Sunday kicks off the 2015 Simple Invitational, hosted by the Portland Timbers. With the Chicago Fire, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Bob Bradley coached Stabæk, the pre-season tournament should provide a good opportunity for Caleb Porter and his staff to find answers to any unknowns heading into the 2015 MLS season and continue to develop chemistry among the first team. Having already taken part in a number of friendlies in Tuscon, AZ, the Timbers have begun to answer some of the questions that existed going into the pre-season, making now the time to finish answering questions and iron things out before the season begins.
Given the disastrous start Portland got off to in 2014, winless in their first eight, the Timbers absolutely must make the most of the rest of pre-season, the Simple Invitational specifically, to make sure they are ready to start quickly in 2015. With Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo joining an already ultra-competitive Western Conference and a number of teams making significant improvements, a fast start in 2015 is vital if Portland wants to get back to the playoffs.
Will all that in mind, here are some things we already know about Portland based on pre-season activity, as well as what questions remain unanswered heading into the Simple Invitational.
- Ben Zemanski looks really good. Zemanski’s form early on will be incredibly important for the Timbers as Will Johnson continues to recover from injury. He’s looked fantastic so far in the pre-season and Portland needs that to continue that run. The end of last season showed that Zemanski is more defensive than Will Johnson, something that actually helped improve the Timbers defense after Johnson was injured last season. Given the Timbers struggles defensively last year, a solid defensive start is a must and the partnership of Zemanski and Chara in the midfield is key to this strategy.
- Jeanderson’s role is becoming clear, his quality is not. This is not to say he doesn’t have quality or has shown poorly. There haven’t been many chances for Jeanderson to show his quality so far, so this may not be fair, but he certainly hasn’t shown enough to challenge Jorge Villafana for starting minutes. Porter recently acknowledged that Jeanderson needs to improve his 1v1 defending and seemed to suggest that until he does this he won’t be seriously competing for starting minutes.
- It looks like Portland will be starting the season in a 4-4-2 rather than the usual 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 they played most of last year. The move to a 4-4-2 may be to accommodate Gaston Fernandez, who likes to play even higher up the pitch than Diego Valeri. The 4-4-2 would seem to suggest that both Zemanski and Chara will sit deeper defensively and that Rodney Wallace and Darlington Nagbe will have increased defensive responsibility off the bench. This frees Fernandez up with less defensive responsibility and allows him to play off Fanendo Adi, a relationship that needs to develop into a strong partnership if the Timbers are going to score a lot of goals early in the season.
- Dairon Asprilla won’t start, but he looks like he’ll be a solid contributor off the bench for now. Wallace and Nagbe were good in 2014 (Nagbe was very good in 2014, even if he only scored one goal in MLS play) and are firmly entrenched in the wide midfield positions. It’s going to be very difficult for Asprilla to break into the starting eleven, but he’s shown enough in pre-season so far to suggest he should be valuable off the bench. He can more firmly lay claim to significant minutes with a good showing in the Simple Invitational.
- Can Fanendo Adi build on a solid 2014 season? Adi scored nine goals in 18 starts in MLS last season, but only scored in five games. Eight of his goals were scored in four two-goal games he had. For Portland to contend they’ll need Adi not only to increase his scoring, but also score more regularly. He’s the perfect type of striker in Porter’s system; a physical presence who can hold the ball up and provide an outlet when midfielders are under pressure. Switching to a 4-4-2 should help even more, as Fernandez plays off him in that second striker role. Even if it’s a 4-2-3-1 like last year, Fernandez will be in more of an advanced position than Valeri usually was, so expect to see them partner often early in the season.
- What will Liam Ridgewell look like coming off his loan to Wigan? This will be the first chance to see him in pre-season and he needs to build chemistry with Borchers quickly in order to avoid the types of defensive mistakes that plagued the Timbers last year. That assumes that Borchers will be Ridgewell’s partner in the center of defense. There’s no reason to assume otherwise, but Norberto Paparatto did look much improved next to Ridgewell toward the end of last year. Either way, these three games are huge in terms of building back-line chemistry.
- Who will be the creator? Fernandez is good, but with Valeri out, first team only scored one goal (120 minutes) so far in Tucson friendlies. Obviously teams are working into form and should finish more of the chances they’ve created as they get back into shape, but Portland’s struggles early last season when Valeri was working his way back from injury showed his importance to the attack. Darlington Nagbe will need to be at the top of his game creatively in order to ensure that the Timbers are firing on all cylinders to start the 2015 season.
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