BEAVERTON, Ore. – It’s a widely held maxim around the league: The sooner a newly signed Designated Player can produce tangible results – especially for a goalscorer – the better.
In the case of Lucas Melano that truth was evident when the proverbial weight was lifted with his game-tying goal late in his team’s come-from-behind 2-2 draw Friday night against the Houston Dynamo.
It was the first of what the Timbers hope will be many more in green and gold for the 22-year-old. And if there were ill omens developing as Melano went four games into his Timbers career without a goal, those quickly evaporated with his skillfully taken volley strike on a cross from Diego Valeri in the 86th minute.
“It’s not easy to come into this league midway through a season,” Timbers captain Will Johnson said this week from the team training facility. “I’ve seen guys try to do it, and not many succeed at it. It is pretty difficult to do. So for him to come in and hit the ground running – I know he’s had a few opportunities before the one he scored – it is a lift for him personally and for us because he’s a big signing for us, he’s a big player.
“We need him to score goals and produce for us. So hopefully he can continue that momentum.”
Against Houston, Melano made his second start and put in his first 90-minute shift since his signing last month from Argentine club Lanus – the same place where the Timbers discovered Valeri. In his first two starts, he slotted in up top in head coach Caleb Porter’s 4-2-3-1 formation, replacing Fanando Adi. In his first three games, Melano played on the left wing.
Regardless of where he lines up, Porter said he’s seeing the chemistry among Melano and the rest of the attack grow every day.
“He’s only 22, so he’s going to continue to get better all the time,” Porter said. “That’s one of the reasons we signed him. We knew he was a good player and would come in and impact our team now, but we also knew he’d get better. He’ll continue to develop and evolve.”
Johnson said it’s not only a matter of new players gaining confidence on the field but also off it. And that’s where the team’s three other Argentines – Valeri, Maximiliano Urruti and Norberto Paparatto – have come in, Johnson said.
“They take care of each other and make sure they get up to speed, so that’s a credit to Paparatto and Urruti and Diego Valeri and even Gaston [Fernandez] when he was here,” Johnson said.
It also so happens that Melano is coming into a team fighting for a playoff spot in the hotly contested Western Conference heading into Sunday's crucial Heineken Rivalry Week match against the Seattle Sounders (4:30 pm ET; ESPN). The pressure to not just occupy a spot on the field to get comfortable but to produce is even more keenly felt.
“You think of him as a Designated Player and a guy who needs to produce right away, but the other side of it is he’s a kid,” Johnson said. “He’s got time to grow and learn, and I think his best soccer will probably be next season.
“But that’s not to say we can’t expect a few more goals out of him this year.”
And if a weight was lifted upon Melano’s goal for the team, imagine how the player himself felt – especially after his first lifting of a chainsawed slice of log in front of the Timbers Army in the team’s traditional postgame celebration.
“I’ve had a few chances in past games, and I wasn’t able to convert maybe just because I’m new to the team, learning the squad, but [Friday] the goal opened up to me and I was able to convert, and I think it will really help,” Melano said after the game through a translator. “The idea is to keep progressing with the team and scoring goals as I feel more and more comfortable with the team.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
