Vancouver Whitecaps manager Martin Rennie has said that he is likely to make some changes to the midfield of the team after suffering two consecutive defeats. The team comes into the match against Portland Timbers during the weekend after having suffered defeats against LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union in the last two encounters. As a result, they are in danger of falling out of the top five if they suffered yet another defeat against Portland Timbers. Jun Marques Davidson was one of the highly criticised players after the defeat against Philadelphia.

The defensive midfielder was not very influential in the match, while he also had an incident involving the opposition player, Daniel. Gershon Koffie has been one of the inconsistent players in the team and he will be absent for a match due to suspension. His handball in the match was deemed as intentional, which led to a yellow card from the referee. He has now accumulated a stipulated numbers of yellow cards that will automatically bring in a one match suspension for the player. Rennie has said that he has some idea of who will be partnering former Bolton midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker in the centre of the park.

Vancouver have scored only three goals from midfield this season.

“It’s going to be a challenge . . . but these opportunities come and it’s time for players, whoever gets the opportunity, to show that you deserve to be in the starting lineup and show that you want that shirt,” said the manager. “We’ve lost two in a row now and we need a game like that that’s going to be full of passion, a good derby game for us to bounce back and get back to our winning ways hopefully. That’s the best game that could come and happen for us right now in this situation,” said Reo-Coker.

FC Dallas have made a good start to the season and this is especially due to the form of a couple of players. Manager Schellas Hyndman has said that defender Walker Zimmerman has been one of them. The rookie centre back has been playing for Dallas only since the start of the season. He has found himself on the scoresheet twice already in the last two matches. His goals and defending have been key towards Dallas making their way close to the top of the table. The team is just three points behind Real Salt Lake in their end of the conference table.

However, Zimmerman has also made mistakes since the start of the season. His high-profile one came in the 4-3 defeat at the hands of Portland Timbers. He made a very poor back pass that led to the winner, but overall Hyndman is happy with his player. Hyndman has said that there are several great qualities to the 20-year-old, who was made the top pick for FC Dallas in the recent MLS Super Draft. Zimmerman scored a goal against Philadelphia union, which may seem like a normal header, but it is a difficult technique to execute according to according to the manager.

He is expecting more from his talent in the rest of the season.

“He’s scored two goals in a very short period of time. He came in injured [after the draft]. He’s a good athlete. He’s a great person. He works extremely hard. I think he’s a great complement to FC Dallas and I think we’re getting a lot out of him. We still haven’t seen his best. That goal that he scored against Philadelphia, that was not an easy header because he was going in one direction and had to pull his body back to get on the ball,” Hyndman said.