The Portland Timbers have posted just one clean sheet all season and have experienced myriad defensive issues.
The Timbers hope to alleviate some of those problems with Thursday’s acquisition of defender Joel Waterman. Waterman, a member of Canada’s 2022 and 2026 World Cup squads, will be available Saturday night when Portland hosts Minnesota United.
Waterman, 30, was acquired from the Chicago Fire to shore up a defense that has allowed 39 goals, the third-most in the Western Conference. He is in his seventh MLS season, having spent 5 1/2 seasons with CF Montreal and the past one-plus seasons with Chicago.
“I’m really excited for the new chapter here and hopefully we’ll win some trophies,” Waterman said Thursday.
Timbers coach Marti Cifuentes views Waterman’s experience — 151 MLS matches (142 starts) — as a much-needed ingredient for his squad’s defense. Portland (8-10-4, 28 points) is tied for 10th place in the tightly bunched West.
“The one on the stats is there for everyone (to see),” Cifuentes said of the lone shutout. “We need to start the games better because we tend to have slow starts. We need to have less turnovers. When you check the data, we lose the ball quite often.”
The Timbers are 1-2-1 over their last four matches. Portland fell 2-1 to visiting Austin FC on Saturday.
Minnesota United (7-7-8, 29 points) is ninth in the West and currently holds the final playoff position.
The Loons have cranked up the offense with eight goals in the past two matches. They beat the host San Jose Earthquakes 5-1 on Aug. 22 before Saturday’s 3-3 home tie against Orlando City.
Minnesota trailed 2-0 before scoring three times in a five-minute span in the second half. But Orlando later equalized in stoppage time.
“Incredible comeback in that span of time,” Minnesota coach Cameron Knowles said earlier this week. “The energy that was in the stadium when the third goal goes in, then just the disappointment in not hanging on in the last three minutes and seeing out three points.”
Alec Smir is expected to make his fifth career MLS start after regular goalkeeper Drake Callender sustained a concussion against Orlando City. Team trainers ruled at halftime that Callender couldn’t continue and Smir played the second half.
Knowles will proceed cautiously with Callender, who has five shutouts.
“As long as he keeps coming through each stage of the protocol symptom-free, then he’ll keep accelerating through the protocol,” Knowles said. “If all things go to plan, he’ll be added to full-team training by the end of the week.”
The Loons beat the visiting Timbers 2-0 on April 18.
–Field Level Media
