Just under eleven months ago, on December 6th, 2015, the Portland Timbers won MLS Cup in Columbus. They haven't won a road game since.
Two Sundays ago, the Timbers' title defense ended with a humiliating loss on the final day of the regular season in Vancouver that made Portland just the third club in MLS history to miss the playoffs the season after winning it all.
When it was all said and done, 2016 was the single most trying season that Caleb Porter has endured as a professional coach. Below are grades for the twenty-one first-team players who finished the season with the Timbers.
#90 — Jake Gleeson: A
It finished on an exceedingly sour note with his arrest for a DUI a week ago, but 2016 was a coming-out party some six years in the making for Jake Gleeson — who never let Adam Kwarasey back into the lineup after the Ghanaian broke his finger on a fluke play in an early-April home game against San Jose.
In Kwarasey's stead, and then, well after he'd played him right back to Norway, Gleeson showed himself to be a jaw-dropping shot-stopper. The saves he made — both in quality and in quantity — kept the Timbers in the playoff race. He should be one of the best goalkeepers in MLS for the next decade.
Of course, had Kwarasey never gotten hurt, Gleeson might still be sitting on the bench. But his maturation — at least on the field — over the last handful of years might be a message to a club that has struggled to develop his young players. It takes time.
#2 — Alvas Powell: B
The beginning of Powell's season was disrupted when he injured his hand against FC Dallas in April, and he wouldn't start regularly again until the beginning of July. From that point on, though, the young Jamaican continued to make strides in his game — especially going forward.
Powell, both thanks to his outstanding 2015 and the Timbers' inability to find a lockdown left-back, saw a lot less action this year than he did last year. Teams rarely attacked Portland down the right flank, and when they did, Powell was mostly up to the challenge.
The issues that have plagued Powell — spacial awareness, crossing — still linger. But Powell continues to make strides, and he's no longer a liability in the attacking half of the field. He'll be even better with some consistent right-wing play next year.
#24 — Liam Ridgewell: B-
Liam Ridgewell's importance to the Timbers' defense is hard to overstate: The team won just two of the twelve league games he didn't play this year, and frequently looked like a mess organizationally without him on the field.
That influence — especially on the leadership side — is a major part of the reason why Ridgewell locked up a two-year contract extension in the fall despite his advancing age and struggles to stay healthy this year.
That's why Ridgewell's own DUI arrest, in conjunction with Gleeson's at the end of the year, is so disappointing. It's also why Ridgewell's penchant for picking up needless yellow cards, and the team's inability to get up for road games all year long reflect poorly. This team needs more from its captain next year.
#7 — Nat Borchers: B
It might not have been a killer blow from a competitive standpoint, but Nat Borchers' ruptured left Achilles — suffered just before halftime of a July game against the LA Galaxy — was backbreaking for the Timbers in a number of subtle ways.
Firstly, it's hard to imagine any injury that could have been more unjust. Throughout his twelve years in MLS, Borchers had never suffered a major injury. His durability was more or less unmatched for a center back, and exceedingly important at the beginning of a season in which Portland's defense was riddled with injuries.
Before he got hurt, it's fair to say that Borchers was enduring a difficult year. He'd made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes in the spring, but it must be said that he was also often the lone saving grace on a backline that included Jermaine Taylor, Chris Klute, and Zarek Valentin in front of a new goalkeeper in Jake Gleeson.
It's true that the Timbers hadn't won a road game with Borchers in the lineup, but they had gotten results in six of the nine away games he started. After his injury? The Timbers lost their last seven away from home. Steven Taylor was a massive, massive downgrade in every aspect.
Borchers is out of contract, and, considering both his age and the severity of his injury, his future with the club is unclear. But if at all possible, even for a third center back, the Timbers have to retain him. He was the heart and soul of the championship team, a phenomenal ambassador for the club, and an all-time MLS great.
#27 — Steven Taylor: D+
Steven Taylor was a laughingstock for years at Newcastle, and once he arrived in Portland over the summer, it didn't take long to figure out why.
