Portland Timbers

Introducing The Kris Boyd Index

An attempt to make sense of some possible Timbers departures

By Matthew Hoffman@mhoff Jul 26, 2018, 11:07am PDT

When Caleb Porter became the head coach of the Portland Timbers, it was an open question about how well Kris Boyd, the Scottish designated player, would fit into Porter’s system. The answer: not very well. Porter publicly stated (at his introductory news conference, no less) that he didn’t see a spot on his team for Boyd; a week later, he and the club parted ways.

Boyd wasn’t the only player let go to make way for Porterball version 1.0, but he certainly had the highest profile. Altogether, 16 Timbers players would be jettisoned before Porter coached his first MLS match in 2013.

Giovanni Savarese, unlike Porter, hasn’t had the opportunity to partake in such drastic housekeeping. Rennico Clarke and Chance Myers are the only names to have left the team since Saverese accepted the Timbers head coaching job in mid-December.

Changes to Savarese’s squad could possibly happen sooner rather than later. Timbers GM Gavin Wilkinson told MLSsoccer.com, Portland has “identified three to four players,” they would like to acquire. Merritt Paulson, quoted in the same piece, says at least one transaction is contingent on “the sale of a big player.”

To identify the players who might be on the move, we introduce The Kris Boyd Index.

Fanendo Adi

Appearances: 13/9 starts
2018 Salary: $1,933,333
Slots: DP
KBI: 9

“I think there are things sometimes that stay between a player and a coach ... That’s why he wasn’t in the 18, not because of anything that had to do with his quality of play.” This was the rationale Savarese gave for omitting Adi from the matchday 18 for two consecutive games.

Savarese said in his mid-week remarks that Adi very well could play this weekend against Houston. Those are not necessarily encouraging words for a player occupying one of the team’s three DP slots.

Savarese continues to praise Adi as a “a good player,” but in the last ten regular season matches, Adi has three starts, three appearances as a substitute, and four games where he didn’t enter the match at all. In that span, he played 268 minutes and took six shots, only two of which were on goal. That precipitous drop in form is unfortunate for Adi, given the emergence of Samuel Armenteros.

Sebastian Blanco

Appearances: 17/17
2018 Salary: $1,375,008
Slots: DP
KBI: 0

Blanco is on this list only for the rumors a team in Argentina wants to lure him back to his native land. Blanco is a vital cog for Portland, however: Blanco and Valeri are the only Timbers with multiple goals and assists 18 games into the season.

David Guzman

Appearances: 3/2
2018 Salary: $240,000
Slots: None
KBI: 7

David Guzman has made more starts on Russian soil during the 2018 World Cup than he has for his own club team. It’s hard to think Guzman is part of the plan when he’s failed to make a start in a team that uses three defensive positions, playing a total of seven minutes with the first team since St. Patrick’s Day.

Jake Gleeson

Appearances: 6/6
2018 Salary: $125,166
Slots: None
KBI: 8

Gleeson is now the longest tenured member of the Portland Timbers and the last remaining player of the group that was promoted, along with the club, to MLS in 2011. With the history between him and the club, Gleeson may have earned the right to stay in Portland if he chooses to. If so, that may be in jeopardy given his performance so far in 2018: In 540 minutes, Gleeson has 15 saves, allowed 14 goals, and has a league-worst 2.33 goals against average. On the polar opposite sits Jeff Attinella, with a 7-0-6 record and a league-best .833 GAA.

There’s context to Gleeson’s numbers as Portland’s defense was woeful in the six games Gleeson started. But Attinella has locked down the starting gig, and Kendall McIntosh looks closer and closer to be an MLS-ready keeper. It seems increasingly likely that the final time Gleeson will touch the ball as a Timbers player was when he pulled the ball out of the net when he got nutmegged by an own goal against Minnesota in the home opener.

Liam Ridgewell

Appearances: 6/6
2018 Salary: $700,000
Slots: None
KBI: 6

Ridgewell’s omission from the team received a lot of attention before his brief return for four consecutive starts. There’s been considerably less chatter since Julio Cascante grabbed Ridgewell’s spot after Ridgewell sustained an injury early in the match against Los Angeles on May 19. Now healthy, Ridgewell hasn’t made the 18 since.

Vytautas Andriuskevicius

Appearances: 3/0
2018 Salary: $271,875
Slots: None
KBI: 4

Vytas began the season injured and, with appearances in T2, worked his way to match fitness. The only thing appearing to hold Vytas back now has been the emergence of Zarek Valentin as a solid left back. Under Caleb Porter, Valentin was a stopgap when Vytas wasn’t available, but Valentin, who will be 27 next month, has taken the opportunity presented by Vytas’s absence and run with it.

Dairon Asprilla

Appearances: 9/3
2018 Salary: $193,750
Slots: None
KBI: 4

Victor Arboleda

Appearances: 1/0
2018 Salary: $75,000
Slots: International
KBI: 8

Jeremy Ebobisse

Appearances: 1/0
2018 Salary: $203,000
Slots: Generation adidas
KBI: 5

There’s some overlap here, as these three players have been pooling most of their time for T2 so far this season. Asprilla has been happy to be back with the Timbers, which is not something we thought we’d be saying ahead of the 2017 season. He has taken the lessons learned about being a professional to heart and by all accounts has been a positive locker room presence.

In early June, it was reported that Arboleda went on loan to Colombia. The team hopes he can further develop, noting he wasn’t going to be getting many first team minutes this season. The team is hoping he can progress like Asprilla did when he was in a similar loan. But, should that not pan out, Portland has a team option for Arboleda for next season.

With plenty of attacking options and Ebobisse maintaining his Generation adidas status, he becomes a very attractive trade target.

Lucas Melano

Appearances: 0/0
2018 Salary: $1,050,000 (on loan)
Slots: International and DP (on loan)
KBI: 9

Who even knows anymore?

Again, this is all speculation. In some cases, bad speculations. How far off was I? Let me know what you think the comments below.