LA Galaxy’s Jonathan dos Santos out MLS is Back Tournament due to surgery

The LA Galaxy announced Wednesday midfielder Jonathan dos Santos will miss the entire MLS is Back Tournament after he undergoes hernia surgery Thursday. The club says dos Santos is expected to miss six weeks.

The news comes a shock, as dos Santos had been participating in training after the club began emerging from the coronavirus shutdown and seemed to be healthier than when he started the season, with one or more ailments plaguing him in preseason.

One could ask why dos Santos didn’t get surgery earlier, but there are two issues with that line of thinking — the hernia may be new or have reached a critical stage where it needs surgery only recently, and with coronavirus being the medical priority over the past several months, even if this had been a longstanding issue, surgeries had by and large been put off until recently.

On the field, this would appear to be a big blow to the Galaxy’s prospects in the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando. Joe Corona could get the majority of minutes, although having picked up a red card in LA’s last game it’s unclear if he would be eligible for the opening game of the MLS is Back Tournament. Perry Kitchen is also in contention, and I won’t be surprised to see Carlos Harvey, on loan from LA Galaxy II, get some real minutes in Florida if he performs well.

Still, with dos Santos a player with a skillset that isn’t replicable on the team otherwise, and one of the best players, losing him for the tournament is a big deal. However, the league expects to restart with league play at home venues after the tournament, and the Galaxy will look for dos Santos to recover and be able to contribute when that phase of the season comes (fingers crossed, etc.).

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