Renzo Zambrano – Rose City Review

Well, that was some bad timing.

On Wednesday night, full of optimism about the start of the Thorns’ preseason camp and also willing to talk about the start of the Timbers’ season, we held our first question and answer thread over on our Discord server.

Since then, the sporting situation in Portland and around the world has changed drastically. Still, how Kyle feels about Eryk Williamson or how we all feel about Amandine Henry will not change just because some dumb virus is reshaping society as we know it.

With that in mind, here are a few of your questions from Wednesday’s Q&A on the Rose City Review Discord.

(Some of the questions and answers have been edited for clarity.)

Which former Thorn is the most likely to return to the team?

Do not take this as a prediction or as actual reporting, but I know the Thorns would love to have Amandine Henry back. The question is whether she has any reason to ever come back to the States (or, as we’re calling it now, STATES). It’s probably not impossible, but don’t get your hopes up.

-Katelyn Best

I would say probably Haley Raso still, just because of her connections here. But I don’t see it as being particularly likely that anyone is returning.

-Tyler Nguyen

Who is your favorite player on either team who may not necessarily be the best or see regular minutes?

For me, that has to be Marvin Loria. I am convinced that Loria has what it takes to be a starter-level player in MLS. He is fast, creative, and a hard worker. Of course, he is also injured pretty regularly, which is why we rarely saw him later on during the 2019 season.

Loria may never get the chance to regularly start for the Timbers, as the team has been pretty dead set on using their DP slots on wingers and forwards, but I could certainly see him making an impact off the bench or in spot starts and either getting traded within the league or (more likely) sold outside of it. To me, the latter seems even more likely now that MLS has increased the amount of money that teams get from selling players on.

Of course, I would also be happy just having him stay with the Timbers and doing dope stuff like this.

-Will Conwell

I think for me, that answer is Eryk Williamson. He seems to be on the bubble between the first team and Timbers 2. I watched quite a bit of T2 last season and he was arguably the best player, controlling the game, and I think was in the top half of USL in assists a season ago.

In what I’ve seen of him when he gets first-team minutes, I think he has a lot of potential. He is smooth on the ball, and I believe would be a good creator. He can play as a No. 10 in the middle of the action, but he can also play as a connector in the No. 8 slot, which is what he told me that he envisions himself being.

I think we might see more of him in the future when it comes time to rest Diego Valeri during condensed stretches of play in the summer. If anything, his defense might need the most improving, but creativity wise he could help the Timbers when it comes to breaking down low blocks and be an overall asset to the first team.

-Kyle Pinnell

I’m super partial to Marissa Everett this year because of her skill set and the fact that she’s a Duck. I think fans should be into that stuff. She’s a smooth-passing forward, and there’s no reason that she can’t be a bench player on the Thorns for a long time.

-Tyler

Is the Thorns’ youth movement perfectly timed or exquisitely timed? Which of the Thorns’ young players should I be frigging stoked for, and which will need some time or never contribute?

Take a huge grain of salt with this because I watch zero college soccer, but my understanding is that we should all be pretty fucking excited about Sophia Smith. She scored a bunch of goals at Stanford, but reportedly her intelligence, for a player her age, is off the charts. She might really be the mythical goal-scoring forward Thorns fans are always begging for—as well as having the technical skill and athleticism the Thorns coaching staff wants up top.

As far as timing? I’m not sure. As I’ve said in a few other places, the whole league is in a kind of purgatory right now as we wait for expansion to blow everyone up—that, plus Sinclair’s eventual retirement, is going to necessitate a rebuild within the next few years. That could mean Portland builds a new roster with their existing young players, or—possibly more likely—it could mean they trade them away post-expansion for some star power. Or, y’know, a mix of both.

-Katelyn

The youth stuff is funny because, yes, the Thorns are getting young in offense, but they’re also getting older on defense, and this club is constantly trying to refresh its roster. The new shit is that we have youngsters with pedigrees. That’s weird.

It will be great to see if we can have even better results teaching blue-chip talent instead of doing the usual miracle work with players who other teams didn’t see the value in

-Tyler

Who is Chris Duvall’s backup?

This is a good question and one that the Timbers seem far too likely to need to answer to at some point, given the early-season injury history among their defenders.

To my mind there are three different approaches that Gio and company can take here:

1. Flip a left back: just figure out which of Farfan or Villafana have a better right foot and move them on over.

2. Convert a center back: send Julio Cascante out there. He has done it before (I think). If he was not injured already, Bill Tuiloma would be another possibility in here, but as a left-sided player, playing him on the right would kind of fall back into category No. 1.

3. Get a little crazy: play a Chara at wing back. Or try out Renzo Zambrano out there. Why not?

Really, though, my bet would be Cascante.

-Will

Does Providence Park or the training facility have super low doorways, or are there other reasons our team [the Timbers] is so damn short?

It is Diego Chara’s fault.

And, in a way, Kris Boyd’s.

