Author: Melina Gaspar

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Seattle Sounders 1, Portland Timbers 1

Photo by Kris Lattimore.

The Portland Timbers drew in enemy territory Saturday and are the kings of the Cascadia Cup! What’s more, they get to host a playoff game!

The XI

It was surprising to see head coach Phil Neville put James Pantemis in goal for Decision Day instead of Maxime Crépeau. Kamal Miller was suspended due to yellow card accumulation, hence we saw the debut of Finn Surman.

Santiago Moreno was out due to injury, while David Ayala was on the bench.

Although this was an important game behind enemy lines, the Timbers had the odds in their favor; Seattle hadn’t won against their rivals at home since May 2017. 

Foreshadowing much? Image: Timbers FC

Encouraged by their fans at home and by what was at stake, Seattle took the driver’s seat. But in the first 15 minutes, the Timbers were defending well. As you can see in the video below, they were applying a high press, to force the Sounders to play the ball back.

However, the home team started to tip the scales in their favor, and Portland had to hold on. Dropping back  gave some of the players such as Surman the opportunity to make some amazing defensive actions.

Despite the defensive efforts, the Sounders were getting closer and closer to opening their tab. Portland endured 20 minutes under siege (as you can see in the excitement index below), which ended only after the hosts found the opening goal they were looking for. They did so through a set piece, which wasn’t a surprise, since Seattle has found the back of the net 13 times in that way this year.

Excitement index. Source: aiscore

A corner on the left, while nobody was marking Yéimar Gómez, was the recipe for disaster. The Seattle centerback only had to take two steps back to connect with the ball and score with his head.

The second half was another kind of game

Although the Timbers started the second half in a better way, their midfield started to disappear little-by-little. That’s why after the hour mark, Neville made the first substitutions for Portland. Diego Chará and Cristhian Paredes went out, while Ayala and Eryk Williamson were subbed in.

After that, Portland found it  easier to disrupt Seattle’s play, but they still couldn’t gain enough control. However, not even 10 minutes after the subs came in, the Timbers found the equalizer.

Up until then, Jonathan Rodríguez hadn’t been able to impact the game much. But in the 68th minute, Williamson made a tackle. Then the Uruguayan recovered the ball and passed it immediately to Evander, who, in turn, sent it to Antony. Antony put his ability to drive past defenders into action to find the back of the net.

The goal was a bad omen for the home team, who had a player sent off literally one minute after Portland scored. Added to that, Albert Rusnák saw a yellow for dissent.

Of course, with Seattle being down to 10 men, the Timbers felt more at ease and started to create more chances. Nonetheless, their expected goals for this match was low (only 0.6). Good thing they could beat that stat once again, huh?

Evander

The Brazilian couldn’t do much in the first half. As we can see in the graphic below, most of his touches were in the middle of the park, not close enough to a place where he could hurt Seattle.

Evander’s first half touches and distribution maps. Source: Opta

His distribution map from the first half shows most of his passes directed toward the back line, and the rest of them were horizontal. Through passes and key passes to advance the ball were pretty much nonexistent. The few Evander attempted weren’t successful.

The second half was different, since the midfielder could get closer to Seattle’s box and be more dangerous. He was credited the assist for Antony’s goal, and with that, he reached 15 assists this season. (He’s now second in MLS in assists after Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, who has 16.

Evander’s second half touches and distribution maps. Source: Opta.
Final thoughts

The Timbers’ stats are not the best. Just seeing they had two shots on target says a lot, but props to them. They did what they had to do to claim the Cascadia Cup, and for this reason, the draw feels like a win. The draw tastes even sweeter because Seattle thought for some minutes that they could take it away from their rivals’ hands, but Portland’s designated players showed up when needed and helped to get the result.

And not only the designated players but the whole team. This result was indeed a team effort, and a valiant one, from the Timbers. The effort is important, but so is the fact that they’re honest and know their limitations and strengths.

“I feel like we don’t deserve a home game, to be honest,” centerback Dario Župarić said after the game. “There were a lot of times when we didn’t play as a team that deserved playoffs, but in the end, we have points. We deserve that. Now is the time to bring something more because I think we could be much better. We didn’t play as we know we could play.”

Besides that, this team has lady luck on their side. And now they’re hosting the wild card game today, due to a conflicting event at BC Place. Since there are no other venues available in the Vancouver market, fans will head to Providence Park to see if this team can pull another result.

This will be a single-elimination game, and the winner advances to a best-of-three series against top-seeded Los Angeles FC.

Do not miss the action. The match starts at 7:30 p.m. PT.

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Vancouver Whitecaps 1, Portland Timbers 1

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

With the Cascadia Cup at stake, the Portland Timbers drew with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. Jonathan Rodríguez was the lone goalscorer for the visitors.

The lineup

Portland’s most noticeable absence was. of course, Evander, who missed the match due to yellow card accumulation.

Dario Župarić started in the centerback position along with Miguel Araujo, while Claudio Bravo was benched. Kamal Miller started on the left, with Juan David Mosquera in the right-back position. In the midfield, David Ayala wasn’t available, and Eryk Williamson was benched so, coach Phil Neville decided to start Cristhian Paredes and Diego Chará. Antony, Rodríguez, and Felipe Mora were the attackers, with the Brazilian going through the right and the Uruguayan on the left.

The Timbers vs Vancouver lineup
Image: Portland Timbers

Maybe the greatest challenge for the Timbers in this game was to see if they could create magical moments and get a good result without their most valuable player.

The expected goals

In the game against Real Salt Lake, the Timbers overperformed and beat their expected goal probability. In this match? Not so much. Even though they had more shots (11 to Vancouver’s nine) and shots on target (four to the Whitecaps’ three), it was Vancouver who had a better probability of scoring (0.51 Timbers to 0.98 for Vancouver).

The Timbers actually were lucky to have drawn a point away from home. Rodríguez’s first goal was disallowed due to offside, and two different Vancouver players barely missed their shots when they hit the post.

Portland had a hard time creating looks without their playmaker Evander. In the absence of the Brazilian, Santiago Moreno assumed some of Evander’s responsibilities, but Moreno is simply not an MLS MVP candidate. However, he was able to do enough to help his side rescue a point.

The goal and the protagonists

Vancouver infringed some damage, with Sebastian Berhalter sending crosses from the Timbers’ left side. That’s how their goal came. It’s never good to see Portland concede first, but the scenario was made worse by the fact that they did so only three minutes into the match. It is as if Portland went back to catch those bad habits they left at the beginning of the season, and they can’t shake them off now. Well, you know what they say: “Old habits die hard.”

Portland hit the snooze button when the referee blew the first whistle of this game and stayed like that for the first 20 minutes, until they finally decided to start playing. Up until then, what they showed was a very poor performance.

After a subpar opening, the dynamic changed. The two balls Moreno put up for Rodríguez were superb. Too bad the Uruguayan was offside in the first goal; a cross from the right all the way to the far post and a one-touch finish would’ve made for a great goal.

The forward didn’t agree with the offside call, but he didn’t have much time to lament because only one minute later, Moreno sent another great pass to him—this time from the middle of the park—and Rodríguez was able to put it past the goalkeeper.

Getting the equalizer before halftime was important. Despite not  being the goal scorer, Araujo also did excellent carrying that ball to the middle of the park, showing his dribbling skills in the process.

However, there was another player who did a lot for this team in the first half: Mosquera. The defender was everywhere, intercepting balls, adding himself to the attack, sending dangerous crosses, creating chances. He ran out of gas in the second half, but the man showed up when needed.

Of course, Paredes also put out a well-rounded performance. During the last couple of months, he has taken a more secondary part in this squad, but the midfielder put on a great shift when he was given the opportunity.

If you look at the graphic below, you can see some of Paredes’ individual game actions. Green triangles are tackles won, recoveries are in blue. Duels are represented with green diamonds.

Paredes' individual actions
Paredes’ individual actions. Source: Opta.

Paredes was also good in the passing accuracy department, connecting 88.1% of his passes. Only Chará did better with 95%.

Paredes' distribution. Source: Opta.
Paredes’ distribution. Source: Opta.
Cascadia Cup

In this game, not only was securing a playoff spot was on the line but also the Cascadia Cup. Portland didn’t do themselves a favor by getting a draw against Vancouver, but what are you going to do, right?

