The return to action of City SC midfielder Eduard Lowen appears to be coming very soon, with coach Bradley Carnell saying Monday that he was “confident†Lowen would play in one of the team’s two games this week.
“We’ll see how he progresses this week,†Carnell said, “to see if he plays a role on Wednesday or if he’s plays a role on Saturday. I’m confident of one or the other.â€
Carnell said after his team’s 3-1 win over Chicago on Saturday that Lowen wanted to speak to the media before returning to play to talk about his situation. That didn’t happen on Monday, which would work against a Wednesday appearance against Los Angeles FC, but there’s also nothing holding them to that. Lowen is scheduled to talk to reporters on Thursday, which would point to the game Saturday in Cincinnati.
With a short prep time between games, the players who saw extensive playing time on Saturday or, in the case of Hosei Kijima and Akil Watts with City2 on Sunday, did regeneration work while the eight others, including Lowen, trained.
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Lowen hasn’t played since March 9, missing eight games. At first, he was held out because of a hamstring injury and was close to returning after missing three games, but then, he was out because of what Carnell has described as a family medical matter. Lowen resumed training with the team last week, and Carnell has said it was Lowen’s decision as to when he was in position to play.
“He’s training with us,†Carnell said. “He’s lost a bit of fitness. He’s working his way back. He’s a gem of a human being to be around, so he makes us stronger with his presence and his footballing qualities. It’s going to be a ways for him to get back there. I think that’s obvious.â€
The value of Lowen is clear. He was tied for fifth in Major League Soccer in assists last season with 14 — nine more than any other City SC player. His playmaking drove the team, and his touch on set pieces — corner kicks and free kicks — turned those into dangerous offensive weapons for the team. This season, he had two assists in three MLS games before getting hurt, but those two are enough to have him tied for the team lead.
When Lowen is ready to play, it won’t come all at once. He missed five games last season because of a quadriceps injury and came off the bench in the first two games, playing 21 and 29 minutes before returning to the starting lineup.
“I’m not looking for Edu right now to be the big game changer,†Carnell said. “He’s had so much go on over the last couple of weeks and recover from the injury. For him, it’s slowly progressing. We have to protect him in a certain way because he wants to get going, but when his body’s in the right place, he will be able to feel that in his body. So just having him around the field on training days, we get to see what we’ve missed. And that’s really fun.
“Can he consistently do it for many levels with the intensity that we need? He’s lost a lot of fitness, and we’re trying to work him back. He’s hungry and passionate to get back, and hopefully, these couple of training sessions hopefully the next few weeks will help him and will support him, encourage him to get him back where he wants was.â€
Walking the line
Right back Tomas Totland picked up his fourth yellow card on April 6, against Dallas, and if he gets another one, he gets a one-game suspension. But also, if he goes five games without a yellow card, he’ll get one subtracted from his total and no longer be on the brink of suspension.
Saturday against Chicago was his fourth game. One more without a yellow card and he gets some breathing room back.
“It’s been hard managing that,†he said. “Sometimes you have to take that card for the team, and then luckily, both me and Chris (Durkin) have not had to do that. One more match and one of them goes away. ... You never want to miss out on a game. So just trying to just manage those cards is hard.â€
Durkin and Tim Parker also are at four yellow cards. Durkin has gone three games without one, and Parker has gone two. After a first suspension, it takes only three cards to trigger a second suspension. Last season, Parker, Jared Stroud, Tomas Ostrak and Njabulo Blom missed one game because of yellow cards, but no one missed a second.
Notes
Klauss was named to the league’s team of the matchday after his two-goal performance on Saturday. It’s his second selection; he was chosen for the second team the week of the Sporting Kansas City game.
- LAFC, which City SC plays Wednesday, had two players on the team: midfielders Denis Bouanga (three assists) and Christian Olivera (two goals).
- Defender Josh Yaro, who last played on April 6 because of a hamstring injury, rejoined City SC in practice on Monday. He had been training separately.
- City2 won its fourth straight game on Sunday, beating Austin 2-1 on a goal in second-half stoppage time by Wan Kuzain. City2 is unbeaten in its past seven games and is in first place in the Western Conference, with 18 points and second overall in MLS Next Pro.
- There were 52 goals scored in MLS action on Saturday, the most in one day since 57 were scored on Aug. 6, 2022. Only two teams didn’t score on the weekend: Nashville and Vancouver.