Lately, I’ve been feeling like 2020 might actually be kind of cool and that weird sense of optimism has extended to my thoughts about the Timbers. So after watching the preseason tournament and then actually thinking about the things that I saw, I’ve put together a few points that I predict will be true about the Timbers this year.
Eryk Williamson will have a breakout year
This dude is just so good, I literally could not keep my jaw off the floor while watching him in the preseason. He’s silky on the ball, his passing is incisive, and he’s pretty good at knowing where to stand, too. With
Tomás Conechny playing more of his minutes out on the wing these days, it seems like Williamson is poised to get a healthy number of minutes as the third (or maybe second, depending on where
Sebastián Blanco is playing) No. 10 in the depth chart. And that’s in part because…
Diego Valeri will play a reduced role
Don’t get me wrong. Valeri is still an incredible player and an 8 goal, 16 assist 2019 season is nothing to scoff at. That said, Valeri also showed some major signs of slowing down last year, and unfortunately for Portland; time’s arrow neither stands still nor reverses, it merely marches forward. Combine what will likely be a physical need to play fewer minutes with no longer being on a designated player contract and it’s not a stretch of the imagination to envision a Valeri that plays closer to 2000 minutes in 2020 than the 2600 minutes he played in 2019. With that in mind…
We’ll see a flat 4-4-2 more than we had
When Diego Valeri is on the field, it’s basically mandatory to play a shape that utilizes a true No. 10. That’s (one reason) why it has made sense for the Timbers to play a diamond midfield when they’ve wanted two strikers on the pitch over the last couple of years. But, as mentioned above, there will almost certainly be times this year where that is not the case.
What the Timbers do have this year is two DP wingers, one DP striker, and two other good to very good strikers. So, imagine a flat 4-4-2 formation with Ebobisse’s hold-up play filling the creative role in the center of the park, and Niezgoda, Blanco, and Y. Chara all running off of him. If I was an opposing defender, that thought might just keep me up at night.
The Timbers will have their best March ever
Everyone knows the Timbers are always bad in March (with the notable exception of 2017 (see below)). In fact, across all MLS regular season matches played in March, the Timbers average an abysmal .85 points per game. It (somehow) gets even worse if we look specifically at the Savarese era, as Gio has only managed to pick up three points in eight March games. That’s .38 points per game.
- 2019: 0-3-1 (1 pt)
- 2018: 0-2-2 (2 pts)
- 2017: 3-1-0 (9 pts)
- 2016: 1-1-1 (4 pts)
- 2015: 0-1-3 (3 pts)
- 2014: 0-2-3 (3 pts)
- 2013: 0-1-3 (3 pts)
- 2012: 1-2-1 (4 pts)
- 2011: 0-2-0 (0 pts)
But this year, I think, will be different. This may be a bold claim, because admittedly, what we saw defensively over the last two preseason matches was, well, not good. However, we also saw a hungry, attacking mentality, and I have a feeling that this team is going to want to make up for the lackluster finish to 2019. The Timbers have five matches this March: Minnesota(Home), Nashville (H), New England(Away), LAFC(A), and Philadelphia(H). My money’s on ten points out of that slate.