and then to his felled 'keeper.
Everyone in the stadium immediately knew that something had gone very, very wrong. But it wasn’t clear at first what. The next time it happened though, everyone instantly recognized it.
May 7: Miles Robinson tears his Achilles tendon
Of all the bad things, this one hurt the most.
Robinson went down in an eerily similar manner to Guzan and in one moment everyone knew that Robinson would be out for the season and for the men’s World Cup as well.
May 21: Andrew Gutman injures his quad
Andrew Gutman had been one of the single most notable bright spots of Atlanta United’s early season. His work rate, his willingness to get forward and his general intensity had already started to make him a fan favorite. With so many critical defensive players out, Gutman seemed like the player Atlanta United needed most to guide them through a rough stretch. Naturally, that just made him a target for whatever all-powerful entity Atlanta United has angered, so he picked up a quad injury that has kept him out since and will continue to keep him out for the next few weeks.
Good thing Atlanta has solid experience at fullba—
May 28: Ronald Hernandez injures his MCL
Oh. Right.
Hernandez picked up an MCL injury the very next week while starting in place of Gutman. The injury has sidelined him for the last couple of months and is probable to keep him out for the next couple of months as well. That left Brooks Lennon as the only available fullback with MLS experience and, well, you can probably guess where this is going.
June 27: Brooks Lennon injures knee slipping on rubber surface at BMO Field during warmups
I’m not trying to jinx anything, but I’m not sure Atlanta United is going to have a more cursed injury this year than “slips on rubber surface during warmups.” I guess it could get worse, but it’s hard to imagine how.
Lennon had started 69 of 71 possible games with Atlanta United until this point in his career. The injury is set to keep him out until at least August.
July 6: Emerson Hyndman injures his quad
Emerson Hyndman returned earlier in the season from an ACL tear looking jacked and ready to contribute. And when he’s been on the field he’s done just that. Unfortunately, his time as a regular in the Atlanta United lineup didn’t last long at all before he picked up an injury to his quad that will keep him out through at least the end of July.
July 7: Bobby Shuttleworth announces retirement
After a handful of performances in place of Brad Guzan that likely weren’t up to his standards, Shuttleworth was replaced in the starting lineup by Rocco Rios Novo and Atlanta United brought in Raúl Gudiño from Chivas. Shuttleworth announced his retirement a few weeks later after a career with 232 MLS starts.
So now we’re here and caught up and also fully aware that I had to omit a number of smaller injuries and suspensions to keep this thing from somehow being even longer. It’s been a long, long year in Atlanta.
August 2: George Campbell injures adductor
Just throw it on the pile I guess. George Campbell, who's made 16 starts this season, has injured is adductor and will be out for two-to-three weeks. It's not the long-term injury of the season, but Atlanta has been favoring a back-three (or at least three center backs) as of late and losing Campbell makes it much harder to rely on that. Juanjo Purata and Alan Franco will have to step up and perform in a back four it sounds like. Good thing Andrew Gutman is back.