Bocanegra to MLS and perhaps Portland Timbers this summer?
MLS recently offered up this article about Carlos Bocanegra and a possible return to MLS this summer. Not a lot of detail but would be interested to hear your thougths.
Here’s a few of mine to open things up a bit…
1. Quality and quantity in the Center-back position is critical for any professional soccer team and while Portland have done a great job of replacing Mikael Silvestre and David Horst the constant injury bug just doesn’t seem to go away.
2. Perhaps unlikely at first but does having a ‘third’ quality center-back open up even more options for the very deceptive and nuance driven Caleb Porter in his 4-3-3 as the season grind continues?
3. A 3-5-2 has been tried a couple of times in MLS but the quality and quantity of 3 tough center-backs with varying levels of speed has yet to take shape. Does the addition of Bocanegra enhance the potential for that sort of approach?
What are your thoughts about the possibility of adding Carlos Bocanegra to Portland Timbers?
Chris Gluck
I have been covering the Portland Timbers and Major League Soccer, as a community blogger/analyst for the Columbian Newspaper, since June, 2012. Since then my involvement in soccer analysis has expanded to include participating in the Regional Emmy Award Winning Soccer City PDX TV Show (Comcast Sports Northwest). My unique analytical approach has been published in Europe and presented at the World Conference on Science and Soccer 2014. I also appear regularly as a co-host on Rose City Soccer Show and the Yellowcarded Podcast. You can find my work on PossessionwithPurpose.com, PTFC Collective and Prost Amerika.