The good thing is that if the Seattle Sounders beat Vancouver by at least one goal, Portland will still have their destiny in their own hands when they meet Seattle in the last game of the season.

That Oct. 19 matchup will undoubtedly be a day to remember—and an exciting one. Hopefully, the Timbers will have secured their playoff spot by then. Right now they’re on the verge of dropping out of playoffs altogether if they continue losing points. The good thing is their next two games—against Austin and FC Dallas— are winnable; the bad thing is Portland should’ve also won against Vancouver.

The difference? These next matches are going to be played at home.

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 1, Colorado Rapids 2

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

The Portland Timbers couldn’t get the win on the road Saturday.

Inconsistency

With only six games to go, the Timbers haven’t been able to find consistency in this final part of the season. In their last five matches, Portland had a big win against Real Salt Lake, then a loss against LA Galaxy, then a fun draw against St. Louis with lots of goals, the win in the Cascadia Rivalry game, and now this loss against Colorado.

What is head-scratching about this result is that the Timbers recently trashed the Rapids in the Leagues Cup. It was a 4-0 win that showed the team’s scoring prowess. Antony, David Ayala, Mason Toye, and Santiago Moreno, all put the ball in the back of the net that day. True, the Rapids’ started a different XI than they had in the League’s Cup, but Portland’s didn’t change so much.

So, what happened? Let’s take a look.

A defensive and offensive problem

It’s interesting how Portland is third in MLS in goals scored with 56 (the Galaxy has 57 and Inter Miami 65), but we’re still talking about how the team are wasting good chances. The most obvious example was the opportunity Antony wasted near the end of the first half. In the 43rd minute, Antony went one-vs-one with the goalkeeper, but he took too much time to make up his mind about when to shoot and ended up wasting one of the biggest chances the Timbers had in the entire first half to put the score in their favor.

Going off the team’s expected goals, they should’ve scored at least one more goal and should’ve prevented the Rapids from scoring the winning goal. Portland had 2.12 expected goals, while Colorado had 1.3.

How do we explain this result, then? The graphic below gives us a clue:

Graphic source: MLS Statistics and Analysis

According to the MLS Statistics and Analysis Twitter account, this graphic shows which teams’ defenses limit their opponents’ chances and those who fail to prevent good chances. The first of these are in the bottom left, and the latter group is in the top right.

The Timbers are in neither of those quadrants, but they’re dangerously close to the top right, which goes hand-in-hand with their latest result against Colorado.

Not through the middle

Colorado did well preventing the Timbers from sending passes into the box from the middle, so Portland had no choice but to do it from the wings.

In the video below, Evander is carrying the ball after a Colorado turnover near their box. The home team did well to organize the defense quickly and deny the playmaker the opportunity to pass the ball through the middle, making him go sideways. (Because he’s Evander, he was able to find a shot on target. However, the goalkeeper stopped it.)

Colorado is keeping the marks tight in the image below, with both man-to-man and zonal marking. No doubt, they were very disciplined.

Caption: MLS/ Apple TV

In the graphics below you can see that the events of the above clip happened during the entire match. The Rapids let the Timbers pass the ball from the middle to the sides, and never to the box.

Graphic source: MLS Statistics and Analysis
Antony and Moreno, you have a problem

We’ve already gone over how the Brazilian winger missed a great opportunity at the end of the first half. However, there was another big chance he missed at the beginning of the second half.

Santiago Moreno and Evander were carrying the ball on the right wing while Antony was going through the middle. Then, Evander put the ball on a platter for his fellow countryman. Antony only needed to redirect it, but he couldn’t do it and missed the biggest chance in the entire match. He had more looks, but the outcome was the same.

Source: Opta

Moreno, on the other hand, uploaded a video to his personal TikTok account on gameday that created a big feeling of discomfort among the fans.

In the video, Moreno was celebrating a Brazilian club’s interest in him. We know that players have hopes and dreams of playing for their dream club someday, and who knows? Maybe Moreno’s dream is to play in Brazil, and we shouldn’t have a problem with that.

