THE BASICS:
- Portland Timbers
- Western Conference
- Home: Providence Park
TIMBERS.COM:
The Portland Timbers will have a chip on their shoulder in 2015. They believed they were good enough to be in the playoffs last year and ultimately fell just one agonizing point short with injuries wreaking havoc with their final push.
Those same injuries to Will Johnson and Diego Valeri will carry over into 2015 -- and now you can add Ben Zemanski to that list -- but the Timbers have tweaked the roster just enough that they might be able to get by even with the early-season absences.
Rivals
Lately, especially with the arrival of head coach Caleb Porter, Portland have been getting a taste of the upper hand in their eternal rivalry with Seattle. In 2013, Porter's rookie season, they beat Seattle once during the regular season and swept them in the Western Conference semifinals in their first trip to the playoffs. But Portland took a step back last season, losing to Seattle twice and drawing once while missing out on the playoffs as the Sounders cruised to the Supporters' Shield.
About this rivalry, which dates back to the teams' NASL days in the 1970s: A Portland-Seattle derby is about the coolest thing going for the league, a must-see for a North American soccer fan. Portland will say their stadium, the venerable Providence Park, tifo, coffee, beer, scarves, hipsters, etc., are all better than anything Seattle can offer. But outside of that 2013 season, Seattle have traditionally owned this rivalry on the field, holding a 4-2-4 record since Portland joined the league.
2014 Recap
Not much went right for Portland last season. Following their 2013 Western Conference regular-season title, they kicked off the campaign by collecting just five points from their first eight games. They righted the ship somewhat following that — with the help of two Designated Players in striker Fanendo Adi and center back Liam Ridgewell — but they still were not done shooting themselves in the foot. The worst came when they blew a 2-0 halftime lead in an eventual 3-2 loss to struggling Toronto FC on Sept. 27. They went unbeaten in their final four, with three wins, but missed the playoffs by a point and failed to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League.
TRANSACTIONS IN:
- GK Adam Larsen Kwarasey (transfer from Strømsgodset)
- M Dairon Asprilla (transfer from Alianza Petrolera)
- D Nat Borchers (trade from RSL)
- D Jeanderson Pereira (free)
- M Nick Besler (SuperDraft)
- D Andy Thoma (SuperDraft)
TRANSACTIONS OUT:
- M Steve Zakuani (retired)
- D Michael Harrington (traded to Colorado)
- M Kalif Alhassan (option declined)
- M Steven Evans (option declined)
- D Bryan Gallego (option declined)
- D Pa Modou Kah (option declined)
- D Rauwshan McKenzie (out of contract)
- D Danny O'Rourke (out of contract)
- F Jose Valencia (sold to Club Olimpo BahÃa Blanca)
- GK Donovan Ricketts (Expansion Draft to Orlando City)
2015 Prospectus
The Timbers had a busy offseason, but they didn't exactly blow things up, either. They made key acquisitions to the starting lineup with longtime Real Salt Lake center back Nat Borchers and Ghanaian international goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey and added depth with Colombian winger Dairon Asprilla and Brazilian outside back Jeanderson. The Timbers are hoping Borchers' addition shores up their defense. But the biggest question has to do with the absences of playmaker Diego Valeri (ACL) and defensive midfielder Will Johnson (broken leg). Without Johnson's leadership and Valeri's impact (11 goals, 14 assists last year), will history repeat itself with another slow start?
CLUB SOURCE:
"I think that, defensively, they didn't have as clean a group of four in the back. I think on the defensive end, there needs to be better pairings and a better group that shows more consistency."
CLUB SOURCE:
"They're organized and they compete hard. When they have Valeri, they have a few guys that can make plays, but they were a little inconsistent in their attacking front 4-6 guys. It's going to be interesting to see how all the puzzle pieces fit."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
PROJECTED LINEUP: 4-2-3-1
Kwarasey; Powell-Borchers-Ridgewell-Villafana; Johnson-Chara; Nagbe-Valeri-Wallace; Adi
Complete roster [timbers.com]
FANTASY SOCCER
SLEEPER PICKS:
No Diego Valeri means the absence of the Timbers' best player from a year ago. Oh, and the central midfield is ravaged by injury. So who fills the void next to Diego Chara? Nick Besler ($4.5)? George Fochive ($4.5)? Jack Jewsbury ($6)? Potential there for some early budget gains. Other well-priced notables: Alvas Powell ($7.5), Jeanderson Pereira ($6m).
Armchair Analyst's Best Case Scenario
We're actually well past the best case scenario for the Timbers, who are watching three of their most important players - Valeri, Johnson and Zemanski - work through various stages of rehab. It's a serious problem for a team that struggled to find midfield balance until the very end of the 2014 season.
There is still a ton of attacking fun to be had, and maybe this is the year for Nagbe to become an MVP candidate. The talent is certainly there.
But the West is unforgiving and we saw what a slow start did to Portland's chances last season. They need to bottle that, get some opportunistic points here and there, and hope that Valeri's return comes early enough to drive the playoff push through the wire, instead of falling just short of it.
