Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On Dairon Asprilla’s performance tonight…
“I thought he made an impact. He’s got that game-changing ability, which is why we added him. He will lose the ball sometimes trying to make things happen but in the process of trying to make things happen he impacts the game. I thought he was certainly one of the guys today that showed well and made an impact.”
On the performances making his choices tough to pick a starting lineup…
“We were looking to accomplish a few things today and I thought we accomplished those things. We got to look at a couple striker pairings. I thought actually both halves, first half, Maxi [Urruti] and Gata [Gastón Fernández] looked good together and I thought Adi and Nagbe looked good together. The only combination we haven’t played together in a game is Adi and Maxi. When you start pairing guys like that together you can start to get a sense of who plays well together. I think maybe it will depend on current form. Obviously Nagbe is versatile so he can play wide. But with the other three we might end up starting the two that are in current form, scoring goals. It depends also what we are trying to get out of the game because everybody brings something a little bit different. But that was one thing we were looking to accomplish the other thing was seeing where some of our draft picks were at, new guys, and the third thing was to keep certain guys sharp. I wouldn’t say we are confused on who is going to start; we have a good sense because we have evidence to go off, but I think there are some options. We will continue to look at some things on Saturday and then we will put out the lineup we feel will give us the best chance to win on March 7.”
On which guys stood out and that upped their stock in the game…
“I thought George Fochive had a good game. He obviously got the red card at the end, but I’d rather a guy get a red card trying to make plays, tackle and impact the game than someone who perhaps is trying to get through the game without making mistakes. I thought he had a good impact today. You could tell he wanted to get around the ball and tackle. I thought he did a nice job. I thought he was one in particular that upped his stock. Now is it going to be good enough to play over a Jack Jewsbury? I don’t know. When you are going into March 7 and you are trying to win the game. Do you throw him in with 22,000 fans or do you go with the guy that’s experience, that’s been there? But I think if George continues to play the way he did today then he’s going to continue to get more time and he’s going to continue to get a longer look.”
On how much of a dress rehearsal the final preseason game will be for the home opener…
“It won’t be the home opener, but it will be another game where we can continue to build fitness, cohesiveness and continue to look at some things and make decisions. One of the things I’ve learned in the two years I’ve been in this league, now going into my third year, no matter what you say it’s still a preseason game. Ultimately you are not going to get your player’s best until we are kicking off in a real game playing for points. These guys know that and ultimately they will put a good performance out, but it won’t be as good a performance as it will on March 7.”
Thoughts on goal production from the forwards and the team defending in preseason…
“I’d like for them to get those juices going. It’s always good when you get that first goal, even if it’s preseason. You get that feeling of scoring. But I’m also really pleased in our defending. We’ve played five games now and we’ve only given up three goals and one of those was an own goal. If you look at last year where we had problems it was on the defensive side. So I think we’ve really addressed that and corrected that and I’m pleased with how we have defended. We do need to get the attack going, but I’m confident that will come.”
