The folks at Toronto FC thought striker Carlos Ruiz had recovered from a season's worth of knee problems when they acquired him from the L.A. Galaxy last month, but now it looks like they thought wrong.
Ruiz, who sat out last Thursday's practice a day after having fluid drained from his right knee, spent this morning's practice on the sidelines, his knee bothering him once again. Last weekend he dealt with the discomfort and played 54 minutes in TFC's 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. This morning, though, his knee didn't feel right, and though Ruiz couldn't pinpoint the problem he hoped an MRI scheduled for Tuesday afternoon could.
"It's hard to say (what's wrong)," Ruiz said. "I can tell you more tomorrow."
Ruiz' knee issues date back to last season at FC Dallas, with a torn meniscus and subsequent surgery. After moving to the L.A. Galaxy to start the season, Ruiz suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in the same knee in April, leading to another operation and sidelining him for more than two months.
A former league MVP, Ruiz recorded just three starts in 10 games with the Galaxy, scoring once.
But by late August he was healthy enough for the Galaxy to trade him to TFC, and his knee held up through his TFC debut at Chivas and three World Cup qualifiers. He even scored twice to lead Guatemala to a 4-1 win over Cuba.
Now, though, Ruiz wonders if his tender right knee can withstand such a heavy workload.
"Playing with the national team and playing here sometimes (the knee) is a little bit tired," he said.
If TFC wants Ruiz to survive the season they'll have to figure out how to manage his minutes in the coming weeks. In addition to league games the next two Saturdays -- on turf, no less! -- Ruiz has World Cup qualifiers scheduled for the 11th and 15th of October.
And let's remember that this is a player with chronic knee problems who is undergoing an MRI momentarily. If the examination yields bad news, TFC won't have to worry about managing his minutes.
They'll just have to figure out how to replace him.
-- Morgan Campbell
replace him with a pylon. He looks like a deer frozen in headlights each time a ball comes near him. The best play I've seen by him is the celebration of Robinson's goal vs. Columbus. If healthy he might be a better player, but I've seen nothing but a tepid player.
Posted by: Matt | September 23, 2008 at 04:15 PM
Another solid pickup by Mo! Three cheers for the blind leading the parade!
Posted by: Chris | September 24, 2008 at 10:45 AM
get real grass and to hell with everything else!
Posted by: Ron Cola | September 24, 2008 at 02:04 PM
Hated ( by TO 'fans' ) Cunningham, given away to Dallas, scored more goals for them since, then all TFC players and scouts combined. Jeff will be scoring goals long after Mo & Carver Co. are shown the door here. I hope this will happen soon, if MLSE is not brain dead. This is the TFC only good news left to wait for this year.
Posted by: Paul | September 24, 2008 at 02:32 PM
Paul-
You do realize that Cunningham was finished here as in im going to pout and put little effort instead of scoring at TFC. Hes now playing under a coach that he won the golden boot award with in 2006. It helps to have an environment that caters to you. Remember how he did well when he first arrived? I wouldnt be surprised to see him burn out in the same manner if for some reason he and/or his relationship sours.
As for Ruiz, it was a gamble but we got him for free. Yes Mo should have brought in a striker and not bet the farm on Dickov but regardless little was put forward on Ruiz, who is prime age for a striker and has a proven history. Dudes injured, you gonna blame the coaches and FO for his body/health?
Posted by: Ossington Mental Youth | September 25, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Ossington Mental Youth:
I used Cunningham example only to illustrate the point that the coach is clueless on how to build and motivate the team, while individually TFC players are mostly OK for MLS. Back to Cunningham, he needed team confidence in him to succeed, instead he was warming the bench. The way this team operates, if somebody misses a shot on goal he is a public enemy, since this team can not create enough offence. Yes, strikers miss, sometimes a few in a row -- but good teams generate more offence to compensate for this, and pull through together. TFC, sadly, is not one of them.
Posted by: Paul | September 25, 2008 at 03:19 PM
Paul-
Cunningham was giving plenty of chances at the beginning of the season as well as all of last season to prove his worth and hence found himself on the bench. Please note that Carver has given much faith to Barrett who has spoiled several chances and capitalized on few, this is because Barrett has openly spoken that he is capable of scoring and knows he needs to work harder. Barrett is all over the field (in a good way) whereas Cunny would be hardpressed to run several feet to chase down a ball (a la Buddle circa 2007). Theres no shame in cherrypicking as a striker, provided a) you have the service and b) you can act on that service. Cunny had few of the former and none of the latter. Did you watch the first game of the season vs Columbus? There are shots where hes standing with his hands on hips rather than chasing down the penalty that went astray... or how about when he didnt put the ball in the net against the Whitecaps at home and it was 8 feet from the net... For the most part Carver has done a relatively good job, i only disagree with his earlier policy of playing players that did well in the previous game (which seems to have disappeared). I do not believe TFCs FO or Carver can be held accountable for Cunningham.
PS its not up to Carver to build the team, thats Mo's Job, hes done about 50/50 this season which is not enough imo. Not ready to toss him yet but he really does have to step up his game for next season
Posted by: Ossington MEntal Youth | September 26, 2008 at 11:08 AM
O.M.Y. - can only say that Cunningham is scoring now, while TFC is not. They are so out of sync, the opposition traps 90% of all their second passes. Who supposed to get them in sync? The coach! Ill advised ball clearings are confused by some with attacking style?! If I did not watch MLS highlights now and then I would have thought that the league is total waste. My bottom line is that one got to be masochistic to look forward to another Carver year at helm in T.O. !
Posted by: Paul | September 26, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Looks like we can agree to disagree.
Id love to see Carver at the helm as i do believe the start of the season (barring those first two games) is only the tip of the iceberg of what he/our team is capable of. The rest is up to Mo.
Posted by: Ossington Mental Youth | September 26, 2008 at 03:41 PM
O.M.Y. -- Respectfully, I'd stick with my view that TFC needs better coaching. May be at some point later you'd share why you think otherwise. Cheers!
Posted by: Paul | September 27, 2008 at 11:08 AM