Columbus Crew Luis Diaz’s Struggle for Recovery and Return

However, it’s been a struggle for recovery, and hopefully, the 24-year-old who has been a first-team starter since 2023 can assist the club in the Eastern Conference this term.

Luis Diaz Injury: A Timeline

Just three games into the MLS 2023 season, Diaz suffered a back injury. He was initially expected to return promptly, but further inspection pointed towards a long layoff. With that said, nobody expected the drawn-out and consecutive weeks where he’d appear on Columbus’ injury report.

March 22nd – Diaz returned to the training ground and began working individually alongside the Crew, according to Columbus Dispatch Bailey Johnson reports.

At this point, he’d missed two straight games but was progressing in his return to individual training.

March 31st – Diaz remained on the Crew’s injury list before meeting with Real Salt Lake. It became the fourth consecutive game where he was absent from the squad due to the back injury suffered in March.

April 7th – With rehabilitation in progress, Diaz’s early March injury kept him on the sidelines. At this stage, head coach Wilfried Nancy told Johnson that there wasn’t a clear timeline for his potential return.

May 15th – Progress was slowly made after six weeks from the starting line-up. Diaz returned for more individual training, reported by Patrick Murphy.

May 30th – A midweek clash with Colorado had Diaz again listed on the injury sheet. His sidelined status continued despite participating in training, where he noticeably didn’t partake in full team training.

June 3rd – Back complications continued; however, Diaz was listed as ‘questionable’ ahead of the Crews meeting with Charlotte FC.

He’d been absent since the season’s first two games and remained sidelined since early March due to a back injury. The upgrade in his availability report did hint towards a return in the future, though, but the possibility of a return versus Charlotte didn’t arise.

June 5th – The long wait for inactive soccer ended, although it wasn’t for the first team. Diaz started and played the first 45 minutes in Columbus 2’s loss to the Fire II in MLS NEXT Pro. This was his first appearance since early March due to a back injury. A fully-fledged return to the senior team is now looking imminent.

June 9th – Following his participation in the Fire II squad last week, Diaz wasn’t included in the Columbus injury report for the team’s trip to Chicago for the first time in months. We shouldn’t expect him to be 100%, but he could be fit enough to come off the bench for the Crew’s first team.

Diaz Returns: Evaluation

The Columbus II squad witnessed multiple first-team players collect minutes in their meeting with the Fire II, including Diaz, Kevin Molino, and Parente. Diaz and Molino were utilized so that coaching staff could evaluate their fitness, but hopefully, you didn’t place a sports bet on the Crew II because it wasn’t their finest performance.

I wouldn’t argue staying closely tuned to the player’s comeback and the Columbus Crew games with the Betfred Ohio bonus code. Still, after Diaz’s performance against Fire II, it became evident that he wasn’t 100%.

Diaz struggled in his first game since March’s back injury, but this didn’t prevent his quality from shining on occasion. During the 15th and 22nd minutes, we saw him rely on speed to outrun the defense, and a fake switch on the wing allowed him to find space, fool the defender in front of him and locate forward Gibran Rayo out of the outskirts of the 18-yard box.

However, we must recognize how Diaz seemed fatigued and sometimes confused about his marking, giving up his man-marked position and allowing unmarked players to reach the penalty box.

After the game, it was noted that Diaz is still in the grooming stage of his defensive positioning, but the squad cannot underestimate his talents in the final third. He was also playing in an unfamiliar position as a right wing-back, contributing to the confusion and lack of marking.

He’ll likely be on the bench for matchday 19, but it could be a few more weeks before we can expect to see the Costa Rican talent resume his position in the Columbus Crew starting XI.