Say what you will about the controversial handball and accompanying red card called against Kalif Alhassan in last weekend’s 2-0 loss against the New York Red Bulls—and the debate rages online—but the fact remains that from a team perspective, Alhassan will be out serving the league mandated one-game red card suspension for the Timbers next match against Vancouver Whitecaps at the opening of their new glittering BC Place on Oct. 2.
Moreover, due to a yellow card that captain and midfielder Jack Jewsbury picked up in the same match, he will also be out for the Cascadia rivalry clash due to yellow card accumulation.
With the playoff race still at the forefront of everybody’s mind, head coach John Spencer is not worried about his adjustments in the midfield.
“We’ve got good players that will come in and play for them,” he said. “Eric Alexander will be contention to play. James Marcelin will be in contention to play. The guys that are here we believe are good players and that’s why you have a squad of players that if you have injuries and suspensions then someone will come in and play. So I don’t have any worries about it.”
And while Spencer admits it would be nice to have Alhassan and Jewsbury available, he remains confident in his squad. In early August, when Jewsbury was ruled out due to an injury, Marcelin played in the central midfield role alongside Diego Chara. "James came in and played against LA and put in a good performance against the Galaxy which was well worth the win that night so for me it’s not a massive concern," said Spencer.
Today’s Reserve game against Chivas USA Reserves could play a role in determining who ends up playing in the midfield on Sunday.
“We’ll see how the Reserve game goes,” said Spencer. “We’ll get a few guys some minutes in that and get a little bit of fitness in them. Take care of that game first and get into the first team game on the weekend.”
The race for the playoffs remains the key and Spencer remains confident both for Portland’s chances to qualify as well as their abilities to play well on the road.
“We’re sitting on 37 points right now. If we were sitting at 20 points then I would say as a team we’re way off what’s good enough to play in this league. But we’re not. There’s if’s and but’s, I know that, but if you look at it points-wise, the table doesn’t lie. We’ve got 37 points, we’re right in the mix,” said Spencer. “Over the course of the year, we’ve been a good team—a very good team at home—and not so good away. So for us, it’s important that the next game, this 90 minutes on Sunday, we need to try to get them.”
“We’re going to have to have a real good performance.”
Spencer updates on Johnson and Brown’s conditions
With two Timbers players suffering concussions this season, head coach John Spencer addressed questions about their status.
For forward Eddie Johnson, who had just scored his first MLS career goal in the 2-2 draw against Toronto FC in July before suffering a concussion during warmups in the next game against Los Angeles, Spencer said the focus is on making sure Johnson fully recovers before playing again this season.
“First and foremost we’ve got to be concerned about his future and well-being. For us, we’re not taking any chances even if it was 50-50,” said Spencer. “We need to rest him and make sure that we are concerned about his future as a human being, not as what we can get gained out of him on the way to the playoffs. That’s not our concern right now. His health and well-being is the main concern.”
With goalkeeper Adin Brown who suffered a concussion in the home Reserves match against the Galaxy Reserves in late August, his condition remains day-to-day. “He’s got a sore neck that he’s really struggling to shake off and as we all know, for a goalkeeper, it’s a painful injury. It’s just day-to-day with him too,” said Spencer.
