3 Hopes and One Fear for Portland Timbers
by Matt Hoffman
Hope #1: Getting goals from Darlington Nagbe.
Darlington Nagbe is one of the most dynamic, talented, and delightful players to behold in Major League Soccer. There’s a good reason why pundits are delighted about Nagbe’s upcoming eligibility to play for the USMNT.
Darlington Nagbe will need to put last year behind him in order to prosper in 2015.
Yet in all of 2014, Nagbe manged only one goal in all of season play. And that was against Dallas in final game of the season.
There’s no excuses this year, and that’s coming from coach Caleb Porter. With orchestrator Diego Valeri likely out to May (or beyond), goal production will be scarce (the Timbers managed just one goal from the run of play in the offseason).
Nagbe’s dribbling, vision, and versatility are great assets but mean little if he’s not finding the net.
Hope #2: A solid partnership in defense
The Timber’s defense was porous last year. For a team that scored as much as the Timbers did last year, they had to: the rate they were giving up goals was too much.
The team hopes they have addressed this concern acquiring Nat Borchers from RSL and bringing in goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey to pair with Liam Ridgewell.
Ridgwell and Borchers, on paper at least, have the potential to be the best centerback pairing in the league. Both are capable of reading the game while having the right balance of physicality and mobility. Timbers coach Caleb Porter described them both as, “they are going to be 90 minutes dialed in, focused and smart.”
However because of Ridgewell’s decision to play on loan for Wigan over the winter, the two players only got two games together. Obviously chemistry will develop between the two but there are liable to be gaps in communication between them.
Kwarasey, meanwhile, is a different keeper from previous netminder Donovan Ricketts. While Ricketts long limbs could be found in the goal, Kwarasey likes to venture out of his box from time to time to help guide the attack. That’s an obvious difference that could lead to problems if the defenders are not all on the same page.
Expect a learning curve on the backline as these three get used to one another’s intricacies but one that gets leveled out quickly as the season progresses.
Nat Borchers is a big reason the team feels confident that it’s defense has improved.
Hope #3: Healthy Returns
Had there been a labor stoppage, probably no team would have benefited quite as well as the Timbers.
Besides Valeri, the Timbers begin the season without Will Johnson. The hole Johnson left in the lineup was not as large because the Timbers Ben Zemanski filled in for Johnson admirably. Zemanski however went down in the preseason with ACL tear and will miss a large portion, if not all, of the season.
To be sure, the Timbers begin the season with a tough slog. Six of the team’s first eight games will be against playoff teams and only two matches will be against the decidedly weaker Eastern conference.
Valeri led the team in both goals and assist last year. Moreover, few of the team’s goals did not in some way involve Valeri. Even if he comes back as early as April, it’s going to take time to rebuild his fitness and get him in came condition.
One Fear: That it won’t be enough
The Timbers stood relatively pat over the offesason bringing in one true attacker (Dairon Asprilla). There is a certain, comforting logic to keeping the team intact rather than trying each season to make a bold signing that could blow up in your face.
The team didn’t necessarily play poorly in preseason, but they didn’t score a goal from the run of play until the team’s final game–against Stabek no less. You can’t win if you can’t score. So yes, that’s a concern.
Should the Timbers have tried to upgrade the roster in the offseason? There’s no question that the forwards on the roster are talented but each returning forward had at one point a significant dry spell, though none more pronounced than Nagbe’s.
The Timbers were allegedly in the hunt for both Jozy Altidore and Sacha Klejestan who landed at other destination thus continuing the Timbers confounded inability to land any current USMNT players.
The Western Conference is already the better conference. With Sporting KC and Houston coming over that adds miles and tougher competition for the Timbers. There is scarce margin for error as the team begins 2015 against a would-be murderers row of opponents.
