Cassar: Aaron Maund out for TFC match with hamstring injury

You wanted to see a center back pairing of Aaron Maund and Chris Schuler tomorrow, right? Well, you’ll have to wait another week — at least — for that, because one of those two is out.

Aaron Maund, according to a report from Salt Lake Tribune reporter Chris Kamrani, will be missing with a hamstring injury.

Of course, that doesn’t specify the length — and there’s a strong reason for the club to not make that public information, even if we’d rather know ourselves exactly how long the club estimates Maund will be absent.

The timing for this is particularly poor, given Justen Glad is still away on international duty with the United States U-20s. There’s a growing sense that he’s not quite guaranteed a position, but that it’s not far off.

In Maund’s absence, expect newcomer David Horst to step into his place. Now an MLS veteran, Horst will at least provide experience. Chris Schuler seemed the likely starter alongside Maund, and there’s no reason to expect that to change. At the very least, it should be a central pairing that’s good in the air, but that may just shift the concern further toward the ground. Against a team that has the very capable Sebastian Giovinco, that may only cut out part of the attack.

Of course, even with our first-choice center backs, containing Giovinco and Jozy Altidore was a big ask — as I like to talk about incessantly, it’s probably going to come down to the midfield and where Real Salt Lake cedes possession.