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It’s not every day that the suspension of a team’s best player goes by unnoticed. But with this week being utterly dominated by Republic’s exploits in the US Open Cup, that is exactly what has happened to the news that Danny Barrera will be suspended for Republic’s match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 tonight.
USL announced the suspension in the league’s weekly Discipline Report, which lists the various disciplinary actions taken by the league each week.
The report is extremely vague when it comes to describing exactly why Barrera is being suspended for tonight’s match.
Sacramento’s Danny Barrera has been suspended one match by the Independent Disciplinary Panel for Saturday’s match against Reno 1868 FC on Saturday. Barrera was cautioned during the match. He will be suspended for this Saturday’s home match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2. - USL’s Week 12 Discipline Report
The only clue we have as to the specific play that got him suspended is the statement that he received a yellow card, presumably for the play in question.
He received the card in the 64th minute of Republic’s match against Reno last Saturday for a two-footed tackle on Dane Kelly near the touchline.
Barrera’s absence will likely be felt strongly by the team tonight. He is without a doubt one of the squad’s most crucial players and there is no real direct replacement for him on the roster. This value was demonstrated most clearly in Republic’s legendary 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake in the US Open Cup earlier this week, in which he scored a goal and provided two assists.
Although a suspension can never really be well timed, this one is particularly poorly timed. The team is coming off its best performance ever under Paul Buckle and capitalizing on the momentum of the midweek win is critical. Barrera having to sit the game out makes things much more difficult for Republic.
What are your thoughts on Barrera’s suspension? Are there any replacements for him that Buckle could use? Sound off in the comments below!