However, the video left a terrible taste in the mouths of many, many fans. The fact that he posted that video on a game day, as a prominent player on the team and knowing his team is battling to secure a playoff spot, shows no class at all. It’s understandable if fans are pissed at him. On the other hand, Moreno had a good game, even though maybe Portland is not the place he wants to be anymore.

What’s next

After the international break, the Timbers’ week got shortened. They’re playing LA Galaxy on Wednesday night. That’s going to be a huge home game against the top team in the conference. Hopefully, Ricky Puig won’t have Portland’s number this time and the defense can keep him and the rest of the team at bay.

Last but not least, a big shout-out to David Ayala, who scored his first MLS goal and always shows up for the team. Let’s hope he can be one of the Timbers who will make the difference on Wednesday.

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Soccer Timbers

Leagues Cup Takeaways: Portland Timbers 4, Colorado Rapids 0

Photo: Kris Lattimore
Photo: Kris Lattimore

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.

Crépeau, Mosquera, Araujo, K. Miller, Bravo, Ayala, Paredes, Antony, Evander (C), Rodríguez, Mora Subs: Muse, Pantemis, Mabiala, McGraw, E. Miller, Zuparic, Chara, Williamson, Loría, Moreno, Fogaça, Toye

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.

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, LA Galaxy 3

Photo Taken By The Matthew Wolfe

The Portland Timbers did more than a decent job Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the LA Galaxy at home. They ended up losing 3-2.

It was definitely a fun game. Portland faced off against the leader in the Western Conference, and they played a great first half, where they looked very dangerous but couldn’t find a way to finish the looks they created.

DP stuff

Riqui Puig might not be one of the fans’ favorite players in MLS, but the guy can ball. He proved so against the Timbers. He was LA’s engine in the midfield, the one distributing passes here and there, and his through balls were great. The way Puig uses his body is very smart; he knows he’s not the biggest guy in town and takes advantage of that. After one or two tricky touches on the ball, he tried to squeeze himself into little gaps between defenders to keep progressing the ball or to win fouls. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, but in the end, it helped LA keep possession. He was always connected to the game, which surprised Portland at the beginning of the second half when Puig beat James Pantemis with a low shot.

Gabriel Pec also had a great game, putting Claudio Bravo to work during the entire time the left-back was on the field. In the end, Pec was just having fun and helped his team to guard the margin lead to secure the three points at home. 

Source: MLS/ Apple TV
Source: MLS/ Apple TV

But enough talking about the opposition. What about Jonathan Rodríguez and Evander? 

Well, Rodríguez showed once more that he’s comfortable on the left wing.

Jonathan Rodríguez's heatmap. Image: Opta
Jonathan Rodríguez’s heatmap. Image: Opta

He was best when he remained wide open on that wing, receiving the ball, interchanging positions with Bravo or Santiago Moreno, and getting into the half-space.

He didn’t need much space to get a shot, as the first part of the video above shows. He could take a shot even with a defender inches in front of him and two more behind that one.

So, when given as much space as he was in the 52nd minute, it’s not surprising that he scored especially given Rodríguez’s great form as of late.

In the case of Evander, he didn’t have the best of first halves. He did have some good chances in the first half—and some others in the second that he couldn’t put away, but the midfielder still looked more alive in the second half. It wasn’t the best of his matches for sure, and that’d have been okay if he wasn’t playing against the Galaxy. However, in games like this, when the team in front is at the top of the table, everyone needs to bring it during the entire game, especially the DPs.

Santiago Moreno

Santiago Moreno’s season has been full of ups and downs. Against the Galaxy, however, he looked great. Not only did he prove he can be a perfect army of one when needed with that great goal, but he also showed that he could play comfortably the team can use him.

Santiago Moreno's heatmap. Source: Opta.
Santiago Moreno’s heatmap. Source: Opta.

Moreno’s incredible goal gave Portland life and drove them to search for the equalizer until the final whistle. His tally—with an expected goal chance of only 5.76%—happened with him recovering the ball in the midfield and going from there to the Galaxy’s box. 

We already spoke about how Rodríguez was at his best when staying wide. In this goal, Rodríguez went to the left and took two defenders with him while Evander served as a decoy inside the box. Having only one defender in front of him, Moreno knew he could bury that ball, and he did.

His goal was important not only for the individual effort but also because it gave Portland life and put them back into the game, helping the team fight until the end.

