Last week, grades came out on Last Word on Sports for the 2015 Portland Timbers defenders and goalkeepers. As promised, this edition brings the grades for the midfield. Look for the forwards and wingers grades coming in a few days. As noted previously, grading the 2015 Portland Timbers is a bit of a challenge, given that they won the MLS Cup and that makes it easier to just bump everyone’s grade up a bit. I tried not to do that. One thing to note: grades are relative to expectations. If a player vastly exceeded expectations, he might earn a high grade for making a handful of quality starts, maybe even a higher grade than a player who had a better season, but performed at or below expectations.
So without further ado, here are the grades for the midfielders:
Grading the 2015 Portland Timbers: Midfield
MIDFIELD
Diego Chara A: Chara was voted player of the year by both the players and supporters. Chara isn’t a player who will wow anyone with goals and assists, but his impact on this team was obvious throughout the year. Chara did well with a rotating group of partners in the 4-2-3-1, then took his game to another level as the lone defensive midfielder in the 4-3-3 formation. Chara’s workrate, positioning, tenacity, and intelligence in that position enabled the Timbers to play with a single pivot and not sacrifice defensive solidity.
Will Johnson C+: Johnson didn’t have a bad season and he didn’t have a great season. He had a fairly average season, which is not too unexpected for a player coming off an injury like Johnson’s. The team had decent form with Johnson in the lineup in the 4-2-3-1, but he never quite hit the levels he had been at in his first years with the Timbers. The switch to the 4-3-3 saw Johnson’s role essentially eliminated. While much credit for the Timbers franchise turnaround which began in 2013 is due to Will Johnson, his time in Portland is almost certainly done.
Ben Zemanski Incomplete: Zemanski looked set to have a big year, playing well in preseason and giving Timbers fans and the front office confidence that Will Johnson would not be too sorely missed. Then Zemanski tore his ACL and missed the entire season, a bad break for him and the team. The Timbers announced last week that Zemanski had re-signed with the team, so expect him to be back in 2016 as a backup to Diego Chara.
Jack Jewsbury A: Going into the season it seemed like this would be a year when Jack Jewsbury would be relegated to a minor role in the team. After spending time at fullback and midfield in previous years, the Timbers had finally solidified both positions, so Jewsbury wasn’t really to be needed. Then Zemanski tore his ACL and Will Johnson took longer to recover from injury than had been hoped, and suddenly Jewsbury was an essential piece to the puzzle. Old Salty Dog came through for Portland, saving his biggest contributions for when they were needed most. Jewsbury was a solid partner to Chara for much of the year and contributed well above expectations this season.
George Fochive B+: Fochive was a bit inconsistent in 2015, but clearly outperformed expectations. Given an opportunity by injuries to Johnson and Zemanski, Fochive clearly showed the talent to be a consistent MLS central midfielder. He still lacks the ability on the ball that Caleb Porter would like to see from his defensive midfielders, but the potential is there, and if Fochive can take a similar step in 2016 to the one he took in 2015, he’ll be a very good player for Portland going forward.
Diego Valeri B: Compared to his first two years in Portland, 2015 was an off year for Diego Valeri. Of course, coming back from an ACL injury is never simple, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. Still, eight assists in 22 games isn’t bad. For much of the season, Valeri was good. He added to the attack, created some, and was a good player. Late in the season, when it was most important, Valeri started to return to his old form, going from good to very nearly great. That bump in form coincided with the rest of the team hitting a similar bump in form and an MLS Cup, so I don’t think anyone is complaining.
Darlington Nagbe B+: If this grade were for the last few games of the regular season and the playoffs, Nagbe would get an A with many, many pluses. But, despite Nagbe’s greatness in the last month and a half, much of the 2015 season was just like the 2014 season: flashes of brilliance, overflowing talent, very occasionally simply taking over a game, but for the most part leaving everyone wanting more. Then came the switch to the 4-3-3, the move centrally, and something clicked. If Nagbe can do in 2016 what he did in the last month and a half of 2015, he may well be the MLS Most Valuable Player.
Michael Nanchoff C: What else is there to say besides that Nanchoff wasn’t expected to contribute much in 2015, and he didn’t? He wasn’t disappointing, but he didn’t add anything either.
Gaston Fernandez C: Aside from a nice stretch in early summer in which Fernandez and Urruti clicked and things looked really good on the pitch, La Gata didn’t contribute a ton to the Timbers in 2015. The Timbers had hoped Fernandez would be an able replacement for Valeri early in the season as Valeri continued his recovery, but Fernandez got off to an awful start to the season, contributing to the Timbers slow start as a team.
