Revolution Lose Marko Perovic To Season-Ending Knee Surgery

The New England Revolution announced this morning that Marko Perovic successfully underwent knee surgery. We can now expect the Revs to be without last season's MVP and arguably their most dangerous offensive threat for the entire 2011 season.

It's very difficult to imagine New England's season getting much better without the prolific Serbian in the lineup. There's still no other consistent goalscorer to finish chances, and Steve Nicol's options on the left remain less than satisfactory. That problem will be compounded in situations where Chris Tierney is unavailable as a winger.

Apparently, Marko aggravated a previous condition against Sporting KC, requiring surgeons to reconstruct his left ACL, repair a medial meniscus tear and perform a chondroplasty on his medial femoral condyle. The recovery time on a procedure like this is 6-9 months, meaning that at worst he'll be returning to full soccer activities just in time for the start of the 2012 regular season.

Everyone knows that full recovery from a major knee injury like this isn't listed in the official medical report. It's been said by athletes and trainers alike that no competitor is 100% in the season after surgery on an ACL. Even if Marko makes a faster-than-normal recovery and at full match sharpness for 2012, we'll probably only see about 80% of what he showed in 2010.

When it rains, it pours in Foxboro.