Shirts vs. The Blues
Today’s practice was comprised of several small-sided, short field scrimmages of 6 vs. 6, with some players trading yellow, orange, and blue pinnies to form different combinations of four separate teams.
The first match up at one end of the pitch was between the orange team, featuring Maximiliano Urruti, Jorge Villafaña, Ishmael Yartey, Liam Ridgewell, Jack Jewsbury, and Andrew Weber; and the “shirts,” comprised of Danny O’Rourke, Diego Valeri, Will Johnson, Schillo Tshuma, Nick Besler, and Justin Luthy. At the opposite end of the turf training pitch, the blue team of Norberto Paparatto, Darlington Nagbe, Fanendo Adi, Jeanderson, George Fochive, and Jake Gleeson faced off against Alvas Powell, Gastón Fernández, Nat Borchers, Diego Chara, Dairon Asprilla, and Adam Kwarasey in yellow.
Diego Valeri and Will Johnson showed well for their side, with Valeri being creative on the dribble and in passing, Johnson not reluctant to slide in on challenges, and neither having any hesitation or much evidence of diminished pace or endurance. Johnson even made an effort at a near bicycle kick but failed to get his shot on frame.
Urruti looks for the goal
Adi was back in practice as if nothing had happened the previous day, enduring the kind of grappling by Borchers that he must have come to expect from many of the league’s other center backs.
Asprilla models his cast
The next round pitted an orange team of Ridgewell, Chara, Adi, Villafaña, Asprilla and Weber against Valeri, Besler, O’Rourke, Johnson, Luthy, and Tshuma in shirts; while the yellow Borchers, Fernandez, Yartey, Jewsbury, Powell, and Kwarasey side competed against the blue team of Urruti, Paparatto, Nagbe, Jeanderson, Fochive, and Gleeson.
The Timbers wrap up their training
After practice, Johnson spoke to the assembled press.
On how he feels about returning to practice without fear:
“…I’m excited in the morning because I get to come here and get back to doing what I love…. That’s what I do. I’m not going to change what I do because of what happened. It feels good. It’s just kind of all I know how to do. I only know how to play my way, my style, and it’s gotten me to this point. I feel good about that. I embrace that and I’m not going to try to change it because of a bit of bad luck – a bad injury – over a ten, twelve-year career. It’s what I do and I’m just getting back to what I do.”
Johnson on winning
On his goals for while playing for T2 in Arizona this weekend:
“I want to play well. I want to win, that’s for sure but…I want to get through as many minutes as I can – up to 60 I think – injury free, pain free, and just start to get the rhythm back, to break down that rust that you accumulate from seven months of not playing at a high level.
I also want to embrace the experience of going down there with those guys to try to teach them, try to be a good pro, a good leader, and try to show some of those guys that have hopes of playing for the first team that you can kind of bridge the gap of what it takes as a pro….
I think there are a few things that can be accomplished from a club perspective…as well as the individual things….”
On Valeri training along side him while completing his own recovery:
“…I don’t think you can lump Diego into a category of just, hey you’re doing rehab with X teammate, because he’s special….
For you to have a teammate and a special guy like that put his arm around you at times and help that recovery process is good because…there were days when you just feel like the world’s ending ‘cause you’re just not having a good day.
Your leg’s not better and you think, “Am I ever going to play again?” and a guy like Diego comes over and…he puts his arm around you and makes it manageable for that day so you can get the work done and come back tomorrow and put in a better day.
He’s been great and I can’t wait to get back on the field with him. It’ll be fun.”
On how difficult it is to just be a spectator and to not play:
“There’s a reason I’m not playing. It’s because I’m not at a high enough level to help…. What’s worse than that is going out on the field and hurting your team – putting me out there with one leg and making a play that loses the team the game. There’s a reason that I’m not going to play. When you think of it from kind of a cerebral perspective, you take a step back. You kind of realize it’s not that bad and then you just do what you can do.
You embrace it and you put on your pompoms and support the guys. You get your cheerleader outfit and really try to rally the troops and do what you can because getting down and negative and missing a big game like that is part of it. It happens to all big players – suspensions, injuries, all over the world and there’s no point in crying about it so you just wish the guy’s good luck.”
Valeri speaks about rehabbing alongside Johnson
After Johnson left, Valeri remained to answer some questions of his own:
On whether he will be playing this weekend against Seattle:
“No, the goal is to be ready for the Vancouver game – a few minutes – so we will see during this week how I feel. We’ll see but hopefully next week I’ll be ready. In normal training I’m not thinking of the injury, the knee, nothing. You have to get fun now because it’s the best part of your rehabbing.”
Regarding rehabbing alongside Johnson and what he hopes to bring to the team:
“We help each other because we had a long rehab – four or five months training together. It’s the worst thing for a professional player – injuries – so I appreciate Will because we train five months and that’s not easy.
You always need a hand on your side to help you and the trainers were important too. I’m trying to get healthy and my goal is to help the team, to try to give to the team some fresh energy and to try to be a little bit clear in the last part of the field – the final third.”
