BEAVERTON, Ore. — In the aftermath of his team’s 4-1 loss at Orlando City on Sunday, Portland Timbers coach Caleb Porter will consider changes as he prepares his squad for a stretch of three games over seven days.
“I think we need a few tweaks, I don’t think we need major tweaks,” Porter said following Wednesday’s training session.
Those tweaks might involve a formation shift, personnel or both. Porter listed team chemistry, its balance between attacking and defending, the need to be less predictable for opponents, even leadership, as areas to consider.
One thing that will not change for this busy stretch is the absence of central defender Liam Ridgewell. Porter listed the May 1 home match against Toronto FC as the target for the return of the team captain.
While Ridgewell is a vocal leader on the field, Fanendo Adi said the Timbers are not lacking leadership.
“Everyone is a leader in the team,” Adi said, pointing to Diego Valeri and Nat Borchers as players who provide strong leadership.
Without Ridgewell the Timbers have fallen behind 2-0 in each of their last three games. His absence has complicated the left-back position, where Portland has missed the steady play Jorge Villafana delivered last season. Three different players have started at left back four games into this season.
In his MLS debut, 21-year-old Jack Barmby struggled at left back at Orlando. With Jermaine Taylor replacing Ridgewell in the center of the defense, Zarek Valentin played left back the previous two games.
Chris Klute, who the Timbers acquired to replace Villafana, might make his Timbers debut in the next week. After recovering from of season knee surgery, Klute has played three full matches with Timbers-2 to make up for the preseason action he missed.
Porter said the trip to Orlando provided a perfect storm of challenges for Barmby, who played left back, left wing and as a central attacker as a young professional in his native England. Those challenges included extended travel, a fast artificial surface, and a boisterous opposing stadium.
“We threw him in the deep end and he drowned a little bit, but I think next time he’ll tread water and eventually swim,” Porter said of Barmby.
Porter said his thoughts include both the lineup and the formation as he prepares his squad to play three Western Conference foes in a seven-day span. Sunday’s game at Los Angeles is followed by home games next Wednesday against Dallas and three days later against San Jose.
Midfielder Ben Zemanski suffered a groin injury last week and is out for this three-game stretch. Reserve fullback Andy Thoma (knee injury suffered March 5) is still at least couple of weeks away from returning.
