BEAVERTON, Ore. – Coming into the 2015 season, one of the biggest questions facing the Portland Timbers would be how to replace attacking midfielder Diego Valeri as he works back from an ACL injury suffered late last year.
The answer – for at least one game – appears to be Darlington Nagbe.
The dynamic midfielder/forward, who has played mostly on the right wing since head coach Caleb Porter’s arrival ahead of the 2013 season, lined up at the point of the attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation, flanked by wingers Rodney Wallace and Dairon Asprilla with Fanendo Adi up top. And the result, despite not producing a goal in Saturday’s scoreless draw with Real Salt Lake, was fairly positive, Porter said.
“He had a couple sequences that you don’t see out of many guys in the league,” Porter said Tuesday at the team training facility, referring to Nagbe’s performance against RSL. “His ability to get the ball, drive and get out of pressure, eliminate defenders; he didn’t score but he certainly was a threat. … He’s a creative player, and he’s a guy that you have to worry about for 90 minutes.”
And while Nagbe may not be a chance creator of Valeri’s caliber, many observers both inside and outside the club believe Nagbe's still just scratching the surface of his considerable potential.
That, of course, has been the story for years. Right now, Nagbe is focusing on playing his game rather than trying to transform into another Valeri.
“We’re completely different players, so I’m going to go in there and play the way I play,” Nagbe said. “He’s more of a playmaker, I’m more of a second striker. So I’m just going to go in there and try to get on the ball.”
One area where Nagbe is similar to Valeri is his ability to be anywhere on the pitch, floating left or right or playing off Adi up top. He also creates an athletically imposing front four, with a pace and ability to pierce the defense that very few teams can match.
And despite being shut out against RSL, Portland created plenty of chances with 18 shots, six on target.
“[Valeri’s] a DP for a reason, he’s an MLS all-star for a reason, he’s produced goals and assists like he has for a reason; because he’s a very good player,” Porter said. “So you don’t just all of a sudden tell a guy to do the same thing that Valeri is doing. But what you can do is balance out the things he’s done, doing it by committee.”
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Coming out of preseason, another option Porter flirted with was using Argentine Gaston Fernandez as a second forward alongside Adi in more of a 4-4-2 formation. That, however, would leave Asprilla, a 22-year-old Colombian who has impressed Porter since his offseason acquisition from Atletico Nacional, out of the XI. This way, Fernandez is able to come off the bench as a late spark, a role he became familiar with last season.
“You have to figure out what you’re trying to get out of the game, and you have to look at your players as pieces to a puzzle and every piece brings something a little different in terms of dimension, their strengths,” Porter said. “And also as you put the pieces together collectively you’ll start to see a synergy of how they play together.”
Of course, that’s not to say that Saturday’s starting group will be the lineup Porter trots out in every game until Valeri’s return in late May.
Porter said the goal against RSL was to play more direct and on the wings to create width while also taking pressure off holding mids Jack Jewsbury and George Fochive, playing together for the first time in place of Diego Chara and Ben Zemanski. Chara is expected back for Portland’s next game, Sunday at home against the LA Galaxy (7 pm ET; Fox Sports 1), while Zemanski is lost for the long-term after he suffered a torn ACL in the preseason.
One that thing that appears to be certain is Nagbe’s increased role in the offense.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, get on on the ball and make things happen,” Nagbe said. “… If we can do the same thing and defend as well as we did and attack and keep getting shots, I feel like the ball will go in the back of the net.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
