BEAVERTON, Ore. – Caleb Porter has a problem – a good one, that is.
At the moment, the Portland Timbers are featuring a bunch of players, in form, vying for spots in the starting lineup. It’s the classic coach’s cliché of a “good problem to have.”
“You can say maybe it makes my job harder, but it makes my job easier when we have a lot of guys playing well vs. a lot guys who aren’t in form,” the Timbers head coach said at the team training facility ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Eastern Conference foe New England Revolution (10:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE). “And I think right now we have a lot of guys that are motivated to be on the field and performing well.”
Still, Porter can only send out 11 players at a time.
And the players responsible for Portland’s current two-game winning streak are typically reserves, on the field due to injury and squad rotation in a week that featured three games.
Striker Maximiliano Urruti, mostly Porter’s second-choice striker behind Designated Player Fanendo Adi, scored the winning goal in the Timbers’ 1-0 win last Wednesday over D.C. United. The assist came from Gaston Fernandez, who was making his first start in the spot usually occupied by attacking midfielder Diego Valeri.
In Portland’s 2-1 win Saturday over the Colorado Rapids, Fernandez opened the scoring on an assist from, you guessed it, Urruti.
Valeri is likely to be out for a third straight game due to a sprained ankle, meaning Fernandez seems a likely choice for a third consecutive start.
But does Porter go back to his DP at striker? And that’s not even taking into account captain Will Johnson, who sat out against Colorado after making his first start back from the broken leg he suffered late last season and this week is ready for selection again. How that affects the place in the lineup of veteran Jack Jewsbury, who Porter has been very complimentary of, is yet to be seen.
“When you’re not scoring you have to try new things, and you have to try new guys sometimes,” Porter said. “I said a couple weeks ago, did the same thing, you try to look for the hot hand, you try to get guys that are in form and you want guys to score goals and you want them to keep scoring goals. So I think the key is now can we get a good run.”
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Prior to their current winning streak, the Timbers had lost two straight and scored just one goal in that span. Even so, Porter said there’s a balance between riding the hot hand and sticking with the team’s starters.
“Just because a guy has a good game doesn’t mean he’s going to start because there are other guys as well,” Porter said. “Winning a job in the starting XI is about each individual performing but also there are other players as well competing for those spots.”
Even the Timbers players echoed Porter’s “good problem to have” sentiments.
“Honestly, I think it’s important at this stage of the game to have a lot of depth in your team, and I think we’re relying on our depth right now,” said center back Nat Borchers, who sat out the D.C. game in favor of Norberto Paparatto, whose performance Porter said was one of the best on the team in that game. “It just gives you more of a collective belief that you can rely on everybody, especially in difficult must-win situations.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
