New York City FC have been without the services of center back Maxime Chanot over the last five games and it appears they will have to go much longer without one of their defensive stars.
On Monday the club announced that Chanot, who had been ailing with a pelvic injury for a month, will miss the next 6-8 weeks after undergoing a successful bilateral sports hernia procedure on Monday morning. This timetable likely means he will not be seeing the field until the playoffs begin.
The announcement puts even more pressure on a team that has very little depth at the center back position. Alexander Callens has played every minute so far this season, while 2016 starter Frederic Brillant has stepped into the starting XI in Chanot's absence.
Behind them there's few options, with Ethan White seeming like the best option despite the fact that he has played almost exclusively at right back since joining the club. There's also recent Homegrown signee James Sands, but it's unlikely head coach Patrick Vieira would throw such an inexperienced player into the fire this late in the season. Sands is also expected to be called into national team camp ahead of the Under-17 World Cup in India, which will be taking place at the beginning of October.
The team has done well in Chanot's absence, winning four of five matches, but he was notably missed in their 4-0 loss at Toronto on July 30. That loss brought back memories of their thrashing at the hands of TFC in last year's Conference Semifinals, which Chanot also did not participate in. It should also be noted that the team has conceded 17.7 shots per game with him out of the lineup, while they have conceded just 10.3 shots in the games he has started according to Opta.
Going without the Luxembourg international for this amount of time is clearly a setback, as NYCFC became one of the top defenses in MLS with him in the lineup. His return could be crucial as the club makes a run to lift their first trophy. Even worse, an injury to Callens or Brillant would create a crisis for Vieira's men.
