BEAVERTON, Ore. – Not only will the Portland Timbers be without team captain Will Johnson for the remainder of the season, but they’ll also have to cope with the loss for one game of offensive centerpiece Diego Valeri.
Valeri picked up a caution in the 88th minute of Portland’s 3-2 loss Saturday against Toronto FC – on a foul that ultimately led to Michael Bradley’s game-winning free-kick goal – to pick up a one-game suspension for caution accumulation. The loss, coupled with Johnson’s broken-leg injury, is a double blow heading into an away match Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes (11 pm ET, NBCSN, NBCSports.com), a game of the utmost consequence for Portland’s chase to make the MLS Cup Playoffs for a second consecutive season.
They currently trail the Vancouver Whitecaps by a point for the fifth and final postseason spot with four games remaining for each team.
“He’s been very good for us this season and really good recently,” Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said of Valeri after a recent training session at the team facility. “But we’ve also won some games without Valeri, so that’s a real positive.”
Very good might be an understatement.
Valeri tied the club record for assists in a season with his 14th in Portland’s 3-0 win over Vancouver on Sept. 20, and he has nine goals this year as well. He’s also played in all 30 league games this season, starting in all but one.
The games in which he’s not played, three CONCACAF Champions League games and two US Open Cup games, were all Portland wins.
“Although you never want to lose a guy like Diego Valeri, a guy like Will Johnson, we do have some really good players who can step in in their absence, and I’m confident that the player we chose in those roles will help us get the job done,” the Timbers coach added.
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Porter has already indicated that Ben Zemanski will replace Johnson in his holding midfielder role alongside Diego Chara.
Who slots in for Valeri is more of a question mark. Porter can opt for fellow Argentine Gaston Fernandez, who he said is a “seamless replacement as a kind of a [No.] 10.” Fernandez has seven goals on the season.
Porter also said it’s a position that Darlington Nagbe, who has six assists and no goals, has played at times.
“This team has come back form adversity all year long,” Zemanski said. “And I think we’re all confident that we’re going to be able to do that again. When it’s on the line, this team steps up.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
