—by Chris Rifer

Looking across the Timbers backline heading into the 2014 season, there aren’t a lot of surprises. Barring injury, the opening day starters on the back line will be Michael Harrington, Pa Modou Kah, Norberto Paparatto, and Jack Jewsbury. And even further barring injury, it’s a good bet that those four will makeup the closing day quartet, too.

Three of the four players on the backline are incumbents from 2013. Paparatto, a newcomer from Club Atletico Tigre in Argentina, represents the only newcomer, and even he occupies the position the Timbers were universally expected to upgrade over the winter.

As such, like the goalkeepers, the Timbers 2014 backline presents few surprises at the top of the depth chart. Nonetheless, much of the Timbers success in 2014 depends on the backline’s ability to permit the team to commit the desired numbers and mold the shape of the attack to Caleb Porter’s liking. Thus, while not at all surprising, the addition of Paparatto is one of the keys to the Timbers season—and not necessarily for defensive purposes.

The Timbers’ 33 goals allowed in 2013 were the second fewest in MLS. It’s easy to imagine the Timbers putting together a trophy-winning campaign by coming close to reprising that defensive production—a prospect that is far from farfetched.

If Paparatto and Pa Modou Kah can be as reliable in back as the Timbers hope, Caleb Porter will be free to push his fullbacks at will, potentially opening up spaces for the attack and pinning opponents’ midfields and forwards in their own end. Put another way, the Timbers needed an upgrade in central defense to help them score more goals.

Early returns on Paparatto’s signing are solid. His tour of duty in Tucson passed largely without incident, and although Paparatto conceded an own goal against San Jose, a closer look at the concession reveals it was caused more by the wrath of Kah than Paparatto.[1] Considering the Timbers’ defensive accomplishments in 2013 with a MASH unit in the middle, a defense that fulfilled its responsibilities more than capably in 2013 appears to have only improved in 2014.

While the starting unit remained mostly consistent, the defensive bench underwent more changes. Out are Mikael Silvestre, David Horst, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Ryan Miller, and Sal Zizzo. In are Paparatto, Jorge Villafaña, and Taylor Peay.

What looked like a deep rotation of fullbacks before preseason, however, has become less certain as the Timbers approach the regular season. Coming into camp, it appeared Jorge Villafaña and Alvas Powell had firm grasps on the backup left and right back positions, respectively. Both Powell and Villafaña, however, have failed to impress in camp— at least at their fullback positions—prominently including poor-to-catastrophic performances at their primary positions in the Rose City Invitational against Portmore United. And, as he said after the game against Portmore, Caleb Porter projects Taylor Peay as a centerback despite seeing minutes at fullback as a result of Futty and Rauwshan McKenzie having the backup center half spots locked down.

Who, then, is the Timbers’ third fullback? The answer is probably Ben Zemanski. Coming off a good preseason, Zemanski seems likely to get the nod to enter the starting XI should Captain Jack or Harrington go down. Considering both Jewsbury and Harrington can play on either side of the defense, Zemanski would likely step into right back while the starter left standing would play on the left.

In central defense, Futty and McKenzie have solidified the Timbers’ third and fourth spots, and Timbers supporters have reason to have confidence in those two as the immediate reserves. Behind Futty and McKenzie, however, the field becomes less certain, with Peay likely filling the fifth spot. In 2013, however, the Timbers started six different centerbacks through the course of the season, suggesting that relying on four to man the middle of the backline throughout the MLS season—to say nothing of U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League—is not necessarily a simple task.

Questions remain, then, about the Timbers depth in each of the defensive spots. It may well be that the Timbers can get through 2014 without having to dig deep into the depth chart at their defensive positions. And so long as that is the case, the Timbers backline seems likely to be at least as good as it was in 2013 when it combined with the midfield to yield the second fewest goals in MLS. If Portland has to go to the bench with regularity, however, the defense could stand on shakier footing.

Projected Centerback Depth Chart

1. Norberto Paparatto
   
2. Pa Modou Kah
   
3. Futty Danso
   
4. Rauwshan McKenzie
   
5. Taylor Peay
   

Projected Right Back Depth Chart

1. Jack Jewsbury
   
2. Ben Zemanski
   
3. Alvas Powell
   
4. Taylor Peay
   

Projected Left Back Depth Chart

1. Michael Harrington
   
2. Jack Jewsbury
   
3. Jorge Villafaña
   

Onward, Rose City!

[1]Kah first went on a bit of a walkabout out of his zone and into Michael Harrington’s to challenge for the first ball into Clarence Goodson. Although inconsistent with zone marking dogma, this isn’t the worst thing for the Timbers, as they would probably like the Kah-Goodson matchup better than Harrington-Goodson. The new half of the Great Wall of Gambia, however, completely whiffed on winning the header, allowing Goodson to cut in front of him to head the ball back in front of goal, where Paparatto then had to cover his zone as well as Kah’s. This play, however, was only indicative of a simple truth about Pa Modou Kah: For a 6’1” centerback, he is a surprisingly poor aerial ball winner. Watch, for example, the number of times Kah will venture 30 yards upfield to win an aerial ball on a goal kick, only to lose the header and leave his defense exposed.