Not good enough

The Timbers should’ve taken at least a point out of this match. Both teams recorded 16 shots, but the Galaxy had two more on frame than Portland, with six to the Timbers’ four. Despite the stats, Portland should’ve been better in possession in the final third and more careful when passing the ball.

As you can see in the video below, the Timbers were good at trying to create passing networks and find spaces, but then they would just give the ball away to the opponent. Sometimes, they made it too easy for the LA defense.

Portland is showing a good quality of soccer, but they’re not just where the Galaxy is: playing no-look passes or playing by memory, thinking a teammate will be there just because he should.

They also need to be more clinical or make better decisions when other teams do the kind of giveaways like the Galaxy did below:

We know these kinds of teams don’t usually make these mistakes, but when they do, the opponents need to make a profit out of them. That’s what the Timbers didn’t do, and the Galaxy made them pay for it.

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

Photo.: Matthew Wolfe
Photo.: Matthew Wolfe

The Portland Timbers got a win at PayPal Park on Wednesday.

Five unbeaten matches. With the win away from home against the team at the bottom of the table, Portland is on a good streak again.

Not much went on

Although a win is a win no matter who the opponent might be, we can question how Portland got those three points. They didn’t show much teeth against the weakest team in the Western Conference.

Striker Felipe Mora is still going through a goal-scoring drought, but he wasn’t the only one who had a bland performance on the offensive side of things.

“It was a good win, but the performance was nowhere near the levels that we expect,” Timbers head coach Phil Neville said. “I’m disappointed in that. Maybe it was the ten days off and coming to San Jose against a team that the boys probably expected us to win easily. It wasn’t like that, and I thought we didn’t create much in the game.”

It was good that the players got time to relax a little bit—the season has been far from easy for them—but there’s always the danger of them forgetting how to play soccer after a much-needed break.

When we look at the stats, we can see that both teams tried a lot, but neither could put the ball on frame as much as they wanted. Portland forgot how to press, and therefore, they lacked intensity. Maybe that changed a little in the second half, but their play was far from the expected performance against a team they had beaten easily last May. It is always pointless to think about the ‘what ifs,’ but if San Jose goalkeeper Jacob Jackson hadn’t made the mistake that led to the Timbers’ first goal, maybe the spoils would’ve been divided at the end of the match.

“I only saw one or two movements that we have been working for and only one or two patterns of play that I thought were exciting,” Neville said of the second half. “Apart from that, we need a big improvement on Saturday.”

Evander’s world and the MVP run

After the game, the coach praised the work the Timbers’ designated players did, and rightly so. “The two DP’s [Evander and Jonathan Rodríguez] won us the game” Neville said, “which was nice, but I hope that was that kind of performance out of the way.”

However, we cannot help but think that this showed Evander carrying the team on his back all over again. He was involved in both goals, and the way he created them is worthy of a standing ovation.

In Portland’s first, Evander didn’t give up pressing the defender high and then chasing the ball when it was passed back to the goalkeeper. He was the only Timber pressing that high, and he got rewarded for it.

Source: MLS
Source: MLS

The way he put that ball for Jonathan Rodríguez for the second goal… the precision of that aerial ball to Rodríguez’s head was top notch.

Source: MLS
Source: MLS

From the capture above, we can see the Brazilian looking at his passing options. One second is all he needed to see Uruguayan raising his hand inside the box and make the assist. The play looked effortless, which shows the level of Evander’s skills.

So, while names of the likes of Lionel Messi, Christian Benteke, Cristian Arango, Luis Suárez and Luciano Acosta are mentioned among those who are being considered for MLS’s MVP award this year, I think the league would make a huge mistake by leaving Evander out. True, he is not playing in a top team, but that is also important because he is doing wonders in a team that pretty recently was struggling to not fall to the bottom of the table.

Look at his numbers compared to the aforementioned mentioned players. He totally belongs there.

Source: Opta.
Source: Opta.
David Ayala, please don’t stop being so awesome

Midfielder David Ayala keeps showing game after game that he can become one of the most important players for the Timbers this year. Since he came back, he hasn’t stopped impressing with his game vision, tenacity, and precision.

