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Atlanta United President Darren Eales voiced his displeasure with the U.S. National Team’s treatment of Miles Robinson after the center back injured his hamstring in a post-match training session last Friday night after a 7-0 win over Cuba.
Eales: "He goes on international duty, and 11 o'clock at night after a game where he sat on the bench, they're doing a hard training session and he's doing sprints and he pulls his hamstring. Just really disappointed that he was put in that position."
— Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) October 15, 2019
The interview, given on the team’s flagship radio station 92.9 The Game (will post a link when it becomes available), makes it clear that Eales didn’t like the fact that players were having to do sprints so late in the evening. For what it’s worth, it’s pretty standard practice among clubs to have players “warm down” after games in which they spent time getting ready to enter but did not play. It’s unclear at this point if Robinson’s injury occurred during one of these types of warm-downs — an increasingly light exercise — or in a more strenuous fitness session.
Robinson has been listed as week-to-week by Atlanta United, which is terrible timing for the team’s playoff run, especially considering the player’s importance to the team. Robinson started all but one of Atlanta’s league games this season, and even came on as a sub in the one game he didn’t. Robinson has played 3,921 minutes across 45 games in all competitions this season. He is one of the leading candidates for MLS Defender of the Year.