Chara was the Timbers’ first big signing and, ten years in, is their most influential player. His success—followed by Boyd’s failure—has heralded an approach to player signing from Gavin Wilkinson and company that focuses on technique and ball retention. For Chara, his ability to win the ball, pivot on it, and take it around a defender with a simple juke are all amplified by his short stature, low stance, and somehow subterranean center of gravity.

Plus, the Timbers just signed his brother, who is actually even shorter. That can’t have helped their average height.

-Will

Does Gio-ball actually exist and did they play it at Cosmos? If so, was it because of him or despite him?

My understanding of Gio-ball is that it’s the kind of front-foot, attacking, high-press soccer we’ve seen glimpses of from the Timbers over the last month. Specifically, the first 30 minutes or so in the opener felt a lot closer to how I’ve always thought Gio wants to play than we’ve seen from the Timbers before. Obviously, it’s not an easy style to master because, as we saw, the defense has to be very disciplined to not get caught way out of position, but with more and more signings during the Gio era, one would imagine the team will continue to progress in that direction.

-Zach Kay

Is Andy Polo the fastest Timber? why don’t we EVER play him into space?

He’s definitely fast, and while I appreciate what he does in the middle third, he’s definitely shown that he doesn’t consistently have a killer instinct or top-quality decision making in the final third. Putting someone into space is really only useful if they can turn that advantageous position into a goal or an assist, so until he’s doing that on a regular basis, it makes more sense to use his athleticism for other things.

-Zach

I agree with a lot of what Zach said. Polo is fast, but he also only has one regular season goal in over two seasons which is not… ideal considering he takes up one of the attacking spots. He does need some better decision making in the final third like Zach mentioned because, ideally, wingers in a sit-back-and-counter setup would help combine and unlock the opposing defense, and if he is not able to do that often, the Timbers lack an advantage at one of their attacking options.

What has piqued my interest over the past month is how Gio is using him in the offense. In preseason, Gio played him in midfield a lot, which, as you mentioned, doesn’t take advantage of his pace or the space afforded. The wingers have also been tasked with playing an entire sideline. For example, Blanco and Yimmi both seem to be playing in the defensive third as much as in the attacking third, which takes focus away from what they are best at. This actually benefits Polo, as he is a decent defensive option, but on the offensive end, he is most important as an attacking winger, and that’s a facet of his game that he needs to work on.

-Kyle

Will Renzo Zambrano and Marvin Loria disappear again, or will they take another step this year?

I hold a ton of Zambrano stock, and (up until Polo started playing more in central mid this year) I’d been excited for him to be the first-off-the-bench CDM. The times he played next to Paredes last year really sold me on those two next to each other being the future of the Timbers central midfield. Obviously, there’s still some growth that needs to happen before then, but I would be very disappointed if he doesn’t get significantly more minutes this year. Zambrano also happens to be my answer to “who is your favorite player who may not see regular minutes”.

-Zach

I made it out to training today, and Gio mentioned Loria as someone who, when he returns to the team from his time with the Costa Rica u23s in Olympic Qualifying, would make an impact for the side. I take that, along with my general enjoyment of his style of play, to mean that he is in the Timbers’ first-team plans this year.

-Will

The bright sun peeked out through the fog on another cold Pacific Northwest morning as the Portland Timbers’ first team entered the pitch for another day of training. On the outskirts of the field were the goalkeepers, already multiple drills into their practice. Field players were beginning to stretch on the opposite side of the field.

A few feet away from all of this is a fence, teasingly covered in black and tall enough to obscure any passersby from sneaking a peek directly at the practice field. On the other side of this fence is another pitch—that one, tantalizingly close, yet a world away, is where many young players begin their professional journeys for Timbers 2 (T2). This less-secluded field is where players continue their development, with the ultimate goal of becoming permanent fixtures at the practice field across the fence.

It’s been six years since T2 started, and as time has gone on, more and more players are beginning to make that very jump. Two seasons ago, forward Jeremy Ebobisse made the leap from the USL Championship side to the first team; last season, Marvin Loria, Eryk Williamson, and Renzo Zambrano followed. What makes T2 pivotal for player development is that the program is connected to the first team, allowing players to make the transition from the development academy or college to the professional level.

For Zambrano, a Venezuelan who had only played in Spanish-speaking countries, being a part of T2 allowed him to adjust to living in America and gain more confidence in himself as a player, all while receiving multiple opportunities to play game minutes.

“When I came from Spain, I had an injury,” Zambrano said, mostly in English with a little help of a translator. “So my focus was playing every single week in as many minutes as I could. The confidence the coaches gave me to be able to play, develop, and eventually make it to the first team was key.”

During May of last season, Zambrano received his first opportunity to play with the Timbers. Shortly after playing the Tacoma Defiance in the USL, Zambrano remembers being told by the coaching staff that he would be getting to start in a regular-season mid-week match against the Houston Dynamo.

“I prepared for that moment and worked very hard, because this is a very competitive squad and there are many players who want to be stars,” Zambrano said. “Obviously I knew that I had to take advantage of that opportunity and do the best I can, both in training and also in the games.”

