Cristian Roldan to miss 4-6 weeks with groin injury

The left groin injury that held Cristian Roldan out of the Seattle Sounders' Friday night's draw with the LA Galaxy will keep him out for several more weeks. He will miss approximately 4-6 weeks, according to reports from MLSsoccer.com.

Roldan, a 27-year old midfielder, is a key piece to the Sounders squad. This season he has scored four goals and has also contributed four assists across 1,901 minutes. He is completing 81.6% of his passes and has made 28 key passes on the season (third on the team).

He's also second on the team in xG+A (Expected goals plus assists) this season with 7.6. It's safe to say that Roldan will be missed in Seattle's lineup, not just because of his talent, but also the experience that he has. Seattle has made the playoffs in all the previous seven years that Roldan has been with the squad.

Here are some date context in terms of a timeframe of where the absence could coincide with the rest of the season for Seattle. Decision Day is October 9th, which is six and a half weeks away. So, the good news is that if the timetable is accurate and Seattle makes the playoffs then Roldan should be back for the playoffs. That's the big issue though. Seattle has to make the playoffs first, and if they are without Roldan then that gets that much more difficult.

The four week end of the timetable would see Roldan miss Seattle's next five matches (all the way through the road trip to Vancouver on September 17th). Seattle then plays Cincinnati on September 27th (almost exactly five weeks away). They then play Sporting KC on October 2nd which about five and a half weeks away. So, the 4-6 week timeline puts Roldan's return likely somewhere around Seattle's final three matches of the season.

This injury could prove costly for the Sounders who are in the middle of a tight playoff chase in the Western Conference. Seattle currently sits ninth in the West with 33 points. They are just one point below the playoff line however, as the Galaxy currently reside in seventh with 34 points. Seattle is also just three points behind sixth place Nashville. The Sounders have eight matches remaining this season.

It will be interesting to see how Seattle can fare in their playoff push without one of their best players. Seattle is a deep team with history of making runs to the playoffs, but this one will be that much more difficult after this injury news.