Between his prehistoric pace and embarrassing antics, Taylor was more frequently a liability than the reliable, experienced Premier League player he was touted as when he signed. He was exposed time and again in space, and was reliably dismal in the road games that cost the Timbers' their season.
That's not to say it was all bad. Taylor seemed to genuinely embrace the opportunity to play in Portland, and, to his credit, he turned in several stout performances at home down the stretch and scored against Seattle. But the truth is that the Timbers' front office needs to be doing much, much better if this club wants to return to the playoffs.
#4 — Jermaine Taylor: D
Had this been Norberto Paparatto, the Timbers might have had a very different season.
In 2015, Portland was blessed with center back health. Neither Borchers nor Ridgewell missed multiple games injured. That wasn't the case this year, and it meant that the team's third center back — which became Jermaine Taylor after the club was unable to retain Paparatto — had a big role to play.
He didn't play it well. To put it quite simply, Taylor looked washed up. Slow in all phases of the game, poor on the ball, and a target on crosses. The Timbers won just six of Taylor's 21 starts, and three of those wins came while he was playing fullback. He shouldn't be retained.
#18 — Amobi Okugo: B
Before his career went into a tailspin at the beginning of last year, Amobi Okugo was one of the hotter younger talents in MLS. In his short time on the field with the Timbers 2016, it wasn't overly difficult to see why.
The Timbers grabbed Okugo off waivers in the spring, but, as the Timbers' fifth center back, he didn't see the field until Borchers' injury in the summer. In his two starts, both against Sporting Kansas City, Okugo was solid — displaying a midfielder's feet and vision, and good defensive instincts.
It's unclear to me why the Timbers didn't give Okugo more run. After Ridgewell and Borchers, he looked like the team's best center back. He certainly would have provided an element of speed at the back that the team lacked. Okugo should see the field more — in defense or midfield — in 2017.
#5 — Vytas: B
He's not Jorge Villafaña, but Vytas does seem to be the answer for the Timbers at left back moving forward. Acquired midseason after Chris Klute was exiled to T2, and, eventually, loaned to Minnesota United, the Lithuanian did enough to merit his return for next season.
Vytas was an especially useful addition to the Timbers' attack, getting forward with aplomb. He scored against Seattle off a corner, and was one of the team's most dangerous crossers of the ball.
Defensively, Vytas got exposed on several occasions. He struggled with speed, and tended to fade in second halves. That said, he should improve as he continues to adjust to the league next year. At the very least, he played with the type of fire that Klute, for one, seemed to lack.
#16 — Zarek Valentin: B+
Valentin got a lot of time, especially early in the season, and, for the most part, he acquitted himself nicely. A known quantity to Porter from his time at Akron, Valentin played with plenty of heart and was an especially good distributor from the right side of the field.
How Valentin will fit on next year's team remains to be seen — you'd think that Taylor Peay has to be the primary backup to Powell at some point — but the Lancaster native is good depth and a good locker-room presence.
#20 — Taylor Peay: B
Peay got just a single start with the first team this year. It came on June 1st, when the Washington product was part of the backline that got the Timbers' first clean-sheet of the season.
Most of his year was spent with T2, but it's time for Peay to graduate to the first team. Both this year and last, in the few minutes he has played at the MLS level, he hasn't once looked overmatched. Peay is stuck behind Powell at right back, but there's absolutely a lane at center back for him to become a Timbers starter. Hopefully we see much more of him next year.
#13 — Jack Jewsbury: A-
Jewsbury had a difficult start to the season — struggling for game-time, being passed by Ben Zemanski in the central midfield pecking order, and playing one of the worst games of his career on a rainy Wednesday night against Dallas.
But by the time he announced his retirement at the team banquet in September, Jewsbury had risen from the ashes again. He ended the season with a string of immaculate performances, starting the last eleven games of the season in midfield, and carrying himself with all of the grace and class that he became defined by during his time in Portland.
Jewsbury also provided what was, perhaps, the most euphoric moment of the season: A breathtaking, game-clinching goal against Sporting Kansas City in a match in which the Timbers had been playing with ten men for almost eighty minutes.