Look how quickly he sees and sends a pass to Mora that sets Mora up to shoot. Ayala’s runs are also good, recognizing the space available to receive the ball and shoot.

Ayala not only contributed to the match with quick passes to move the ball forward; he showed strongly on the defensive end of things, recovering balls in critical zones. As seen in the clip above, he helped to make a recovery in the midfield—but the chart below shows where else he made three of his six recoveries.

Source: Opta
Source: Opta

Those three triangles are in zone 14—the central zone in front of the opposition’s penalty area, which one of the most dangerous zones in soccer because it can provide a team with a lot of attacking potential. And that’s exactly where Ayala made half of his recoveries. He was also first on the team—along with Diego Chará and Santiago Moreno—in tackles with four.

The Timbers won, and Ayala was a big contributor to this win. And even though the overall team performance wasn’t convincing, they got the three points. Still, they’re going to need more todaywhen they face Vancouver.

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 0, St. Louis 0

Credit: Matthew Wolfe
Credit: Matthew Wolfe

After the 2-2 draw against Houston, the Timbers traveled to Citypark Stadium to play St. Louis. There, they got another draw, but this time it was scoreless.

Some changes in the lineup

Timbers head coach Phil Neville couldn’t have either Kamal Miller or Miguel Araujo on his gameday roster due to international duties. Therefore, Zac McGraw and Dario Župarić started at centerback.

“Knowing that Kamal and Miguel were leaving for their respective tournaments, I knew that it was time for me to step up and be the consistent defensive contributor that I was last year,” said McGraw after the game. “I know certain areas of the pitch and when I can step, because I know [Župarić]’s always going to be behind me and covering me. He does that very well. I know in certain situations, that’s how Dario plays, and with his experience, he’s going to be there at all times.”

Neville also praised the defense postgame: “Zac coming back in was outstanding, and [Župarić] has probably been our most consistent player since coming back in. He had to suffer. He has been out of the team… he had a little bit of a knock today. I thought he was colossus at the back.”

Another noticeable absence was Dairon Asprilla, who’s rumored to be linked to Colombian club Atlético Nacional and might have donned the Portland shirt for the last time against Houston.

If we speak about the attack, last week’s hero, Nathan Fogaça, got the start up top after scoring the equalizer against Houston instead of Felipe Mora, who’s going through a scoring drought.

Defensive mistakes

Although Neville praised his defense—and rightly so, as they collected their second clean sheet of the season—the Timbers made two terrible mistakes that could’ve cost them the game in the first half. It’s as if the team can’t shake them for some reason.

In the 12th minute, Evander made a sloppy pass and gave João Klauss the opportunity to score. For the Timbers’ fortune, the forward was offside, but that certainly was a warning sign.

Credit: MLS/ Apple TV
Credit: MLS/ Apple TV

Half an hour into the match, St. Louis was waiting for the space to open. David Ayala stepped forward to try to get the ball back, and Klauss’ movement opened up the space needed for him to be the receiving end of a through pass. Goalkeeper James Pantemis couldn’t stop him, but McGraw saved it before it was too late.

Credit: MLS / Apple TV
Credit: MLS / Apple TV

To be fair, it was a very smart movement by Klauss.

We have to give a special mention to Župarić, who more than once helped to clean up his teammates’ defensive mistakes.

Not much in the attacking department

The Timbers finished the first half with a very bland performance in the attack, having only shot four times and twice on target. The team started the match with a promising opportunity off the feet of Jonathan Rodríguez, but his shot got saved.

Credit: MLS/ Apple TV
Credit: MLS/ Apple TV

Watching the gif above, maybe Rodríguez should’ve gone for the pass instead of the shot—he had Santiago Moreno and Fogaça as passing options, and Antony was unmarked at the top of the six-yard box—but we can’t blame him for trying. Also, it is good that the Timbers arrived with numbers to the opponent’s box.

Which was totally different in this promising attack. Weirdly, no Timber outside the box made a run to join Fogaça and Rodríguez to get to the end of the cross shown in the video below.

Things like this might have been the reason behind why the Timbers finished with only two shots on frame, seven total.

Honorary mentions

David Ayala had another great game, contributing to recovering balls in important moments, as we can see below. One of the youngest players in the team is doing pretty well, and we could not be more happy for him after his injury.

