The Portland Timbers sit in seventh in the MLS Western Conference. They did just beat the Colorado Rapids at home, albeit with the help of a few injuries. They have continued their trend of being ‘Draw City,’ and the Timbers Army is still queasy about making the playoffs.
Last year Portland took the league by storm, winning the Western Conference. They came into this year with their key midfield and attacking pieces coming back with the only questions at center back and center forward. They needed a solid and consistent #9 and there were questions about how the back line would hold up.
The Timbers have been a shell of their 2013 selves. The honeymoon is over for Caleb Porter and ‘Porter Ball.’ Last year, each of their off season acquisitions had career years. Will Johnson and Darlington Nagbe have not been good this year. Diego Valeri came into this year nursing an injury. Word just got out that Diego Chara has been banged up as of late. The Timbers core hasn’t been the same this year.
Last year, I was very impressed by what they did despite all the injuries at center back. Pa Modou Kah and Futty Danso were phenomenal as the Great Wall of the Gambia. Those two, along with keeper Donovan Ricketts kept them in games last year. The Timbers did well to play a possession style game to relieve defensive pressure and they were usually able to score. They just hit a wall in the conference finals against RSL.
Futty was traded earlier this year and it has been speculated based on reports that it was in preparation for a DP signing of Joleon Lescott. That never happened. EPL 11 year veteran Liam Ridgewell signed in his place, though was an underwhelming addition compared to what could have been. Ridgewell made his debut last Friday.
The Portland Timbers hot mess hasn’t exclusively been the fault of poor defensive play and a drop off from yesteryear’s studs. As great as their off season additions performed last year, this year’s new signings have been that poor. Steve Zakuani seemed like a good option considering that Rodney Wallace was going to miss half the season with a torn ACL. I like Zakuani, but he hasn’t been what he was before the freak injury. Gaston Fernandez doesn’t fit in with the Timbers speed and pace. He’s been slow and a build up buzz kill. Norberto Paparatto turned out to be a dud a month into the season. The jury is still out on Rauwshan McKenzie being able to reboot his career in the Rose City, but I’m not holding my breath.
The one visible hole at the beginning of the season was center forward. The Timbers lost Ryan Johnson to China (which puzzles me to this day). They were unable to find another option. Max Urruti has been unable to find a regular starting role; myself and other LWOS analysts don’t understand why he doesn’t get more playing time. Mid-season acquisition Fanendo Adi scored 4 goals in his first 5 games, but hasn’t scored since. I’ve watches his last couple of games, and haven’t been that impressed.
The Portland Timbers need to take a good look in the mirror and do some soul searching if they want to make the playoffs. The line on them this year was ‘they got all the breaks last year. Let’s see how they handle adversity.’ The proverbial chickens have roosted. With three DP slots taken up, I don’t see them singing an impactful forward this summer. Maybe Ridgewell will be the answer to the defensive woes. They still concede the first goal too often. They still have trouble winning at home when they were one of the toughest home teams to play against last year.
Will Johnson said it best in a post game interview earlier this year: “We’ve got the heart of a lion, but the brain of a goldfish.” A team can overcome not having a solid #9 by playing well in other facets of the game. But constantly falling behind and having to go to the well to scrape a point or dramatic win? There’s something in the mentality of the team that isn’t right. Eventually, you go to the well one too many times and it comes back to hurt you.
I’ve seen too much from their core and their leadership to count them out. But they are not out the woods. The offense needs to figure itself out, even if they just being patient to get healthy and wait for a forward to find their form. This is MLS, anything can happen. The defense is the more alarming issue because it’s a similar narrative to last year and the front office has tried to fix it and hasn’t yet.
Unless the Timbers win MLS Cup this year, there are some serious questions that need answering in the off season. I think the offense will come to. When healthy, Johnson, Valeri, and Nagbe, and Chara are one of the best groups in MLS. But they need to get a reliable striker who can score.
The number one priority in the off season must be getting the central defense right. Look at the last three MLS Cup champions: when they weren’t out of the woods, but they had Aurelien Collin/Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez/AJ DeLagarza.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on twitter @LWOSMattPollard. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at sports injury alert.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
