Edgar Castillo injures knee, sidelined two months

The United States men’s national team left back pool just got even thinner. Perennial backup to Fabian Johnson at left back this year, Edgar Castillo, will be out of action for up to two months according to his club team, Monterrey.

The team’s doctor had this diagnosis and description of the injury:

Edgar Castillo suffered a blow to his left knee during training on Sunday, so did not travel to Haiti; They were performed imaging studies and was reviewed by traumatology confirmed the diagnosis of fracture of the upper pole of the patella; no surgery and will take a period of not less rehabilitation for 8 weeks. — Translated via Google

If this time frame holds, Castillo will surely miss the final two World Cup qualifiers for the USMNT in September and put him in doubt for the two friendlies in October. If his recovery goes as planned, he could be fit for selection again in November when the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying “Hex” begins. And that’s assuming the USMNT make it that far as they still have plenty of work to do to get there.

There are a plethora of options to replace Castillo on the depth chart. Matt Besler played some left back at the Copa America and was even preferred to Castillo in an important match of the tournament. Then there’s guys like Tim Ream, Jonathan Bornstein, and Jorge Villafana who could fill in just fine.

Who would you like to see get a chance at LB with Castillo out for a while?