Greg Vanney spoke to the media following training on Tuesday at the KIA Training Ground. Jozy Altidore will be out for four to five weeks after suffering a hamstring strain during the 1-1 draw in New England. Vanney touched on replacing Altidore's presence, Chris Konopka's excellent form and competition for starting spots. 

On the Altidore injury 

“It seems like it’s going to be four or five weeks but he doesn’t feel like that. The imaging gives you an initial indication so we’ll just see how he progresses over the course of the next few weeks but he says he doesn’t feel anything like he’s felt in the past where he’s had to be out five or six weeks. So, we’ll see how he does over the next few weeks. We’ll manage it and get him healthy.”

“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the turf. It was an awkward play because he took off in an acceleration to get in behind and he had, I don’t know if it was an awkward body position to hit the cross or what, exactly, led to it. That’s sometimes the challenge of playing a lot of games in a short period of time: you get a little bit of fatigue setting into some areas. That might be a little bit of the cause.”

“Guys will have to step up, but that’s why we have a 29-man roster. We have to give guys opportunities. Obviously Luke [Moore] had some minutes this past weekend, and we’ll see how Robbie [Findley] progresses over the course of the week. We have other options that we can look at as well, with Jordan Hamilton doing well in the training sessions. We have some other options we could consider with guys having played forward before.”

“Seba could definitely play as an out-and-out forward, and we have other options we can bring in that offer more of an attacking midfield look or more of a winger type of look. But, we definitely have some considerations. We’ll look for the weekend and see what the best pairing is.”

On Robbie Findley's health

“It’s not so dissimilar to Robbie in some ways,” Vanney said, of Caldwell. “It’s the Achilles that’s the root of the calf problem. For us, it’s trying to get some of the tendonitis to calm down and give the Achilles. The ultimate solution is time. It’s not dissimilar from Robbie. If he comes back too soon.”

On the goalkeeping competition 

“I think it’s a great scenario. Chris [Konopka] has really stepped up and Joe [Bendik], we know, is capable of being a starter in this league. Now, we have real competition in the position, and I think that’s fantastic. Now, between the two of them, they’re going to battle it out and see how can be our guy. That’s fair, that’s how every other position is and that’s how the goalkeeper position should be. As Joe gets healthy, we look forward to the challenge to see who’s going to step up.”

On sticking with the status quo 

“Not entirely, but I also don’t believe that a winning team should necessarily change its formula. It will all be when we get down to the moment or the week and we see what Joe’s form is like. Chris is nursing a little bit of a groin thing, too, so I don’t think it’s a clear-cut thing. We’ll give both guys the opportunity to get right, healthy and then we’ll go from there.”

“I was in the LA Galaxy days of Kevin Hartman and Matt Reis, and Hartman always felt the pressure of Reis being behind him, because Reis was a fantastic goalie in his own right. I think you need that. I think you need two ‘keepers who are pushing each other in a healthy way. Whichever guy gets the call for the weekend the other guy is supporting him and hoping for the best. That’s the relationship they’ve had before but Chris [Konopka] hasn’t had a lot of games to prove himself. Now, he’s had a stretch of games and he’s proven that he’s fully capable. So now, it just makes a real healthy competition between the two of them.”

On stepping in for Jozy 

“In the grand scheme of things, somebody’s got to step up and fill the shoes of Jozy and we have guys who are capable of doing it. Sebastian will continue to find his way to impact the game, as he does, because he’s a very clever player. So, whoever the other guy is with him, we’ll work on the relationship between the two of them so he continues to get looks at goal. Even when Jozy was off the field, he had a few good looks at goal. Most of them came to his left foot and were from interesting angles but he’s able to find his own shots and create things. Michael, he showed some real power and commitment to run through lines. That will also help free up Sebastian, if we continue to play Michael in advanced positions.”

“I suppose it’s conceivable. We’ll see as we go. I haven’t spent a lot of time talking to Jozy, we were just waiting on the MRI results. But the concern is that if he’s not 100 percent healthy, maybe he doesn’t go to the Gold Cup but I don’t want to take up that battle just yet with him until we figure that out.”

On Michael Bradley's performance 

“He not only had that chance in the game, but the ‘keeper came up with a very good save on another opportunity that he had that Luke followed up on but was offside. That was another really good look for Michael. The key to Michael from even Wednesday to this weekend was he was more connected with the front two and a little less connected to the back three midfielders, if you will. Because of that, as centerbacks part and look to deal with our forwards, he’s finding gaps to run through. It’s very difficult for defensive midfielders to track his runs with the power he gets going forward. He doesn’t play it in a traditional sort of attacking midfielder kind of way. He’ll drop deep and build some speed and power like he did on the goal going forward. That’s always dangerous, especially with the way we play.”

On Konopka's success 

“I don’t think they’re so different. Chris has been around for a long time and his experience, communication, things like that, are good. He stays connected to the group. Joe does the same thing. Both of them are capable, 100 percent. With Chris’ growing strains, the guys were a little hesitant sometimes to play the ball back to him whereas maybe we play the ball back to Joe a little bit on occasion more than we did with Chris. But, more of that is that we don’t want to put Chris in a situation where he’s having to possibly hit balls up the field more than he needs to. Both of them have proven to be good shot stoppers. So, it’s hard to stay. Like, there’s the Jorge Campos-es of the world, that’s one type of goalkeeper, and then there’s guys who do a nice, solid job of traditional goalkeeping. I think both of them are pretty traditional goalkeepers and they’ve both done a good job.”