Jewsbury went out playing just as well as he did when he arrived here in 2011. His place in Timbers lore is secure. That his team couldn't give him the chance to appear in a twentieth playoff game is an absolute shame.
#21 — Diego Chara: A-
Chara had another excellent season, and, of course you'd expect nothing less. Chara has been so good, for so long, that all of his games and campaigns tend to blend together. There's hardly any point in trying to differentiate them. He's Diego Chara, and that's that.
However: Chara was tick below his 2015 form. Firstly, with no goals and just one assist, he didn't pack the punch in the final third of the field that he has in the last several years. He also spent much of the year playing alongside Ben Zemanski, who, because of his similar skill-set, doesn't bring out the best in Chara.
Chara is still, I think, best in the 4-3-3 that the Timbers won the Cup with. Should they go back to that formation next year, he and Darlington Nagbe would benefit. But it's just a matter of degrees. Chara is great — and you could see how much the Timbers missed him in Vancouver.
#14 — Ben Zemanski: B
There were plenty of positives for Ben Zemanski to take out of the 2016 season, namely that he finally got a good run of games under his belt after missing the entirety of 2015 with an ACL tear.
And Zemanski doesn't appear to have lost a step. He's still the same dogged, tenacious, hard-running midfielder that he was before he got hurt. But there was still plenty of adversity for Zemanski in 2016. He got hurt at the beginning of the season, and then dealt with a collapsed lung in October.
He also got bypassed by Jewsbury as a starter down the stretch. It was a reminder that, for all of Zemanski's good defensive work, he needs to be calmer and more incisive on the ball if he wants to be an everyday MLS starter.
#6 — Darlington Nagbe: B-
One step forward, two steps back. After Darlington Nagbe exploded into the national team with his play at the end of 2015, Nagbe ends 2016 right about where he ended 2014: Forgotten on the national stage, and frustrating his backers with a season's worth of pedantic play.
Nagbe never truly found his stride this year. He scored just once, off a free-kick against Vancouver in May, and, save for an explosion of a first half against Real Salt Lake at home a few weeks ago, he never dominated games like he did at the end of last season.
He's still a phenomenal talent, a fine young man, and someone the Timbers are lucky to have. But he won't be in his prime forever. Portland has to get the most out of him next year. Nagbe's legacy in the game is still very much up in the air.
#8 — Diego Valeri: A
No complaints here. Diego Valeri was simply spellbinding for large swathes of 2016, scoring an array of sensational and game-winning goals that kept the Timbers in the playoff hunt. In addition to a career-high fourteen goals, Valeri also led the team with seven assists. He was marvelous.
In addition to his play on the field, Valeri continued to serve as a role model off it. He contributed to the Timbers Army's tifo for the July home game against Seattle, helped redecorate the visiting room of an area foster home, and severed as a super-fan for the Portland Thorns on their run to the NWSL Shield.
Valeri singed a contract extension in the summer, and announced that he wants to retire in Portland. You could not possibly ask for more in your star, and it's hard to disagree with the sentiment that he should be the Timbers' captain.
#10 — Ned Grabavoy: B-
2016 was a trying year for Grabavoy, who played the fewest minutes of any of his thirteen MLS season and started just five times. For just the second time in his career, he notched neither a goal nor an assist.
Needless to say, Grabavoy, who announced his retirement during the final week of the season, likely would have scripted a different ending to his career. He did, though, have a handful of moments to remember fondly — including a Man of the Match display in June against San Jose.
Had the Timbers used Grabavoy more in his preferred central midfield position, and less on the wing, he would have been better. Grabavoy's quality in tight spaces and canniness would have made him a good operator in the 4-3-3, alas, the Timbers never quite got the most out of a great MLS player on his last legs.
#26 — Lucas Melano: F
Hard to score this any other way. For a player who cost the Timbers $5 million to bring in from Argentina, and several million more in salary, Lucas Melano is amongst the biggest DP busts this league has ever seen.
It wasn't for any lack of opportunity that Melano failed to make his mark in MLS. He appeared in all of the team's first 28 games, starting 26 times. The truth — unavoidable by the time he missed an open net from two yards out in Vancouver on the final day of the season — is that Melano is a terrible soccer player, and no amount of speed can make up for it.
