Portland Timbers 2014 Postmortem

For the Portland Timbers, the culprit for their inability to make it back to the playoffs a year after the team won the Western Conference is simple:

“The adage of ‘it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’ didn’t hold true for us this year,” Timbers CEO and owner Merritt Paulson said on Friday.

“The hardest nut to crack was defense. I’ve never had a team that’s been poor defensively”

Despite the Timbers being among the best teams in MLS in final two-thirds of the season, the team ultimately could not overcome it’s tepid start in which the team earned a paltry five points over the course of eight games. It put the team, as Porter put it, “in a massive hole.” Though the Timbers finished only one point out of a playoff spot, Porter reminded fans that, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

Why the slow start? A combination of uncertainty and personnel. The injury to Rodney Wallace (off-season ACL surgery) cost Porter the penetrating winger that is crucial for the Timbers on the attack. Having “no penetrating winger,” Porter states changed the way the team used Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe and ultimately caused the Timber’s attack to lose much of if dynamic appeal.

Wallace was not the only early injury that doomed the Portland Timbers. Steve Zakuani was injured at the beginning of the season. That underscores another problem: the Timbers brought in new players and the team’s favorable preseason results masked the player’s uncertainties about their roles.

Oct 25, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell (24) celebrates the goal by midfielder Maximiliano Urruti (not pictured) during the match against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium. The Portland Timbers shut out FC Dallas 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sportsroles.

These handicaps though were minor gripes compared to the elephant in the room: the team’s well-known defensive woes.

But for part of the season the Timber’s defense was just that: bad.

At season’s end the Timbers allowed 52 goals, fifth worst in the league. This began a quest for a defensive stopper. A rumored dalliance between Joleon Lescott may or may not have happened but the Timber’s ultimately came away from the Summer Transfer Window signing West Brom’s Liam Ridgewell to a DP deal.

“Anyone who played next to [Ridgewell] seemed to play better,” Porter said. “To come in at midseason and to do what he did is pretty rare in this league.”

The team didn’t become a lockdown, defensive club with the insertion of Ridgewell, but the defense did improve so much so that four of the team’s final six games were shutouts.

“What has to be encouraging moving into next year that was our best run of form defensively,” Porter said. “We need to build on that.”

Despite injuries to key players that could conspire for another difficult start, Porter believe’s the team’s “form at the end of the year should give everyone optimism.”

Here are three Timbers to watch for in 2015: