Gaston Fernandez Leaves Portland As A Missed Opportunity

Gaston Fernandez is gone. Mutual consent. He's headed back to Argentina, and the best guess here is that he took one look at Fanendo Adi, Maxi Urruti, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Valeri, Rodney Wallace, Dairon Asprilla, and the straw that broke the camel's back, Lucas Melano, and said get me the hell out of here.

Fernandez didn't travel with the Timbers to San Jose last weekend. On Monday morning, rumors broke that La Gata was rejoining the club he's most synonymous with — Estudiantes in Argentina. By Monday afternoon, his departure from Portland was official.

Mutual consent, indeed. The Timbers ran out of room for attacking talent, and Fernandez had played enough with the second team to know that it was time to move on.

It's funny. Before Sunday, Fernandez had missed out on a match-day roster one other time this year: An away match against Montreal in early May that came just after Fernandez's attitude and effort in a reserve match with Timbers 2 drew heavy fire from fans and journalists alike.

Had Fernandez left then, no one would have batted an eyelash much less shed a tear. At that point in the season, the mercurial little Argentine had zero starts, zero goals, and zero assists. He was penciled in as Diego Valeri's replacement in the offseason while Valeri recovered from injury, but he couldn't even make it through preseason with his place in the first team intact. After he didn't travel to Montreal, everyone figured Fernandez was out.

But he wasn't — at least, not yet. And when the Timbers returned home after that long May road-trip, it was Fernandez who took a little luck and a little faith and keyed the unlikely resurgence that has Portland as a near-playoff lock as this season winds down.

Fernandez only got six starts this year. The Timbers won five of 'em. If you're scoring at home, that means that Portland has won more games with Fernandez in the starting lineup this year than without him. As important as Will Johnson's return was during that magical month of June, Fernandez's presence was invaluable.

Fernandez's inspired play wasn't exactly sudden. It had been there all along.

La Gata was a hard guy to read. A cool customer, certainly. Heady. Fernandez never lacked for confidence, and on the field there was always a streak of petulance too — a desire to be the center of attention in a way he never was in Portland.

As a player, Fernandez was obviously severely limited. When you're listed at 5'8, 160 pounds, and can't beat anyone on the dribble, you're either Diego Chara or you're a lightweight. That's what Fernandez was. Something of a luxury player. But when he was on, he was unique for the Timbers — a master the space around him, assured, wily, and swift on the ball.

He made people better. Perhaps if he had a running partner better than Urruti, that would have been more clear. For all the chemistry Fernandez had with Urruti, he had plenty more with Diego Valeri — and he also looked good as a second forward playing off Fanendo Adi.

Fernandez set up the winner in the match that turned the season around against DC United. He then scored against Colorado, scored against Houston, and by the time Seattle came to town, he was rolling. That match was the only time the Timbers have looked great on offense all year. The front four were Darlington Nagbe, Valeri, Fernandez, and Adi.

It would be La Gata's last MLS start, and the only time that lineup ever played together.

Fernandez didn't exactly bleed for the shirt, a la Futty Danso. When he signed on in Portland, he was sold an offense that he'd be at the center of. Things went wrong immediately. Fernandez was a part of, but certainly also victimized by, the no yards because we fell over attack that sputtered so miserably at the beginning of last season. After that spring, he wouldn't start consistently again for over a year.

Nothing about Fernandez's stature or game screamed impact sub, but that's how Caleb Porter ended up frequently using him. Fernandez had the second most substitute appearances in MLS since the start of last year. It was a bad fit. He wanted to be the man. Perhaps, if June was any indicator, he should have been. Whatever the case, too often he wasn't put in a position to succeed. Fernandez was too good for the role the Timbers had him in, and he had a way of letting you know that he knew it too.

The Timbers have hitched their hopes this season to Melano — for a ton of money — and Fernandez had every right to want to walk. He's a competitor — for himself first and foremost, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You could see that much in how he hated being subbed, or how badly he wanted to take penalties.

This is a great move for La Gata. His value was always much higher in his home country than his adopted one. Kudos to the Timbers for letting him walk with no transfer fee waiting, too. The club will get some financial relief with Fernandez's contract, but it's highly doubtful that it will fill his roster spot with someone who can produce this season.

I love that Fernandez's best game in a green and gold shirt came against Seattle at Providence Park. I love that he proved himself just as the club prepared to discard him too — a little wink on the way out, if you will, from a player who was nothing if not clever.

It took smarts to appreciate Fernandez's game, and it took smarts to get the most out of it. Could Fernandez have done more? Tough to say. He was dealt a pretty bad hand. All told, the 2014 offseason was a disaster that set the club back considerably.

Here's wishing Fernandez, who no one ever had a problem with off the field, well on his return home. Maybe Melano makes us forget all about La Gata soon enough. Maybe not. In any case, Fernandez goes down as a tantalizing case of what could have been — and after a year and a half, the player himself wasn't prepared to stick around any longer to find out.