Maurice Edu to miss 3-4 months with stress fracture

The Philadelphia Union won't have one of their best players for the next 3-4 months after Maurice Edu was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left leg. Edu missed the preseason and first match of the season with a stress reaction, which he suffered while rehabbing a groin injury last fall, and now with a stress fracture he is out until at least June.

Edu's injury is a killer to the Union, who are already fighting an uphill battle. The club has been in bad shape for a couple years and weren't expected to do much this season. A 2-0 loss to FC Dallas on opening day highlighted the team's issues, especially with Edu out, as the team was completely out-played through the center of the pitch. Edu is one of their better players and a key leader for the team, but now they're looking at playing potentially half of the season without him.

Philadelphia opted for Brian Carroll and Vincent Nogueira in the middle of the park against Dallas and that figures to be their first choice central midfield pairing for as long as Edu is out. But Carroll is 34 years old and Nogueira isn't a natural defensive midfielder so the Union will probably turn to Warren Creavalle a fair amount as well.