Atlanta United’s injury report ahead of Saturday’s game against D.C. United:
NOT MEDICALLY CLEARED TO PLAY: Josef Martinez, Erick Torres
That’s it.
No players are listed as questionable.
Does that match what interim manager Stephen Glass said yesterday?
No.
When asked about the availability of Ezequiel Barco, Miles Robinson, Jurgen Damm and Matheus Rossetto, Glass said three of the four would be available for selection.
When asked which players wouldn’t, he declined to say because he said it could be useful for the team’s opponents and that he was looking after Atlanta United. That is his prerogative. MLS has no punishments for teams that don’t submit accurate injury information, so the team is within the rules because there aren’t rules.
This isn’t the first time this season that information shared by the manager two days before the game didn’t match up with what happened on the game. Both times involved Barco, who, according to the team, picked up knocks the day(s) before the game. Barco has missed four games this season because of those “knocks." That’s understandable because the injuries allegedly happened between Glass meeting with the media and the game.
Another possibility is that whatever the circumstance was yesterday changed on Friday and that all players are now available.
But the team has. with the exception of Erick Torres, become cagey when discussing injuries. Knocks, lower leg, etc. are the descriptions. Nothing specific.
This reticence to be transparent with injury information has only recently become a tactic used by the team.
Previous managers Gerardo Martino and Frank de Boer were generally earnest in providing accurate information. Sometimes, they weren’t asked about a player. Sometimes they would forget.
There’s a difference between those and what has been happening.
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