In his fifteen months in MLS, Melano never improved his defense, his vision, his awareness on and off the ball, and his wastefulness in front of goal. Melano is a good kid, and he still has plenty of time to make something of his career. It's just not going to happen in Portland. He's done here.
#22 — Darren Mattocks: B+
It seemed, in the final month of the season, like Darren Mattocks was the Timbers' silver bullet. It wasn't a laughable posture. When he was on the field this year, Mattocks, long a target of Caleb Porter's, played with the kind of ferocity and jump-off-the-screen athleticism that doesn't come around every day.
Mattocks' problem in 2016 was staying on the field. The Jamaican made just twelve starts in 2016, but impressed enough to become a key player by the end of the year. Mattocks spent most of the year learning how to play on the wing — defense was an issue — but he could be poised to break out again next season.
#23 — Jack Barmby: D
Jack Barmby was brought in on loan from Leicester City to be an answer on the wing.
He wasn't. Not by a long-shot. Barmby, in short, needs a ton of polishing. He's an overly direct player, which can be good in certain spots, but in plenty of substitute appearances Barmby was too guileless and thoughtless to merit considerable minutes. I'd be surprised if he's back with the club next season.
#9 — Fanendo Adi: A
When the Timbers denied Fanendo Adi's transfer request this summer, he easily could have shut up shop. The request, though poorly timed, was made on legitimate grounds. Adi wanted to get into his national team, and was, reportedly, told that he needed to leave MLS to do it.
That wasn't what happened. Adi continued to play hard, scoring sixteen goals for the second consecutive year while logging his most starts and minutes for the club. In the process, he established himself as — by a large consensus — the league's best holdup player.
Without his goals, the Timbers would have been dead in the water long before the last day of the season. Since Adi signed a contract extension in the spring, Portland can keep him this offseason if they want to. How they play the situation — should Adi still want away — will be one of the most important plot-lines of the next several months.
#99 — Jack McInerney: B-
McInerney, after a fairly dismal preseason, started the year like a house on fire. It's easy to see why McInerney, despite his size, has scored goals everywhere he's been in MLS. He has a phenomenal sense of the field — something that was evident as he filled in on the wing in the spring — and is an excellent finisher.
McInerney was so good in the first half that Caleb Porter even optioned to a two-forward look to get him on the field with Fanendo Adi. But after he scored against Montreal on July 13th, McInerney cooled off in a big way.
He wouldn't score a league goal the rest of the season, and didn't start an MLS match all fall. McInerney, like most forwards, is streaky. More consistency next season, and the Timbers will have one of the best backup forwards in the league.
The Timbers had an avalanche of players who contributed to the 2016 season, but didn't finish the year with the team. Chris Konopka was signed to back up Jake Gleeson after Adam Kwarasey was sold, but he hasn't seen the field yet for the Timbers. Wade Hamilton did make a start in the US Open Cup, but he'll keep progressing with T2.
Chris Klute wasn't as bad on the field in the spring as his subsequent treatment would suggest he was, so you have to infer that all wasn't well with Klute off the field. He certainly didn't come in fit, which irked Caleb Porter, and his level of commitment on the field — certainly in his last game for the club, in Chicago, lacked. We'll see if he's in MLS next season.
Gbenga Arokoyo only made his debut for the club in the dying moments of the mauling two weeks ago Sunday at BC Place, and it remains to be seen whether he'll be with the first team or T2 next season.
There were clearly problems surrounding Dairon Asprilla long before he was loaned back to Colombia during the summer, but it was hard to see Asprilla go. He had all kinds of raw talent, and was a significant contributor to the championship run. The Timbers would have been better with him this year.
The Timbers had a number of young wingers in and around the first-team, namely Nico Brett and Ben Polk, but neither contributed in a big way. Marco Farfan was another T2 player who signed a first team contract earlier in the month. Rennico Clark and Victor Arboleda could follow him.
And, lastly, Adam Kwarasey did absolutely nothing wrong. He just got hurt, and getting hurt, in sports, can be a cardinal sin.