The latest Major League Soccer Injury Report came out yesterday and some Chicago Fire players have seen their statuses change. The good news is defender Cory Gibbs and forward Gabriel Ferrari are off the list and back to being healthy. Gibbs had been suffering from a left hamstring strain. He actually trained fully with the team last Thursday but the coaching staff decided to play it safe and Gibbs did not even dress for Saturday's game. Ferrari still faces an almost impossible uphill climb to see playing time with the first team but it is great to see him healthy and recovered from his left hamstring strain. After the break, it's bit of good news/bad news.
Defensive midfielder Mike Videira has also been taken off the injury list. He was previously out with a concussion. Chicago Fire team writer Jeff Crandall said in his Tuesday's Training Report that Videira did not train yesterday but he should be training today. Crandall also mentioned that Pause did some running but did not fully participate yesterday. Pause remains listed on the injury report with his left hamstring strain.I'm saving the worst news for last in that Sean Johnson is out due to a right quad strain and Patrick Nyarko is out with concussion symptoms. Both players did not dress for Saturday's night game but the hope was each had minor injuries. Nyarko's status is the most worrisome because he experienced these same concussion issues last year. ESPN Chicago's Charlie Corr wrote post-Vancouver game that Nyarko did not dress due to an 'undisclosed illness that has lingered for the past several days'. Dominic Oduro's starts at RM might be coming out of necessity as much as a talent battle unfortunately. Nyarko's problems with concussions are frighteningly starting to mirror the path of the player Oduro was trade for, Calen Carr. Let's hope that's not the case and Nyarko gets well soon.
Sean Johnson's quad strain is not something to take lightly and the team is should be taking it slow. If coach Carlos de los Cobos plans on continuing to start Jon Conway (and it would be hard to bench him after he recorded the first Fire clean sheet of the year), there's no reason to risk aggravating Johnson's injury and making matters worse. If Johnson has a Grade 1 strain, he could be back training later this week. We will keep you posted. It certainly has been a tough beginning to 2011 for two of the players who seemed crucial to the Fire's chances this year.