Timbers Beat Stabaek: Five Thoughts

• Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers
• Portland polishes off Stabaek 1-0 in their final preseason game.

The Portland Timbers finally got a win in their final preseason game, beating Norwegian side Stabaek 1-0 thanks to a goal from Fanendo Adi. A lockout not withstanding, the Timbers open the regular season one week from today at home against Real Salt Lake. Five thoughts:

1. Nice Win

The Timbers are about three times the club Stabaek is—from size, to structure, to money to talent—but it sure was nice for Portland to put a win on the board in their final preseason game. The victory was the Timbers’ first in their Simple Invitational tournament under Caleb Porter, and it came with a complete performance that will certainly alleviate some of the all-too-familiar frustration from the loss to Vancouver last weekend.

Portland checked all the boxes: They were dangerous in attack, solid in defense, and though they were caught open in midfield consistently throughout the first half hour, kept a clean sheet. The Timbers asserted themselves more and more as the game wore on. By the time it finished, Stabaek was barely sniffing the ball.

It’s a confidence booster, if nothing else. Tonight, the Timbers looked good, felt good, and won. You can never have enough of that.

2. The Lineup Solidifies

It’s pretty safe to say that we know the Timbers’ opening day lineup. It’s should be Dairon Asprilla on the wing opposite Rodney Wallace, with Darlington Nagbe playing through the middle. Asprilla supplanted Gaston Fernandez in the team against Stabaek, and while he didn’t blow anyone away, he all but won the starting job.

Asprilla’s dynamism is just much more valuable than Fernandez’s silk. Asprilla was crucial in the first half working back defensively and helping Alvas Powell, while consistently threatening in the attack. He’s fit, he’s confident, and he gives the Timbers much better shape than La Gata.

It’s tough for Fernandez, who wasn’t bad at all in his 30-second half minutes, but once again, the Argentine came into a situation where he had a starting job to lose and lost it. We’ll see how it effects Fernandez mentally going forward—few were as effective off the bench last year.

In midfield, Jack Jewsbury looks ready to go. Alongside trialist Blair Gavin, who started with George Fochive suspended and Nick Belser given a rest, Jewsbury put in a solid shift—hitting the post on an early free-kick. Jewsbury will only look better supported by Diego Chara’s havoc-wreaking, and clearly the Timbers are comfortable with him in the team. He’ll be absolutely fine until Will Johnson returns.

3. Defense! Defense! Defense!

The Timbers’ defense last year was a circus that took years off peoples’ lives. This year, it’s a whole new ballgame. Alvas Powell looks 100 times more mature than he did last year. Jorge Villafaña, who picked up a knock and came off at halftime of this game, continues to impress. Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell are both terrific pros and talents that are settling in quite nicely together, and new goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey played a spotless game behind them.

The Timbers only conceded three goals all preseason—one from a corner, one from an own-goal—and if everyone stays healthy, one goal is going to be a lot this year. That is as important as any offensive struggles we saw over the last week.

• Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

4. Nagbe’s Woes in Front of Goal Continue

Darlington Nagbe didn’t just score a lot of goals in 2013, he made goalscoring look easy. He scored some sensational goals with such nonchalance that he gave the impression that he was just scoring when he wanted to. Now, no one is making it look harder in front of goal. The hope was that the off-season, and the goal in Dallas in the last game of 2014, would erase Nagbe’s trauma in front of the net—but that hasn’t happened. Again against Stabaek, Nagbe swung and missed on a tap-in, badly misplayed a 3 v. 1 chance, and didn’t get a single shot off. As long as Nagbe isn’t scoring, that spark isn’t in his step. He’s still effective, he still gets in great positions—which is why he keeps getting great chances—but he’ll never be as good as he can be without producing goals. Diego Valeri isn’t around to carry him right now. He needs to break through.

5. That Might Be It For A While

It’s coming down to the wire for the MLS players and owners to agree to a new CBA before the league’s first lockout ruins the start of the season. That was the Timbers’ last guaranteed game for the foreseeable future. It’s hard to handicap the odds of a deal getting done, but between the division on the landmark issue of free agency balanced with the mutual desire to start the league’s twentieth season—resplendent with a new TV deal—on time, I’d say it’s about 50-50.

So start praying.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

– Bob Bradley, former US World Cup coach and Stabaek’s manager, missed the game to deal with a coaching license requirement. He was back in Norway.

– Jeanderson had a nice shift in place of Villafaña in the second half—miles better than he was on Wednesday night against Chicago as a starter.

– Liam Ridgewell captained the side in spite of Jack Jewsbury being in the lineup. It’s strange and bordering on disrespectful that Jewsbury, the former first-team captain and current “club” captain, whatever that means, who has always served the Timbers with distinction whenever called upon, doesn’t even get to wear the armband when Will Johnson is out of the lineup.

– This team should be a lot more fun to watch than the 2014 team. There’s a level of maturity and composure that was infuriatingly lacking from last year’s side. No one can wait to play for real—hopefully—next Saturday.