BEAVERTON, Ore. – If last week’s return to Portland was characterized by a more joyous feel, this week’s training was defined by the message sent with a new player’s arrival.
Brian Fernandez won’t be eligible to play in Vancouver on Friday, with Portland waiting out the process that comes with his International Transfer Certificate. But the team’s record signing is already on hand in Portland, arriving at the Timbers Training Center on Tuesday, 24 hours before his first full training session. There, across a series of drills, the 24-year-old gave an early glimpse of why he was acquired – a message team general manager Gavin Wilkinson and head coach Giovanni Savarese expect to be sent throughout the squad.
The Timbers’ 2019 is supposed to be about more than staying on course, a trajectory the team has restored with their three-game winning streak. In paying to acquire one of the top scorers in Mexico, management is implying there’s another level. You don’t make a commitment to somebody with Fernandez’s track record unless, in the MLS world, you expect to compete at the top of the league.
That’s the vision. The present, though, casts the Timbers as a 3-5-1 team. They were issued a challenge with 12 road games to start the season, with one point over the first six games digging a hole. Wins at Columbus, Toronto and Real Salt Lake have revitalized the season, but as was the case in week one, the team has to keep moving forward.
Enter Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Having undergone a massive overhaul in the offseason, Vancouver’s arc was always going to be a long one, with their true progress requiring more than one season to judge. The team’s 2-5-3 mark in head coach Marc Dos Santos’ first 10 MLS games is testament to that, but within the matches, you see a team that plays opponents tougher than the record hints. Los Angeles FC and Seattle Sounders FC learned that earlier this season, with both title contenders shut out in their respective trips to BC Place.
On Friday, Portland has a chance to learn from their lessons (7pm PT, FOX 12 PLUS (KPDX)). If there’s any misconception that 10 points in as many games accurately describes the Vancouver challenge, Timbers players need only look at the Whitecaps’ 1-0 victory over LAFC, or the team’s 0-0 draw with Seattle. For as much as Portland is improving, they’re not above having the same troubles as two of the West’s best teams. Vigilance and memory will be important if Portland’s to get their desired result.
Of course, that result would see Portland take their winning streak to four. Here are three keys to achieving that goal – this week’s KeyBank Scouting Report:
In search of clean sheets, who starts in goal?
The Timbers’ goalkeeper situation is a reminder: that there is a whole world of data and inputs beyond weekend games that go into coaches’ decisions. Take the case of Steve Clark. The Timbers’ starter over the last two games hadn’t played a minute before the trip to Toronto, two weeks ago. Prior to that, then-number one Jeff Attinella had been one of the team’s better players, with the exception of a couple of mistakes in a win over Columbus. Clearly, the decision to start Clark came down to more than what’s happened in each weekend’s 90 minutes.
Chalk that up to the mysteries of the training ground, where information that augments game performance brings confusion to some decisions. Within those mysteries, though, Clark has done enough to earn the confidence of Savarese as well as goalkeeping coach Memo Valencia. At this point, neither Attinella nor Clark would be a surprise choice in goal, with each having strong arguments in their favor.
At some point, though, one of them will need to collect a clean sheet, if for no other reason than the team proving to themselves that they can do so. At some point this season, the Timbers will find themselves in a situation where they have to keep the other team at zero. Through nine games, they’ve yet to show they can do so.
Though the Timbers’ defense has improved since the season’s start, its best performances are still seeing it give up at least a goal per game. The team may be back in the win column, but it still hasn’t come that close to its first shutout.
Respecting what Vancouver has done
Vancouver has allowed 14 goals in 10 games. That’s a decent rate – nothing remarkable – but if you dig deeper on the type of goals they’ve allowed, you see something anonymous: six times, already, they’ve conceded from the penalty spot. The next-highest total in Major League Soccer is half as much.
Debates about whether Vancouver is prone to penalties can happen elsewhere, but I doubt there will be many weeks like last, where a forward, Fredy Montero, gave Colorado two chances from the spot. The better lesson for Friday is how few times Vancouver has otherwise conceded. Only six teams in the league have proven stingier than the Whitecaps with their seven open-play goals (with the other, unaccounted for goal here coming via a set piece).
Doneil Henry has played like one of the best center backs in the league. Ali Adnan’s proven a valuable addition at left back. Dos Santos came to MLS from the lower leagues with a reputation for forging tough, organized teams, and it’s shown. The Whitecaps may be having trouble scoring goals, but from open play, they’re showing why their new coach has reached the U.S.’ top level.
Playing for the real arrival
If the Fernandez signing reiterated the Timbers’ 2019 intentions, the move toward their best selves starts now. While every team seeks improvement each week, this is the first week the Timbers have their new Designated Player in tow, and while he can’t be on the field for Portland’s first Cascadia Cup match of the season, his presence in Beaverton means the team can start forging their new look.
Which roles the team’s current starters play going forward will have to be sorted out, but part of that decision-making process includes Friday’s match. There is a new pressure that competition brings, Wilkinson and Savarese made clear, and if you want to be modest and euphemistic about it, then yes, Brian Fernandez is certainly competition. In all likelihood, he’s going to claim significant minutes on the field. Those who stay out there with him will probably earn it through their performances.
If there is any inclination to bank on Vancouver’s 2-5-3 record, it’s going to come out at BC Place. That, in turn, will inform Savarese’s next decisions. Beyond just the forwards, there’s a depth to the Timbers’ squad which, in theory, should drive performance. Even though he can’t be in the team this weekend, with Fernandez’s mere arrival, that competition’s grown.
