PORTLAND — The Providence Park ground will feel a bit different on Sunday when the Portland Timbers kick off the Major League Soccer season — not only because a new championship banner will be gracing the place.
A new artificial field was installed over the offseason, keeping Portland on the leading edge of artificial surfaces for soccer.
The fake grass at Providence Park is FieldTurf Revolution 360, the newest generation of FieldTurf. This is the second time the Timbers have replaced their home turf since entering MLS in 2011. The previous version was installed prior to the 2014 season. The club plans to install new turf every two seasons.
Because it is new and the imitation grass blades are standing upright, the ball rolls slower than it does on more worn surfaces according to Timbers coach Caleb Porter. To get a feel for it, the Timbers trained Friday and will train on Saturday at Providence Park instead of at their training facility in Beaverton.
“It’s the best turf in the world in terms of technology, it’s just different than what it was last year and it’s different than our training turf because it’s new,” Porter said. “When it’s new it plays a little bit different than a year or two after you’ve put it in.”
With that in mind, Porter said the plan is to put more water on the new field prior to games to help speed up the ball.
Diego Chara called the new field “a little soft” compared with last season’s turf, “but for me each field is the same.”
Chara and Darlington Nagbe each spoke with the media on Friday, the day after the club announced contract extensions for both players. Each is entering his sixth season in Portland. Chara said the contract feels good because it means the team has confidence in him. Nagbe said the negotiations to extend his contract “didn’t weigh on my mind much. The biggest decision was just is my family happy? Is my wife happy? She is, so it makes sense.”
Porter, noting that other key players are already under contract for multiple seasons, said having the core group of players under multi-year contracts is part of the club’s approach to stability.
“We want to keep our top players here. We want to keep them together. We want to keep that continuity which will help us hopefully maintain consistency of performance and will hopefully help us win more and more games and more and more trophies.” Porter said.
Injuries update — Defender Liam Ridgewell (calf) and right winger Dairon Asprilla (ankle) practiced on Friday. Porter said Asprilla looked good, but that his availability for Sunday is still to be decided.
New winger? — The Oregonian’s Jamie Goldberg reported Friday that the Timbers have acquired Jack Barmby on loan from the developmental squad of English Premier League leader Leicester City. The Timbers declined to comment on the report.
The 21-year-old has represented England internationally at the under-16, U-18 and U-20 ages. He spent five years in the Manchester United youth system before signing with Leicester in 2014. Barmby has played forward and midfield and figures to provide depth at left wing for the Timbers. He has not appeared in a Premier League match.
Thorns add French star
French midfielder Amandine Henry will join the Portland Thorns this summer, according to a report from Caitlin Murray on ESPN. Henry, 26, received the Silver Ball trophy as the second best player in last summer’s Women’s World Cup. A Thorns spokesman declined to comment on the report.
The National Women’s Soccer League season begins April 16 and runs through September.
