It endangered his health, ejected him from the D.C. United starting lineup and derailed his team's momentum at a crucial point in their first match of the year. Perhaps that's why Greg Janicki and his colleagues obliquely refer to it as "the incident."
When the big defender clashed heads with teammate Devon McTavish in the 75th minute of United's season opener in Los Angeles, it left both men with bloody gashes and dazed countenances -- and indirectly helped the Galaxy stage a two-goal fightback. The home side won a penalty kick moments after referee Jair Marrufo allowed play to continue, cutting D.C.'s 2-0 lead in half and setting up Landon Donovan's late equalizer.
Yet for Janicki, the repercussions lingered on for months. He tried to return to full speed but experienced headaches and dizziness and eventually lost the center back job to newcomer Dejan Jakovic, whose strong subsequent form relegated Janicki to a reserve's role. And just when United's busy mid-May stretch opened up opportunities for Janicki to contribute, he found himself hampered by an ankle knock.
"The injuries have been kind of a bummer," said the Michigan native last week, "and I'm the kind of player that needs to play on a daily basis to stay sharp. I'm not Santino Quaranta who can be out of the game for a year or two and come back and still have it -- I've got to maintain. So that's been tough. Every time I get back and I feel like I'm getting sharp, there's another setback."
The bleak sequence of events stands in stark contrast to the marvelous circumstances of his late-summer entrance in D.C. last season, when he arrived on loan from USL-2 side Pittsburgh Riverhounds and promptly grabbed a starting role with a string of composed performances that helped stop the bleeding -- so to speak -- along the United back line.
"Last year was crazy. Things happened so fast. I got in there and played well, they had a spot for me and it was a fairytale kind of thing, my first couple months in the league," said Janicki. "And this year started out fairly well up until the incident, obviously. Injuries are something I've never really had to go through. The concussion thing was just a drag for a while. I came back too early and it just lingered on and on, and then I had a little ankle thing."
Now fate finally seems to have cut him a break. Jakovic's selection for the Canadian Gold Cup squad has opened up a significant hole in United's three-man back line. Janicki looks like head coach Tom Soehn's top option for several matches to come -- "we don't have very many center backs floating around here," joked Janicki, "so I think by default, I'm the guy" -- and player and coach alike believe that he'll benefit from regaining the daily rhythm of the first-choice squad.
"Greg had some tough situations come his way, where he sat out at crucial times," said Soehn. "And for Greg, if he's not in it every day, he loses his touch pretty quick. So he's had a stretch now where he's trained ... and he's healthy. So it gives us a chance to really look at him for what he is."
But it's hardly a straightforward task for a player who's seen only 242 minutes of league action thus far. The nature of D.C.'s preferred 3-5-2 formation makes that center back role as pressure-packed as any on the team, constantly requiring vocal communication, tactical acumen and sharp one-on-one defending.
Janicki endured a rough return to the first XI in United's last league contest, a 3-0 thrashing in Colorado that saw him beaten by Omar Cummings for the Rapids' first goal as Soehn tried out a more defensive 4-4-2 formation to no avail. But he rebounded with a capable display at the heart of a three-man back line in Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup victory against the PDL Ocean City Barons.
"I thought Greg had a good handle on the game in the back," said Soehn afterwards. "It was important to get Greg some minutes with Dejan gone. I think he showed what he did last year."
With key league, cup and international matches close at hand, his teammates recognize the importance of the moment for the individual as well as the club and are quick to express their confidence in Janicki.
"This is a great opportunity for Greg Janicki to come back in after having an unfortunate incident in L.A., where he was fit and sharp," said right back Bryan Namoff. "Now he's been called upon again and we're looking to get back on the field playing with him."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com
