The Timbers came in hot, smashing the Colorado Rapids 4-0.
Coming off a last minute win over Club León, the Timbers were back at Providence Park and needed at least a draw against the Rapids to clinch as spot in the Leagues Cup knockouts.
Head coach Phil Neville opted to rotate his lineup with five different starters: Juan David Mosquera, Miguel Araujo, Claudio Bravo, David Ayala, and Cristhian Paredes.
Temperatures in Portland rose up to 100 degrees on the day, and it was 92 degrees at kickoff. The toasty conditions would make for an interesting matchup—especially on artificial turf.
Maxime Crépeau
Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau’s performance against Colorado gave us a lot to talk about.
Crépeau was absolutely incredible, showing his great reflexes—and saving Portland multiple times in the process. He ready the second he stepped on the field, showing his concentration in the first couple minutes and not letting the Rapids take him by surprise, even if they did just that to the rest of Portland’s defense.
Look at those couple of saves. The defense was cooked, and Colorado’s Omir Fernandez and Rafael Navarro shot at point-blank range. Most keepers would have let the ball in, but not Crépeau. You could tell by his performance that he wanted that clean sheet so badly, and in the end, he got it. He showed why he is Portland’s No. 1—even though James Pantemis did great during Crépeau’s absence.
No wonder his coach only had words of praise for him. “Max is a leader,” Neville said. “He is a character. He’s got a big personality. He’s a big game player, and he knows what to win. He’s just driving everyone on every day.”
Is Portland a good team now?
Back in the beginning of May, that question would have made the entire North End laugh but now… Portland has only registered one loss in their last 10 games. That was an unthinkable record some months ago.
A lot of credit goes to Neville. The coach arrived in Portland with a lot of criticism surrounding him, and although those negative comments were justified, he put his head down and got to work to bring the Timbers some of their former glory.
Neville has been making the right signings and giving the youngsters the confidence and time they need to be game-ready. One of those people is David Ayala. The 22-year-old has cemented his starting position little-by-little this year, and as we have seen, he can become that player for the Timbers.
The Argentine not only is becoming a pivotal player in the midfield; his fierceness is contagious. After battling with injuries here and there, Ayala got his reward against Colorado when he scored his first professional goal. He still has big shoes to fill, but he’s on his way to get where Diego Chará is someday.
Just like Neville said, it was good to see players other than Evander, Jonathan Rodríguez, and Felipe Mora on the score sheet. Sure, you have to give part of the credit to the Rapids’ defense. That backline looked like the Timbers’ from not very long ago. But we don’t want to take anything away from Mason Toye and Santiago Moreno.
Toye showed well, especially for a player who was traded to the team in the middle of the season. Moving his entire life from one place to another requires more than just developing chemistry with his new teammates, but also basic things, such as finding a proper place to live. He’s adapting, and at the same time he’s impacting the game on the field. That speaks volumes about Toye and the Timbers scouting department.
It is also important to highlight the work rate Antony put in during his short time on the field. He kept that right flank permeable and helped to force some turnovers along with Mosquera. It’s unfortunate he had to be subbed out in the 38th minute, but hopefully he’ll be back for the next match.
Despite the individual names, it will be important for all the Timbers to go day by day. More than half of the season is over, but they still have games to play. Every point will be hard to earn but also very important.
The growth the Timbers have shown under Neville is important, and hopefully, they have left that terrible version of themselves behind. Coming into this final part of the season, it is important to remember that, as the coach said, “Football is more than just systems and tactics.” In Neville’s words, it’s about “building a culture, about building a winning culture.”
Portland has always been all about the culture, and it’s good to see that they’re getting that back, little-by-little. This team has always had that special something, even if it got lost a little in the past few years. Now, fans can see that they’re getting that back step by step. “I think we are building something really good,” Neville said, “and we’ve still got a long way to go in this competition.”
Portland is not among the top five teams in the MLS’s Western Conference yet, but they’re in the playoff position, and their game has significantly improved.
So far, so good.
