Portland Timbers Player Rankings #20: Rodney Wallace

Rodney Wallace landed at number 20 in our player rankings with a high score of 17 and a low score of 28. As the rankings showed Rodney was a player you either liked or didn't like. Usually he was deployed at the left back position until someone finally realized he might be better employed as a left midfielder instead.

When he was playing as a left back he usually would bomb down the wing and then be out of position when Portland inevitably lost possession of the ball. When he was deployed at left mid his defensive issues were able to be covered by having someone behind him that could clean up his mistakes. In either position he had consistent defensive lapses which would either lead to goals or required an extra player to ensure Portland was not hurt by those lapses.

With Rodney Wallace commanding a large salary for very little production a majority of the editors voted for Wallace and the Portland Timbers to part ways this off season.

Dissenting Opinion

As I was one of the two editors who voted to keep Rodney Wallace I also get to write why Portland should keep Rodney. All of last season and for portions of this season Wallace was a LM masquerading as a LB. His ability to get forward and play defense as a midfielder are something that Portland could use as either a back-up or when their starting LM is unavailable. Even though I think Wallace should be stay with the Portland Timbers I think it should only happen if they can negotiate a new deal and with a lower salary.