 |
| It is A plan, I suppose. |
“Nagbe-led Timbers clicking, but Porter wants more”
MLSSoccer.com could not have
slapped a more “click-baity” tease to this article, at least not for me, due to
what my counselor politely calls “heightened, specific / troublesome interest” in
Darlington Nagbe (I’m working on getting that third modifier scrubbed from my
file, but every day’s a new day. For the record, the actual article – one that
examines the decision to stick Nagbe on the left wing, and the meaning thereof
- carries a more measured headline…so I probably wouldn’t have clicked on the
thing, so, to MLS’s headline hacks, you’ve earned your rent this month.
It’s that word, “led,” that
creates the cognitive dissonance, because I see Nagbe as more of a facilitator
than a leader. It’s been said (over and over and over and over) that Nagbe
could be a truly great attacking player, but raw talent depends on disposition
and what a player is motivated to do: that's what will define where and how
Nagbe brings his best to Portland, whatever that best may be.
The article raises one specific
point, I’d like to scratch at – the one that inspired the poll I posted today:
will Nagbe return to his same level of “production” in 2017 that he achieved in
2013? Here’s my answer:
Personally, I don’t think Nagbe
will score as many goals as he did in 2013 – and that goes back to the above
point about disposition. That’s not to say I wouldn’t welcome it if he banged
in a baker’s dozen (I mean, by all fucking means, kid), but I’m neither
expecting that nor banking on it. What I do believe is that Porter has come up
with what looks like a good system for Portland’s attack down the left. Moreover,
that system will afford Nagbe with opportunities to shoot: the question will
be, as ever, what he does with those. (Or will he spurn them, as he does my
unflagging obsession?) (Also, I don’t like the choices he and his wife made in
their kitchen*. I mean, that back-splash? Are they blind?!)
