The Portland Timbers host the Philadelphia Union at Providence Park this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with every intention of earning three points. Expectations are high in the stands and the locker room after the team’s most successful year in Major League Soccer. March 8th also marks the regular season debut of Gaston Fernandez and Norberto Paparatto. If the two new Argentines can live up to their billing and the flashes shown in preseason, three points are all but inevitable.
Philadelphia is a club shrouded in mystery. They’ve lost Michael Farfan and Jeff Parke while acquiring four new starters in Christian Maidana, Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira, and Austin Berry. I’d rather let the Timbers’ backline play a game together before facing such a threat. Thanks to Kayleigh McCorry, I do know that the Union’s additions of Edu, Maidana, and Nogueria bring creativity to the midfield. This could be bad for the Timbers with Jack McInerney waiting to pounce on any and all balls. In preseason he scored twice. On of which was off a free kick, something that Portland is known to give up goals from. Thank goodness Conor Casey is out for this match. While the Union were unable to score on Portland last season, his headers carry some serious power. Jac Mac is enough to deal with if the midfield is providing good service. Without anything else to go on, I’m putting my faith in Caleb Porter and the Portland starting eleven to get things done and set the tone for 2014.
Muddling things even more is the fact that this game will not be officiated by the currently locked out PRO (Professional Referee Organization) referees. Instead, replacement refs are being called in for at least the first week of the season; any NFL fans out there will remember how well that went over in 2012. While finding competent head refs shouldn’t be too much of an issue, getting enough quality assistants will likely pose a challenge. Major League Soccer is faster and more physical than lower levels of the sport in the US. That speed increase means missed offsides that could translate into points from what would otherwise be disallowed goals. Hopefully Saturday’s ref, Ioannis Stavridis, will at least perform better than fan favorite Ricardo Salazar.
All Portland eyes are on Gaston Fernandez. If Valeri starts, and I think he will, Fernandez should play on the left wing. I like him there. The way Gaston weaves through traffic like Nagbe and Valeri makes playing alongside a strike like Maxi Urruti a natural choice. Even if he might score more up top, the Argentine attacking core deserves a shot at success.
Norberto Paparatto is my key to the game. McInerney should be playing alone up top on Saturday and he is going to be a handful in the air and on the ground. Paparatto can cover both thanks to his size and smooth sliding ability. I don’t mean to slight Kah, who shut down many an opponent last year, but if Norberto plays well, Portland will play well.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Portland Timbers: Ricketts; Harrington, Paparatto, Kah, Jewsbury; Johnson, Chara; Fernandez, Valeri, Nagbe; Urruti
Philadelphia Union: MacMath; Fabinho, Okugo, Berry, Williams; Carroll, Edu; Maidana, Nogueira, Le Toux; McInerney
(image courtesy of Craig Mitchelldyer)
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