It was a terrible blow to the team when Mikael Silvestre went out with an ACL injury a couple weeks ago. While the team has maintained its unbeaten streak and still look solid, without their veteran center back they haven't looked as solid. At the very least, however, we can now rest assured that Silvestre will be back for the 2014 season as it appears his surgery was a success!
According to the press release, Silvestre will still be out 6-9 months, which pretty much rules him out of participating this season. However, it gives him ample time to get back in shape for the 2014 season which should begin in March of next year. 9 months from today would be February, though he could be read to go as early as December, which would certainly be ideal.
That said, with the age of Silvestre, you do have to worry whether he'll ever return to full form. We've seen in the past how knee injuries can have long lasting effects on veterans. Dwayne De Rosario is struggling with that as I write this. Still, I have a feeling just having Silvestre on the team has done a lot of good for the Timbers' center backs, especially Andrew Jean-Baptiste.
In his relatively short time with the club, Silvestre recorded a 312 minute shutout, one of the longest so far this MLS season. Not bad.
Until then, it will be let up to Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Futty Danso and newcomer Pa Modou Kah to help shore up the defensive backline. After the last couple games, I'm feeling pretty confident about the positioning. I'm not sure what Silvestre or Caleb Porter has done, but Futty in particular has been looking very sharp.
What do you think about Silvestre's successful surgery?