Eddie Robinson and the Revenge of the Kneeds

So fresh on the heels of the Atlante debacle, we find out that Eddie Robinson will be out "indefinitely" after undergoing surgery on the cartilage of his left knee. (Story here, Bernardo Fallas' take here and Ives' take, along with a quick look around the Western Conference here.)

Bernardo says Robinson is likely out 4-6 months, while Ives is somewhat more optimistic, tagging the return at six weeks. But you know what, 6 weeks or 6 months, Dynamo will have to do what they did a lot of the time last year, get along without Eddie Robinson. Poor guy, ever since he scored against Sweden earning his first cap for the Snakes in January 2008 it's been pretty much downhill. He's one fierce dude out on that pitch and of course Dynamo will miss him, but it does bring up some interesting possibilities.

First, I have no doubt that all three of Atlante's goals the other night would probably not have happened had the center mid combo of ERob and Boswell been on duty. But with both out, the result was somewhat predictable. But that's not going to be the case, now is it, when Columbus comes a'callin' in two weeks. Bozzie will be there. I foresee a backline like this:

Capt. Wademerica--Julius James-Boz-Mulrooney with Hainault, Waibel and Chabala available off the bench (though not necessarily in that order) and possibly Geoff the Giraffe Cameron in the mix as well. The upshot here is that we're going to get to see Orange Julius that much faster than we at first though, and that might not be all that bad of a deal.

To be sure, James is not Robinson. But then again, with his injury woes over the last year, Robinson hasn't been Robinson, has he? So is it unfortunate? You betcha. But Dynamo were best in the West last year mostly without Eddie, so catastrophic it is not.

And, remember, a return in either June or August means we get a fresh Eddie right when we'll need him most. So I'm not crying any tears just yet. Hainault obviously gets the signing deal now, though he looked only mediocre against Atlante. And the No. 1 goal remains a forward, sooner rather than later.

What's your take?