When it comes to San Jose Earthquakes forward Innocent’s left knee injury, coach Dominic Kinnear and the rest of his staff still don’t know what exactly happened to knock the 25-year-old Swiss international out of competition for what could be the remainder of 2015.
“We’re still trying to figure it out ourselves,” Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com by phone Friday morning, as the club prepared to face Colorado (Fri., 10 pm ET, UniMás, univisiondeportes.com). “There was no contact. He just ran and stopped and felt a pull. … The sad thing is, he’s never had surgery. He came here completely healthy and, sadly, we’re going to miss him for a good chunk of the season now.”
Innocent went down early in the second half of an eventual 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake last Friday, having made seven appearances and six starts in the club’s first eight matches. The Nigerian-born striker, who was brought in as a Designated Player to provide defense-stretching speed from the center forward spot, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus Wednesday and is expected to miss four to six months, according to the club.
If he is unable to come back before the season finale on Oct. 25, Innocent’s first MLS season will end with one goal – a scintillating Goal of the Week strike against Seattle in Week 2 – in 494 minutes, many of them on the left wing as Kinnear tried to ascertain how best to deploy his new players.
The injury leaves San Jose depleted at forward. Target men Steven Lenhart and Mark Sherrod have missed the entire season due to injury. Lenhart – who has 20 goals in four seasons with San Jose – has been in Los Angeles for several weeks working with a specialist on his balky right knee.
Sherrod, a second-year player who joined the Quakes after playing for Houston last year, is close to returning from his own surgery to repair a right-knee meniscus tear, an injury suffered while rehabilitating after an ACL tear cost him most of his rookie MLS season. Sherrod’s return would give Kinnear a second option if he chooses to go with a target man, alongside Adam Jahn, who headed home the game-winner in Houston on Tuesday for his first MLS goal in nearly two years.
“The positive is that Mark Sherrod’s right around the corner from playing,” Kinnear said. “Our attack now revolves around Mark, Adam, Chris Wondolowski, Mike Fucito.”
Wondolowski provides a wildcard for Kinnear; he could lead the line, as he did earlier this season, although the veteran coach has preferred of late to use the Quakes’ all-time leading scorer in a deeper-lying position.
“It’s on a week-to-week basis,” Kinnear said. “It depends on the health of the squad, where guys are playing and where guys are playing good. Even though he has played a little bit behind [a lead striker], he sure saw himself on the end of three or four good chances on Tuesday. So he still provides that ability to get into the box. You want him closer to the goal, but right now, the way we’re playing and setting ourselves up, we’re withdrawing him a little bit. But I could change that.”
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Kinnear made adding speed through the team a priority after taking over this winter, and he could move winger Sanna Nyassi – who spent some time as a center forward with Colorado earlier in his career – up top if he wants a faster look or give some minutes to Fucito, who has seen scant action since 2013.
San Jose sit first atop MLS’ allocation ranking, and the Quakes will undoubtedly be receiving plenty of tapes from aspiring goal-scorers between now and when the summer transfer window opens.
“We’ll see,” Kinnear said when asked if the team had enough goal-scoring punch to get by. “You’re always trying to upgrade or get better during the season, but now with Innocent’s departure, obviously the focus – or a big percentage of your focus – is looking at a forward.”
