Report: Josef Martinez has an injured hamstring

Because this is exactly what you want to ****ing hear, Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez is reportedly dealing with a hamstring strain, as it was reported by Doug Roberson at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Roberson reports this strain is thought to be low level according to his source Darren Eales, but Martinez will undergo yet another MRI to evaluate the full damage. Josef reportedly underwent diagnostic testing two weeks to examine soreness in his surgically repaired knee and missed the team’s recent 0-1 loss to Philadelphia.

Whether it’s a knee, a hamstring, a bad manager, or even a breakthrough case of covid, t’s been one thing after the other for Martinez this season, particularly since midsummer when all of this seemed to start.

On top of the physical pain and anguish, the season has seemed to be just as emotionally taxing on the Venezuelan as he’s had to deal with it all on top of doing his job as the goalscorer in hopes of turning around the fate of the club that was in a perilous position just a couple of months ago.

The silver lining is that the team is at least on a short break from league games due to the FIFA international window, so perhaps he won’t miss a ton of time. But it makes sense for Atlanta United and Gonzalo Pineda to give him as much time as he needs in order for him to be fresh once the playoffs roll around just over a month from now. WHile the team has temporarily dropped out of the playoff places to 8th in the Eastern Conference, the team’s schedule is favorable enough that they should still be favorites to be one of the top seven slots, no matter Josef’s status. But if they want to have any chance of making a deep run, they will need their star striker to be fit and confident in his body.