PORTLAND — The Portland Timbers have a chance to accomplish something on Sunday that has not often happened: stringing together consecutive Major League Soccer wins.
Only once in each of their first two seasons — both times in August — have the Portland Timbers won consecutive league games. So a win against San Jose at Jeld-Wen Field would be another encouraging sign.
Last weekend, Portland produced probably the best half of soccer in its brief MLS history — a dominating performance that produced the goals in a 2-0 home win over Houston.
Coach Caleb Porter is optimistic that his team can build from the success of that victory, the first of this MLS season.
“We feel good about the game. We’ve very confident,” Porter said. “We feel like if we play like we did in that second half against Houston, that our style of play, our pressure, our possession, our attacking aggressiveness puts them on the back foot.”
San Jose had the best record in the league last season, mostly because striker Chris Wondolowski tied the single-season MLS record with 27 goals — many late in matches to earn points for his team.
“Wondolowski makes a living off of punishing teams for mistakes,” Porter noted.
That makes the situation in Portland’s defense even more of a story.
Mikael Silvestre and Andrew Jean-Baptiste have logged most of the minutes this season at center back and if healthy will start.
But each was limited in practice this week.
Porter said after Saturday’s practice that Silvestre is feeling better: “The tandem that we end up playing will depend on what the trainers think (about) how those guys are feeling (after Saturday’s practice).”
The only other available central defenders are Futty Danso and rookie Dylan Tucker-Gangnes.
Any challenges the situation at the back might create will be best handled by playing much of the game in the Earthquakes’ half of the field.
“We feel like if we play like we did in that second half against Houston, that our style of play, our pressure, our possession, our attacking aggressiveness puts (the Earthquakes) on the back foot,” Porter said.
Against Houston, Portland was effective in the second half despite missing creative attacker Diego Valeri. It seems unlikely that the Argentine will play on Sunday, barely a week after taking an elbow to the face, which should mean Kalif Alhassan starting in his place.
Porter said he liked the interplay between Darlington Nagbe and Kalif Alhassan in the second half against Houston, as well as the more direct play from Ryan Johnson and Rodney Wallace.
