New York City FC: Heber injury as disastrous as it seems

Heber will miss three to four weeks with a right quad injury. For New York City FC, the injury really is as disastrous as it seems.

It was always going to be difficult for New York City FC to replace David Villa. He was the face of the franchise, the best player in the history of the club, and the cornerstone centre-forward in a prolific attack.

All throughout the offseason, questions were asked of how Dome Torrent would handle the striker position in the Spaniard’s absence. And when New York City FC broke their club-record transfer to sign a winger, the ambiguity only grew. No one knew what Torrent was planning.

And it seemed as though he did not either. False nines, Maxi Moralez through the middle, others playing out of position, New York City FC opened the season in inconsistent form, to say the least. But then came Heber, a true and natural number nine to lead the New York line. Suddenly everything changed.

Heber has scored 14 goals in 17 games this season. Only three players have scored more. More pertinently, New York have gone 12-2-3 in games that Heber has played. In matches that Heber has not played, City have gone 2-3-5. That paints the full picture.

And now Heber will be absent once more. Torrent confirmed this week that he might miss the remainder of the regular season with a right quad injury suffered in last weekend’s win over Vancouver:

"“Heber will miss at least three or four weeks. Maybe, I don’t know for sure, maybe he’s ready to play against Philadelphia.”"

If you thought that would be disastrous for a New York team chasing the top spot in the Eastern Conference, you would be correct. It is. And don’t the New York players know it. Here is what Anton Tinnerholm said in response to the news:

"“Of course he’s been a great, great player for us and scored a lot of goals. He’s been great for us but it is what it is.”"

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Sometimes, the obvious truth is the accurate truth. And in this case, that is very much sound logic. New York have been worse without Heber in the basic box score numbers (14 goals and four assists), the underlying numbers (12 wins with and two wins without), and in the eye test as well.

Not does Heber score goals thanks to a clinical streak in front of goal and excellent movement to create space for himself; he has also developed a terrific understanding with those around him, especially Valentin Castellanos, upon which much will now be placed. The 20-year-old has played in a front-two alongside Heber in recent weeks, Torrent predominantly utilising a 3-5-2 shape with Moralez in behind the pair prior to James Sands’ injury. He has 10 goals and five assists in a little over 1500 MLS minutes.

But can he now handle the sole responsibility of both leading the line in open play and scoring goals? It is a big ask for any player, nevermind a 20-year-old who has grown accustomed to playing in a pair.

For Torrent and his team, they simply have to weather the storm, squeeze out the victories, leaning on an excellent defence, and grind their way to the number one seed in the East. They are still leading the race, but Heber’s absence makes it a whole lot harder to stay in front.