Ruiz Out 4-6 Weeks

By: jen | April 1st, 2008

Carlos Ruiz had surgery today on a torn medial meniscus in his right knee. He is expected to be out 4-6 weeks.

I guess that’s what I expected, although I was still hoping it was a medial collateral ligament sprain like it was initially reported. Having had several knee injuries and three knee surgeries (with the caveat that I am not a doctor) I’m not sure how Ruiz can come back as soon as four weeks. His fitness level going into the surgery is a huge plus for a speedy recovery, but I would expect six weeks for sure.

Dammit!

So now what? I am not a big Alan Gordon fan, but he’ll have to really step it up now. If they play him up high with Donovan running underneath him it might work. That way he’ll be up enough to run onto crosses for headers (something he’s poor at unless he’s starting his run on the last defender) and he make decoy runs for the midfield and Donovan.

We’ll see what Ruud chooses to do. If I’m a Galaxy forward, now’s my chance to prove my value to the team.

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Category: 2008 Season, Player News

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Jim

For fun I went to the Quakes offsides...they have more on LAG on the first page than themselves.....GAME ON!
David

Why would Ruud put Becks and Landycakes forward and leave his midfield baren? I thought the whole point was to have Becks feeding balls up to Ruiz with Donovan acting as a secondary threat from the forward midfield. With the three of them all stuck up front it was bound to fall apart and one was bound to get injured. And where is Mike Randolph in the back? He was great last year. That kid works (and for very little pay I might add).
George

This is from the Galaxy website:

DOUBTFUL: MF Alvaro Pires (R foot)

This is new, right?
Colin

After watching Cronin last week, it's clear that we definitely need to put Wicks in, if nothing else than to scare Cronin into stepping his game up.

Also, am I the only one wishing we hadn't traded away Robbie Findley?
Dan

O'Brien on his way to becoming an "enforcer" in MLS. I thought only hockey could afford such a player and trust me O' Brien is not built to be in the job long term. Half kidding!

Trust me this kid has a mouth and an attitude that is way out of proportion to his game. In a PDL playoff game last summer he got himself sent off in his teams last game. That time for an 'altercation'.

I have watched McDonald for 4 years now (about 50 matches) and you will love the way he plays. Only a very serious injury took him out of his junior year. As a senior he played out of position as Valentino (San Francisco and 1st round pick) also went down to injury leaving two freshmen on the back line. So McDonald was switched to the back line out of the midfield. The 2 freshmen and a new UCLA transfer in the goal were too much to overcome for a successful senior year for McDonald. The kid can play.
Bob

O'Brien only received a one game suspension and a $250 fine... what??
Diane

Thanks Jen, that's good to know about the defense and hope we're surprised up front.
jd

After several knee surgeries too, and most recently a menicus repair, Ruiz can be back on the field in 4 weeks. I was playing in 6, but I also had to work and rehab at same time, I didn't get all the benefits that he will recieve. As for Gordo..give the boy a chance, he does score but also does a lot of things right that help others on the field. I like Cronin, but I think Wicks has more confidence and maybe thats what the back 4 need, someone to help with dierctions...all in all, it will be nice NOT to Xavier on the field!
jen

Diane, as far as the defenders that we have on the team, the answer is yes. They really do have what it takes -- it's just a matter of time and hopefully management won't trade them just as they are coming into their own (a HUGE and chronic Galaxy management problem).

As for the forwards, I don't know. I'm a little pessimistic.

MacDonald is a rookie midfielder that Ruud is very high on. He looks good so far. He has size, speed, and can read the game well. It's still up in the air how he'll do when balls are to the wall.
Ronny

Yes, good video Frank.
LANDO and Valentin said it the best, "we thought we were better than we really are", "the 4-0 lost snapped us back to reality." Well said.
Diane

Be brutally frank and I'm interested in details. Do the players on this team really have enough potential talent to give the Galaxy hope if they learn quick and are played in the "right" positions? You can't teach speed and you can't teach instinct (although the latter can sharpen with experience we don't have time for that). I can see what everyone means when they say where this or that player would do well if they can play better, but CAN they play better?
jen

Frank, thanks for the link. That's an excellent video that is very calming. I like what Valentin said about losing 4-0 being better than losing 1-0 because it forces everything out onto the table for evaluation.

I watched Valentin some in college last year and he is both a smart player and a quick player. He will adapt to MLS very well -- I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later though. He has the ability to be a huge standout on defense this year.
Nicole

The best thing Ruud can do is to change the midfield setup. That's where it went wrong. Starting a midfield of Pete Vagenas, Pires Alvaro and Ely Allen was the primary cause of the Galaxy's disasterous start. There's no way those 3 can maintain possession and get things going offensively.

I honestly think Beckham and Donovan can create on offense for us and Gordon or Buddle can actually score for us - If we can shore up the midfield. Perhaps Pires, Klein, Beckham and either Ely Allen (out wide) or maybe Donovan pulled back to AM. I just know we've got to get our better ball handlers (Beckham and Donovan) in positions where they can actually get the ball.
Frank

Scenes from the aftermath. Galaxy training session on 4/1/08....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qXt...
Frank

Jen & Glen - I agree that it would be nice to see Wicks in at GK. I have yet to see a strong or confident performance from Cronin this year. I guess we'll have to have faith in Gordon & Roberts as they will probably both fill in for Fish and X. We'll get through this somehow. Later...
jen

Oooo, oooo, look what I just found:

"PROBABLE - Julian Valentin (R-Ankle)"
jen

I would love, love, love to see Wicks too, but I doubt it's going to happen. Wicks just exudes confidence -- or at least he did in Asia. I watched parts of game again from Saturday and each time Cronin got up from a dive he looked stunned or disoriented. He had no fire or verve whatsoever. Yeah, in that game it sucked to be him, but he still needed passionate confidence.
Glen

Quakes had a good tourney and showed well, it'll be a tough match come Thursday. Gordon better show some serious heart out there. I'm with you Jen, I've never been a fan of his but now is his time to start to show what he can do and Donovan needs to start taking some shots on goal along with Klien coming up the wing and firing off some long range blasts we know he can take. It's almost unbelievable to loose Ruiz in the 1st match, but then again- shaking my head! Also, I'm thinking I would like to see Wicks in as our keeper instead of Cronin...
Pedro

If the Quakes play like they did the Red Bulls at the Carolina Cup (Quakes 3 Red Bulls 0), expect a high pressure physical match. Hope Donovan and Becks can take the contact without injury.