It’s worth giving another special mention to Rodríguez, who led in the defensive duels department with nine won—six aerial—and only one lost.

Source: Opta
Source: Opta
Categories
Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 1, Minnesota United 2

Photo: Kris Lattimore
Photo: Kris Lattimore

A new loss hit Portland. Although the Portland Timbers scored first, Minnesota United turned the tables in the second half.

It was encouraging to see the Timbers going into halftime winning. The feeling that they were going to concede just before the end of the first 45’ was looming in the air, but they held on.

Individual mistakes

For the umpteenth time, the team wasted clear opportunities to extend the lead. And again, they made individual defensive errors that cost them the match.

Granted, this was their third game in the span of one week, but after the win against San Jose, this was a major setback.

“We have been massively, massively let down by individual errors defensively,” said head coach Phil Neville after the game.

The Timbers’ defensive errors were noticeable even before they opened the counter. After beating Miguel Araujo with a nutmeg, the defense couldn’t stop a diagonal back pass from Joseph Rosales, and nobody was marking Teemu Pukki, who was standing inside the box. Hence, the shot (although it was off-frame).

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

To add more, the Timbers had to be grateful VAR didn’t grant a clear penalty against them after Kamal Miller fouled Bongokuhle Hlongwane.

Even though Minnesota was pushing the Timbers against their own goal and generating chances, the visitors scored first. Dario Župarić saw Felipe Mora and Jonathan Rodríguez among the host’s backline and tried to pass the ball to the gap Minnesota left in the middle (as you can appreciate in the capture below).

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

The pass was blocked, but David Ayala was around, and he rushed to recover that ball and finish the job. He got there before any ‘loon’ and sent a through pass to Rodríguez, who finished with a diagonal shot.

Three goals in two games? Not too shabby for the Uruguayan.

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

When half an hour passed, Portland was playing on their side of the field to defend the lead, and occasionally they’d send a long ball to one of their wingers to produce a counterattack. In the 39th minute, Cristhian Paredes did this. Juan David Mosquera ran toward goal, but goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair prevailed in that one-vs-one.

To his credit, St. Clair won all his one-vs-ones against the Timbers like a boss. It was an amazing thing to witness. And the only time he didn’t, the woodwork helped him.

Another one-vs-one happened at the beginning of the second half after a bad back pass that Rodríguez ended up controlling. He tried to chip the goalkeeper, who came out 40 yards away from his line, but St. Clair made an incredible save with his head.

The Timbers also suffered from bad luck. Mora could’ve doubled the lead, but the crossbar denied him. And even though he argued one of the defenders pushed him, VAR didn’t concede the penalty.

Parking the bus

“We scored the first goal, we then set off and didn’t play our football like we said,” Neville said. “We dropped off too deep, we stopped playing balls and started to play balls long, and we put ourselves in the pressure.”

The second half was mostly Portland’s 10 players defending the short lead. Only Rodríguez was near the midfield to be on the receiving end of long passes and then go in a one-vs-one with the goalkeeper. Sadly, that plan didn’t work much, and the Timbers didn’t have many chances in the second half.

As a result, Minnesota did what they couldn’t do in the first 45 minutes. Teemu Pukki got rid of Župarić and passed the ball to Joseph Rosales. David Ayala was marking Robin Lod but lost him, and Lod put the ball in the back of the net.

It was the nightfall for the Timbers. After that, they suffered a big scare when the referee awarded the host a penalty kick, but VAR overturned the decision.

Things didn’t improve for the visitors. Ten minutes later, Sang-bin scored the winning goal. In the image below we can see him unmarked at the top of the box. Araujo stayed close to him but as soon as he saw Taylor getting inside the box he forgot about Jeong Sang-bin. The South Korean held his run, so he was very much open to receiving that pass and finish.

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

The match was long, and with 10 minutes of stoppage time added, Portland had time to search for the equalizer. It looked as if they were going to make it—especially after Miguel Tapias was sent off for a dumb foul away from his box. The Timbers put the hosts against the wall, but in the end, they held and they had to go home without a point.

