The news that Sébastien Le Toux avoided a serious knee injury on Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena is more than welcome news for the Philadelphia Union, who need the French striker as healthy as possible going forward.
Le Toux – who is ranked third in scoring in MLS this season with four goals – went down late in the Union’s 2-1 loss to the Red Bulls in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match, but early reports have revealed that the left knee injury was not as serious as first believed.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that Le Toux could return to action as soon as Saturday, when the Union take on the unbeaten Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.
The Union confirmed Thursday that Le Toux could play on Saturday, but that an official diagnosis on Le Toux's injury has not come back from the team doctor.
And that’s welcome news for the Union, who have turned Le Toux into one of the breakout forwards of 2010, even if he was largely a right midfielder in his first season with Seattle in 2009.
“I was still a forward even if I was playing midfield in Seattle,” Le Toux said. “In my head I was still a forward. I am happy that the coach here [Peter Nowak] is making me play as a forward. It is the position I prefer.”
Ironically, Le Toux experienced his most productive seasons ever at forward with the Sounders, when the club was still in the USL. He was the leading scorer in USL-1 (10 goals) and the U.S. Open Cup (five goals) in 2007 and netted 14 goals in league and another five in the Open Cup in 2008.
“He was used sparingly at forward for us during the MLS season [2009] because we felt like he was able to help us out wide where we really needed his energy getting up down and flank,” Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer said. “I think we’ve always known that Seba could score goals. But time will tell whether he ends up putting in 15 to 20 goals. We all know it’s a long season.”
The Frenchman was acquired by Philadelphia in the expansion draft last November after Seattle left him unprotected.
“We were disappointed when he was taken,” Hanauer said. “But we had a pretty good team in 2009, and we couldn’t keep everybody.”
The former FC Lorient player found the back of the net only once in 28 matches in all of 2009, and has already doubled those numbers in Philadelphia this year.
“I’m in Philly now and I don’t think about Seattle,” he said.
Le Toux is currently awaiting receipt of a green card. When the 26-year-old eventually obtains his U.S. citizenship, he said he would welcome a potential U.S. National Team call-up, should he ever be considered.
For now the focus is ensuring the Union have a successful expansion season. The recruitment of fellow Frenchman Robert Pires could play a large role in the team’s fortunes and even help Le Toux in the goals department.
“I don’t just pick up the phone and talk to Robert Pirès,” Le Toux said. “But if I did I would tell him: ‘Philadelphia is a nice city and if you want to come, I would be happy to play with you.’”
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