City SC midfielder Rasmus Alm does rehabilitation drills with a trainer on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the team鈥檚 practice facility in downtown 狐狸视频.
The injuries City SC midfielder Rasmus Alm and forward Klauss have are both knee sprains, both to the right MCL, though in different places. Both injuries hit players who, prior to missing significant chunks of last season to injuries, hadn鈥檛 been hurt much in their careers and who played important roles in the team鈥檚 attack
Both are close to coming back.
The two, along with defender Joakim Nilsson, took the next step in the team鈥檚 return-to-play protocol on Tuesday, joining the team on the field for part of its practice as it prepares to resume MLS play on Saturday against Portland. For Alm and Klauss, they won鈥檛 be back for that game, but the return is in sight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always tough,鈥 Alm said. 鈥淵ou always want to be out there and helping your team, even if it鈥檚 just on the side. ... That鈥檚 your job and the one thing you love the most, to be out there and play and to be on the sideline and not even have opportunity to be there is not fun.鈥
Alm was hurt in the Miami game on June 1 in a collision with an opposing player. Klauss was hurt in a practice prior to the Vancouver game on June 29.
鈥淏y myself,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 had the ball with me. I try one pass, then the moment that I land, I feel it. And it was weird. Normally you don鈥檛 get an MCL injury for the pass that I did.鈥
The injuries were part of the barrage that hit the team during the summer. Klauss has missed the past 10 games, six in MLS and four in Leagues Cup. He has missed 29 games in his season-plus in 狐狸视频 after not missing any games prior in his career. Last season, he missed 19 games with a quad injury.
鈥淚 know a lot of people are saying that I cannot stay healthy,鈥 Klauss said after practice Tuesday, 鈥渂ut this is something that started happening now last two years. ... So this is something that I鈥檓 talking to (the training staff) about, and we are trying to find a balance that can help me to feel good again.鈥
Klauss said he still has pain in his knee that probably won鈥檛 go away for several months, and the challenge for both is just how much pain they can play through. For Klauss and Alm, running isn鈥檛 the problem. It鈥檚 the cutting and dribbling and doing things with the ball, including shooting, that鈥檚 the problem.
鈥淲ith runs and everything, it鈥檚 OK. I could play now,鈥 Klauss said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just kicking the ball that is the problem,鈥 Alm said. 鈥淚f I could play a game without touching the ball, I could play two weeks ago. Touching, kicking, shooting, passing is uncomfortable.鈥
Alm hurt his knee in a messy collision with Matias Rojas of Miami, which buckled his knee. The pain was not only physical but mental as well. Alm had missed 15 games last season as he battled a sports hernia injury that limited his effectiveness when he wasn鈥檛 out. He had offseason surgery that kept him out of the first four games of this season.
Because of that, when Alm left the field and got to the dressing room that night in Florida, he was in tears.
鈥淚t just felt like your whole world just collapsed,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think the last time I cried before this was when my second kid came, so three years ago, and then, yeah, I don鈥檛 know, it was just (a lot) that day. I mean, I鈥檝e just been playing 10 games, I get back and then, yeah, it happened again.
鈥淵ou get into an unlucky tackle or somebody falls on your knee, and then it鈥檚 just, you can鈥檛 even understand that it happened and then you have to just start with the rehab again. I鈥檝e had one big injury before, when I was 16. Then I鈥檝e been good. I鈥檝e had some hamstring problems but nothing major, so yeah, it was more a mentally tough part in the beginning of the injury.鈥
When both come back, they will see a different team than the one they left. There鈥檚 a new coach in John Hackworth and three new attacking players in Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert and Simon Becher.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited for the team,鈥 Klauss said, 鈥渢he way that the team is playing now, the way they are training, I think they鈥檙e doing great. Leagues Cup showed how better we can play, comparing with the beginning of the season and what we were doing in MLS. So I think was a great step for the team, mentally and also physically and also with Hack, with new ideas.
鈥(The competition is) just good for the team. People sometimes think like, oh, we have Klauss, then we don鈥檛 need Simon, or we have Simon, then we don鈥檛 need Klauss. We are teammates and we want the best for each other, because we know how long the season is in MLS. So we can have two good players in front or three鈥檚 even better. At the end of the day, we have to see what is better for the team. And there is moments that maybe I will not be in good moments. Then Simon鈥檚 got my back and the opposite way as well. So it鈥檚 always good for the team.鈥
鈥淰ery different,鈥 said Alm. 鈥淏ut I think also it looks much, much better, and we look much more comfortable with the style we play now. So it almost makes it even worse that you feel that you really want to be out there.鈥
Alm has missed almost half of the games (35 of 71) City SC has played due to injury. While Klauss feels on schedule in his recovery, Alm isn鈥檛. The original diagnosis for both was six to eight weeks. Klauss is at Week 7; Alm is at Week 11.
鈥淚 think the last four weeks, I鈥檝e said that I鈥檒l be back in two weeks,鈥 Alm said, 鈥渟o right now, I just take it day by day. And today was the first day back in the warmup stuff. And that felt great. So then we see how the knee reacts tomorrow. Hopefully I can be there again.鈥
Klauss thinks it鈥檚 possible to be back as early as the next game, against the L.A. Galaxy, and if not then, against New England the following week. Whenever it is, after a long time out, there鈥檚 hope.
鈥淣ow we start to see the end of the tunnel,鈥 Alm said. 鈥淪o now it feels positive again.鈥
