The Portland Timbers made the decision to launch a USL club in T2 back in 2014, hoping that the new team would give the organization a place to develop a talented crop of young players that could ultimately go on to contribute to the first team.
Their investment may finally be paying off.
In early January, the Timbers announced that for the first time they would be signing three players out of T2 to the first team. The announcement came just a few months after Portland inked academy product Marco Farfan, who spent time competing at T2, to a homegrown contract with the first team.
With the young signings, the Timbers now have a total of six players on their roster ages 23 or younger that will be in positions on the depth chart to compete for minutes. And they have another four drafts picks under 22 that are fighting for spots on the first team. This marks an important shift for the Timbers, who have never had so many young players on the first team in positions to earn playing time.
“It’s important because the longer you have a club, the more you need to make sure you have players in the system moving up,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “But it’s also important that we felt that we had players that were ready. If we didn’t have guys in T2, if we didn’t have a guy in the academy, if we didn’t have guys in the draft that we were excited about, we wouldn’t have done this.”
While the Timbers have had young and talented players on their roster in the past, in many cases the players have been so far down the depth chart that the likelihood of them seeing minutes was negligible. This year is different.
Heading into the season, Porter will have a player 23 or under at the No. 1, 2, or 3 spot in the depth chart at nearly every position. And the club is hopeful that their young players will rise to the occasion and push for playing time this season.
“We want to give them every opportunity and we thought long and hard about those decisions,” Porter said. “We didn’t want to block their pathway to get opportunities with our first team. When you look at how we Betasus set up the roster, we will have three players in every position and in at least one of those three options, we want a young player.”
In a few positions, the young players will likely be playing significant roles this year.
Right back Alvas Powell, 22, has been with the Timbers since 2013 and has been Portland’s youngest starter since 2015. Farfan is slotted in as No. 2 in the depth chart at left back and will have the opportunity to both fill in when starting left back Vytas is away for international duty and compete for playing time. And center back Rennico Clarke, who is one of the three T2 players that signed a first team contract this year, entered preseason as Portland’s presumed No. 3 center back and could see significant minutes this season. Clarke, 21, is currently being used as a starter in preseason after Gbenga Arokoyo sustained a season-ending Achilles injury earlier this week, but the Timbers are expected to sign another starting center back to replace Arokoyo ahead of the season.
“The coach sees something in me that he wants to put in his team,” Clarke said. “That boosted me a lot. I’m just hoping to be the best I can be and elevate myself everyday.”
Among the other young players that will be on Portland’s roster are forward Jeremy Ebobisse, who the Timbers took with the No. 4 overall pick after trading up in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Ebobisse, 19, comes in as No. 3 in the depth chart at forward, but could challenge for the No. 2 spot, a role that would ensure him substantial playing time. And T2 signing Victor Arboleda, 20, and returner Jack Barmby, 22, will have opportunities to compete for playing time on the wing as well.
“We haven’t played some of these younger guys in the past because we didn’t have some of these guys that were close enough,” Porter said. “Now, we do. So, now it’s on me and it’s on my staff to give them the chance, but they still have to earn it.”
While the young players will have to prove themselves in training and on the field to earn minutes, Timbers General Manager and President of Soccer Gavin Wilkinson said that the signing of four players out of the academy and T2 system this year is a positive sign that demonstrates the growth and improvement of Portland’s developmental pipeline.
And Wilkinson and the Timbers expect that the club will continue to see players from T2 moving on the first team in the years to come.
“We’re at a point where we’re now bringing in better players into the T2 program and the T2 players are being developed and being given the opportunity with the first team,” Wilkinson said. “I think it’s healthy for the club. I think it’s great for competition. I think it’s great for our depth.”
— Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com
503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
