Following on the heels of the Portland Timbers' 3-2 loss to Toronto FC on Saturday, the team gathered at their Beaverton practice facility for a training session this morning.
Starting off with a 45' video session, the Timbers addressed some of the issues that plagued them on Saturday before hitting the pitch for a closed recovery session and looking to move on from the harsh loss.
"We definitely looked at some things on film: managing the game better in the second half, set pieces," said Caleb Porter after training had wrapped up. "These guys will move on, just like they have all year. Some of our best performances have come after bitter defeats, bitter disappointments."
Porter is right about the Timbers' ability to bounce back as the team has regularly been successful on the heels of a bad loss, picking up 1.88 points per game following their losses this year (as mentioned in the aftermath of Saturday's loss).
When asked about how the team is responding to Will Johnson's injury and the need to refocus on the next match against San Jose, Ben Zemanski, Johnson's presumed replacement in the midfield, gave the press his feelings.
"It is going to take a few days. Obviously we wish the best for Will. We are thinking about will as a person and a human being, and you you never want to see that happen to a teammate and a friend. It hurts, but we all have to move on; we have a job to do. In these next four games the season is on the line."'
Zemanski and Porter both mentioned that the Timbers would move on from this fresh round of adversity, just as they have all year.
"It is just another thing we have got to deal with," Porter said of player injuries and absences. "We have dealt with a lot this year. Some of those things we have brought on ourselves by not getting the job done, but as I said after the game, the one thing that is clear is that we don't hang our heads.
"We don't dwell. We pick ourselves back up. We get stronger. We get better.
"That's the old saying, right? The greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall."
Injuries and Absences
Will Johnson's surgery on his broken tibia and fibula went well according to Porter, and the Timbers are hoping to have him back for the start of the 2015 season. The break was a clean one, Porter said, and did not have any of the complications of Steve Zakuani's compound fracture of the same bones three years ago.