BEAVERTON, Ore. — When Lucas Melano collected the ball at the top of the Timbers penalty area and dribbled full speed to the top of the Seattle penalty area to set up Fanendo Adi’s clinching goal on July 17, fans of the Portland Timbers got a clear picture of what head coach Caleb Porter and president Gavin Wilkinson saw when they scouted the Argentine speedster.
“He’s in a good spot right now. He’s confident. You’re seeing him run with the ball, which you didn’t see as much as we would have liked early on, and that’s what we saw on film,” Porter said.