As challenging as the Portland Timbers’ start to the 2014 season was, it would've been a whole lot more difficult without Gastón Fernández.
In his first season in MLS following a dozen years spent in the Argentine and Mexican top flights, Fernández scored two dramatic goals to allow Portland to salvage points in their first two games – one deep into stoppage time of their season-opening 1-1 draw against Philadelphia and a 79th-minute goal the following week in a 1-1 draw against Chicago.
Now, heading into year two with the Timbers, Fernandez will once again be relied upon to play a crucial early season role as the prime candidate to fill in for injured star Diego Valeri. And as Portland look to prevent a slow start, Fernández's contributions will be all the more important.
“We’re coming back with that in mind that this team and as an organization has been at a really high level the last few seasons,” Fernández told the media through a translator before the team departed the Rose City for their preseason camp in Tucson, Arizona. “We’re trying to just get the team the year it deserves. I think in my mind, this is going to be that year.”
Fernández's return to the Timbers wasn’t always a certainty, however.
After making 32 appearances – 15 of which came off the bench – and recording seven goals and two assists in 2014, both the Timbers and Fernández had options to weigh this offseason. Ultimately, they were able to reach an agreement, with the need for reinforcements until Valeri returns factoring into Portland’s decision to bring the 31-year-old Fernández back.
“We talked about him a lot,” Porter said. “Talked about other options, were presented other options, but in the end you start to look at him in year two, what he brings to the table moving forward, what he brought to the table last year, knowing we need to start strong. We felt with his experience and having a year under his belt, not that he’ll start, but we know we can start him because he played a big role last year and we know what we get out of him.”
Porter made clear that Fernández is in no way a straight "like-for-like" replacement for Valeri, who led the Timbers last year with 11 goals and 14 assists, as he brings a different kind of attacking dimension for Portland.
That was on display in the Timbers’ first preseason game Saturday against Sporting Kansas City, as Fernández lined up at forward alongside Fanendo Adi in a 4-4-2 formation, as opposed to manning Valeri’s No. 10 position in Porter’s first-choice 4-3-3. Playing up top allowed a bit more freedom for Fernández, who scored a goal in the team’s 2-0 win.
“The nice thing is we still get some of the things I like out of a 10 because he plays like a second forward, where if you play two center forwards now you don’t get someone who works in the hole in that space in front of the back four,” Porter said. “Playing him higher on both sides of the ball, even though he’ll still come underneath, I think that for the first time out I thought it helped highlight his abilities. And certainly with our team it seemed to work, and it wasn’t a major tweak but it was something we talked a lot about going into the start of the year."
Letting Fernández leave and signing a new player would have led to more uncertainty coming into the season. And changing too much was something Porter cautioned against heading into his third year leading the team, especially with Valeri – who tore his ACL in the Timbers’ season finale – set to come back soon, potentially as early as April.
With a full year in MLS under his belt, Fernández is feeling comfortable in the Rose City, and thinks he and the Timbers are ready to get back to the playoffs.
“We’re going to be working on some details that last year perhaps cost us some games, and we’re going to work on adjusting those things that we maybe lost some points and try to do better this year,” Fernández said, “… and just try to achieve the goals that we set out.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
