Andre Luiz undergoes successful knee surgery
By Robert Jonas · March 2, 2010
The San Jose Earthquakes announced earlier today that midfielder Andre Luiz Moreira underwent successful surgery last Friday, Feb. 26. Andre Luiz had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Earthquakes team orthopedist Dr. Mike Oberlander performed the surgery at the Sequoia Surgical Pavilion.
Last week, head coach Frank Yallop reiterated that Andre Luiz was still feeling the effects of a knee injury suffered last season. In late January, the midfielder had a less severe procedure on the same knee in an effort to return to full fitness; however, the pain still persisted. He had not been participating in full training drills with the team during the week leading up to his arthroscopic surgery. A time-table for the return of Yallop’s first-choice central midfielder has not been announced by the team.
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Robert-
Given what you’ve witnessed thus far in training camp, and any scuttlebutt you’ve heard surrounding the team, what would you expect the roster to look like when we kick off on March 27th. As I understand it, we have 28 players in camp. If the team was forced to use the roster limits of the last 2 seasons (20 senior spots, 4 developmental spots) who would you see being cut?
Keepers- Cannon, Weber, Graczyk
Defenders- Leitch, Hernandez, MacDonald, Corrales, Opara, Pitchkolan, Burling, Morrow, Beitashour
Midfielders- Alvarez, Luiz, Sanchez, Convey, Robles, Gjertsen, Ring, Elliot, Ribeiro, Jessey
Forwards- Glen, Eduardo, Johnson, Wondolowski, Amarikwa, Guarino
Personally, I’d axe Graczyk, Burling, Elliot and Ribeiro
Opara, Beitashour, Jessey and Guarino would be my 4 developmental roster players
If the developmental roster was expanded to 6, I’d add Graczyk and take Morrow from the senior roster and add Elliot in his place. My hope would be that Elliot would find a home in the A-League down under after the World Cup, and we could have an open slot for a key mid-season signing.
What does your crystal ball tell you?
I mentioned this briefly in the comments of the previous post in answering a question about Guarino. Let me expand on a few thoughts here:
Frank Yallop has repeatedly stated that because of the limited roster sizes in MLS, you benefit from signing players that can cover at more than one position. Recent signings Gjertsen and Robles were touted as such, while McDonald, Alvarez, Corrales, and Convey fit the bill too. Also, from following Yallop and John Doyle these last two-plus seasons, we can also say that they like veteran players that have proven dependability. Remember that Doyle expressed earlier this preseason some frustration with having to bring in Salinas and Amarikwa so quickly. Without sufficient “developmental” roster slots, rookies will sometimes get added to the senior roster at no choice of the FO.
If the last two preseason games are any indication as to who feels the heat, I’d add Amarikwa, Ribeiro, and Pitchkolan to the list of unsigned rookies and trialists fighting to make the final 24 man roster. With Opara assured a spot on the team, Burling is also a potential candidate to be cut. Unfortunately he is out with a toe injury that prevents him from joining in the scrimmages. Between Burling and Pitchkolan as my first central defender off the bench, I give the slightest advantage to Burling.
Quick aside: Convey has looked very sharp in preseason. Whether at left back or left wing, he looks prepared to meet the fans’ expectations from last season. Convey is going to be on the final 20 man roster.
Cutting Graczyk seems unlikely, as the FO suggested earlier this preseason that they want to have three goalkeepers on the roster. Jessey is a good bet to be signed to a developmental deal — he is very skilled, but still raw and will benefit from more instruction. Doyle suggested they are working on some work permit issues with him related to political issues in his home country. Ring is my personal favorite to be signed. His goal yesterday was very well taken, and his intensity going after 50/50 balls (aerial or ground) was impressive.
I’ll be sure to pass along any more information that I am able to gather. With the team leaving for England on Thursday, I’ll be out of the loop for the time being. Still time for me to work on my overseas scouting network…
Thanks again for the great coverage Robert. I appreciate your reply in the previous thread. Of all the players mentioned to be on the bubble above why are Frank and JD seemingly in love with Elliott other than he is a veteran? He is past his prime, plays a position we have some depth at now (assuming Ring is signed), missing time for WC, and relatively expensive with regards to the value he brings to the team. I’d much rather see him go than lose a young prospect.
My quick take on Elliott? Not only is he a reliable veteran, his style of play fits with Yallop’s typical game strategy. Watch carefully as Elliott plays; he doesn’t try to create something-out-of-nothing with a direct attack through the center of the field. He is very content, almost conditioned, to knock the ball backwards for his defenders to feed up the wings. Elliott still does this very well. He’ll get forward to join the attack as the play progresses, but that is not his primary role on the field. If you keep a tally of Elliott passes backward versus forward, backward comes out ahead every game. From my perspective, he is very good at what he is asked to do.
Regarding Elliott, one other thing I noticed was veteran players like Huckerby going to Elliott for a conversation rather than Yallop, Russell, or Eklund. I got the impression this was about what he was seeing out there instead of the fan yelling at them from the third row.