While Zambrano needed to adapt to a whole new country, culture, and language; Williamson—a Virginia native—recalls the helpfulness of just having a designated place to develop and get minutes before making the jump to MLS.

“Right away, I learned what do I have to get out of a professional game, what do I have to do for ninety minutes, what do I have to do for the time I’m stepping on the field,” Williamson said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that I take from T2 games. Making sure that I am getting my job done, so when it is time to make that step, it’s repetition.”

Eryk Williamson attempts to thread a pass in a preseason game against Minnesota United (Kris Lattimore)

Unlike most of the USL Championship, T2 is directly tied to an MLS side. Having that in Portland allows players and coaches at all levels of the organization to interact. Sometimes that interaction takes place in the cafeteria; other times, a first-team player might check out a game or training of the USL side.

“It’s pretty cool when they come say ‘Hi’ to you and ask you how you’re doing,” current T2 midfielder Carlos Anguiano said with a smile.

The close relationship between the two branches of the club benefited Williamson, who has been working closely with the Timbers’ video and data analyst, Shannon Murray, and assistant coach Miles Joseph over the past few years. The three often sit down and go over film. Williamson learns more about what the first team coaches want to see out of him, which helps him shape his game in the right direction.

Last June, the fitness staff advised Williamson to be ready in case he was needed on the first team, who were finishing up a hectic, road-heavy start to the season. A few days later, head coach Giovanni Savarese told him that he was going to start in the team’s mid-week match in Montreal, a testament to his hard work and performance for T2.

“It’s one of those things where you always have to be ready, whether it’s your chance or not,” Williamson said.

Yet, for as beneficial as T2 can be—and that’s the consensus—sometimes being a part of the second team is difficult for players, especially mentally. One player with mixed emotions from his time on T2 is current first-team striker Jeremy Ebobisse. Ebobisse, it can be argued, is the most successful player to come out of T2—he recently signed a contract extension with the first team—but his time in the USL was tumultuous.

In his first season with T2, Ebobisse played three games before being called up to the first team, where he trained but often sat on the bench during games. Later that season, he played in the US U-20 World Cup and returned only to play in a handful of T2’s remaining games.

“That [apparent] regression was challenging mentally, but ultimately going to play with T2 taught me that there’s a lot of responsibility on players that the club views as first-team guys for the future,” Ebobisse said. “If you do not live up to the standard of raising everyone else’s level, then ultimately you’re going to face consequences, and I faced probably the hardest and worst consequences where I found myself on the bench for T2 my second year right before breaking through. I think there are some hard lessons to learn, but through it all, it’s a unique place to have to grow. Obviously, you hope to bypass it, but if you have to spend a year or two there are lessons you can take out of it.”

Jeremy Ebobisse attempts to bring down the ball in a preseason matchup against Minnesota United (Kris Lattimore)

An in-form start to the 2018 season was quickly derailed by multiple injuries, call-ups, and time on the bench, which made it almost impossible to establish any type of consistency until the season’s latter half. Coming into the organization with high expectations of himself, Ebobisse found the proximity to the first team more mentally challenging than he anticipated.

“This is just my personal opinion, but it’s almost detrimental to a player’s well-being if they are not mentally strong enough in that moment to know that there is a barrier separating where they belong, and the guys they see and train with most of the time and where they’re at,” Ebobisse said. “So when I am on the turf training for T2 and I see the first team having a competitive training and competing and laughing and yelling, I want to be a part of that. Sometimes adjusting to that position is challenging as well.”

But in a way, it was that proximity to the first team that ultimately benefited him. Ebobisse made some close friends in the Timbers locker room who continued to encourage him and helped him stay mentally engaged during the tough moments. In fact, it was Larrys Mabiala and Bill Tuiloma who told Ebobisse he would be getting his first regular-season start.

“I was at the stadium training, they saw the practice scheme and said ‘You’re starting this weekend, you better be ready. Are you ready?’ while laughing,” Ebobisse recalled. “I said ‘What are you guys talking about,’ and tried to downplay it in the moment like it’s another training.”

“Knowing that you have guys in your corner,” Ebobisse continued. “Mabiala was on the field with me that game and I think he was as happy that I scored in that game against Colorado as I was. Just surrounding yourself with good people is always really important.”

While it was a challenging couple of seasons for Ebobisse, the young American now plays consistently for the Timbers every weekend. Zambrano took advantage of his opportunity at T2 and is beginning to cement himself as a solid rotation player in the midfield. And while Williamson is still in between T2 and the first team, he believes that he is close to his breakthrough.

For some players it is motivating whereas for others it is more challenging, but being a part of T2 has ultimately helped every player that has come through in different ways. Every T2 player dreams of someday taking that next step. One day, the hope is, they’ll move to the other side of that fence, symbolizing the transition from the second division of American soccer to the first.

“It’s definitely motivating,” Ryan Sierakowski said of his aspirations. “It’s in reach, it’s right there, you can feel how close it is. It’s motivating to know that having a good run of games and showing your quality you can be called up at any time.”