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The newcomer Zakaria Diallo suffered an injury in one of the first practices of the season. Diallo was picked up in the off season to replace and hopefully be an improvement of fan favorite Laurent Ciman. The suspected length of the injury is a few months putting into question what happens next for the Impact.
Option number one is Thomas Meilleur-Giguère who is a natural center back but showed a lack of experience in the preseason. It will be interesting to see if Garde gives him the chance to prove himself in the first game of the season against Vancouver on Sunday.
On the other hand, in the preseason one guy that we did see be tried at the center back position was Jukka Raitala. Raitala is a solid defensive player but his ability to create offensive opportunities are an important aspect to his game that is somewhat lost when he is played as a center back.
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For the time being what will be important is to find a solution for the upcoming games but if the injury to Diallo is lengthy, as suspected, management will need to look into other options. It is worrisome to believe that a lot of the success of the Impact relied on one player but this loss exposes the already apparent lack of depth.