UPDATE, August 12: Bruce Arena elaborated on the status of Carles Gil in his Thursday interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak and Bertrand, explaining why the MVP candidate midfielder is rehabbing in his native Spain, news that was first reported by The Bent Musket.
The decision was made so that Gil could get more individualized attention, Arena explained, with a specialist that he's worked with before when he was coming back from a previous injury. Gil is currently rehabbing a muscle tissue injury in the midst of a spectacular 2021 season that has seen him establish himself as the top chance creator in MLS and rack up a league-leading 15 assists in 17 games.
“First of all, he’ll get a lot more attention [in Spain],” Arena said. “Our staff here obviously is involved with our team as well. There’s a specialist that worked with him when he was coming back from his Achilles surgery last year. We think it’s a good decision. He’ll get good care there and he’ll be back in a short period of time.”
ORIGINAL, August 9: The New England Revolution defeated the Philadelphia Union 2-1 Sunday at Gillette Stadium in the club’s second match without the influential Carles Gil, who is sidelined with a muscle injury.
As for the extent of the injury, and how long the Spanish playmaker will be out, that remains to be seen, although head coach Bruce Arena provided somewhat of an update after the match.
“He has a muscle tissue injury,” Arena said as soon as he sat at the podium. “However you want to define it. The timeline remains to be seen."
Arena was later asked if Gil, who has two goals and a league-high 15 assists through 17 games, would need surgery to repair his injury.
“He has a muscle injury and he’s rehabilitating it,” Arena said. “He’s not having surgery, as far as I know.”
Before his injury, Gil appeared to be well on his way to shattering the league’s record for assists in a season, held by Carlos Valderrama, who had 26 assists in 2000, and was arguably the favorite to be named Landon Donovan MVP.
