BEAVERTON, Ore. – Points are points, and one hardly has to tell Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter that.
He stresses the important of each and every game – as virtually every MLS coach does – starting with the season kickoff in early March.
You also don’t have to tell him that their Wednesday night clash with Sporting Kansas City (7:30 pm PT; KPTV) is especially huge in the contest of the season’s final two months. Sporting and the Timbers are tied on 40 points in the Western Conference. There are seven games left in the regular season.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” Porter said Tuesday at the team training facility. “We know we have seven games to go, we know we need points. The focus isn’t to win all seven, the focus is to win the next game.”
Adding to the challenge is the fact that Portland will be without a number of starters due to suspensions and international call-ups. Starting center back Liam Ridgewell and defensive midfielder Diego Chara are both suspended. Chara’s midfield partner Will Johnson is away with the Canadian national team, as is right back Alvas Powell with Jamaica.
Norberto Paparatto, who has started four games this season, is Ridgewell’s likely replacement, while second-year player Taylor Peay (three appearances, one start) could slot in for Powell.
The midfield replacements for Johnson and Chara is the familiar combination of Jack Jewsbury and George Fochive, who have teamed up on several occassions this year and both started in Portland’s 2-1 loss against the Seattle Sounders in Portland's last game on Aug. 30.
“We have a good understanding of what’s expected from that position and what our role is, and I think we’re a pretty good pairing,” Jewsbury said. “We play off each other really well.”
One aspect of the scheduling did fall right for the Timbers heading into the game. They had the weekend off, giving them a few extra days of preparation.
“It gives you more time to reinforce things in training and work on some things,” Porter said. “Whether that’s working on yourself or factoring in KC you just have more time, more touches. The more touches, the better for your prep.”
And despite Sporting coming into the match on a three-game losing streak, Porter knows that extra prep will come in handy. Center back and team captain Matt Besler has returned to Sporting for the match after representing the US national team Friday against Peru.
“They’re a good team,” Porter said of Sporting Kansas City, the 2013 MLS Cup champions. “I don’t think the last three games are indicative of the team that they are. They’re a very good team. They’ve had injuries, call-ups, and they’ve had, I think, some bad luck in the last three games, so this is going to be a really tough test for us.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