If we talk about the substitutions, they didn’t make much of a difference. Mora was clearly angry to be subbed off when the clock hit the hour mark, and his complaining pissed the referee off. As a punishment, the ref made the Timbers play with one man down for more than one minute by not letting Eric Miller come in for Mora.

The coach made more substitutions but no one was impactful enough. He then put in another attacking player—Antony—and things improved a little but not enough to find the equalizer.

Three-back

Neville decided to stick with a three-back formation just like he did in the match against San Jose. This time, he put Araujo in instead of Larrys Mabiala, and he moved Župarić from the right to the middle.

In defensive phase, Ayala and Mosquera dropped to help, although the entire team tried to show solidarity and help with defense. This is shown below, where we can see a line of six players defending.

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

Although Portland lost, the three-back formation worked well, and we can’t put the blame on that for the loss. If there’s something  Neville has shown, it is that he’s not afraid to try new things. It’s just like K. Miller said: “I think we’re just in a position where we’d like to try to find something that works.”

That’s what Neville has been doing, and not just with the defense. 

Three-back, four-back… at this point, it doesn’t matter. Neville hasn’t been able to find the key to fix the individual defensive mistakes, and he knows that’s on him. It’s a real puzzler and more so when we think about the regression some of Portland’s former starters suffered, such as Zac McGraw.

Another loss sucks but there are some positives about the next game against Sporting KC: It’s going to be played at home, the Timbers already played them and got a draw, and they’re one point away from being at the bottom of the table. It’s a pretty winnable match—or so it looks like. We’ll see.

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 0, Charlotte FC 2

Photo: Kris Lattimore.
Photo: Kris Lattimore.

The Portland Timbers collected another loss Saturday in a hard-to-watch game.

The Timbers continued their quest on the road, this time against Charlotte FC. The Eastern team is not the brightest in that conference, but Portland had a flat match with almost no chances on goal.

Both teams finished with only three shots on goal, but the hosts got 14 chances to test goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, while the Timbers only had six shots total.

A Portland team without Evander is something that is not pretty at all. The Timbers also had to play without Diego Chará, which contributed to the poor final product on the field.

Passing sideways

Eryk Williamson, Cristhian Paredes, and David Ayala were tasked with distributing the ball, but their ball distribution was not the best, to say the least. When we see the maps below, we can see how most of their passes were sideways, and they failed to progress the ball properly, contributing to the lack of opportunities the Timbers had in the final third.

Passes by Williamson, Paredes and Ayala. Source: Opta.
Passes by Williamson, Paredes, and Ayala. Via Opta.

Six shots are not enough, and we know the Timbers have had a hard time being clinical.

Due to the absence of Evander—or any other true playmaker—Felipe Mora had another very quiet game. The balls weren’t getting to his feet, and he finished his shift with zero shots, six passes, and only one touch inside the box.

Passes by Felipe Mora. Source: Opta.
Passes by Felipe Mora. Source: Opta.

Portland’s new designated player, Jonathan Rodríguez, was on the field, but couldn’t put his name on the scoreboard like he had against LAFC. He could’ve scored at the end of the first half; Charlotte’s goalkeeper gifted the ball inside his box, but Rodríguez failed to make a simple finish that could’ve changed the whole dynamic of the game.

Rodríguez’s performance in this match was disappointing. He has been hired to score goals, and in matches like this one, he needs to get his hands dirty and show why he’s Portland’s biggest signing this year.

That was ’embarrassing’

“The two goals we gave away again were embarrassing,” Timbers head coach Phil Neville said. “Things have to change and change very quickly because if they don’t, we’re in trouble.”

The thing is, the Timbers are already in trouble and have been for some time now. They haven’t won in almost two months and have conceded goals like crazy. It looks as if every Portland opponent has gotten a check with at least two goals in their favor before every game, no matter who the Timbers play.

And Neville was right about how embarrassing the goals were. Even before the second half started, Portland was getting roasted in defense. Kamal Miller couldn’t suit up due to illness, so Zac McGraw started in his place. According to Opta, McGraw finished the match with eight clearances, four blocks, five recoveries, three duels won, three duels lost and one foul won. That’s not exactly impressive, but in the end, they’re just cold numbers.

However, when we combine those stats with what we saw from him… Well, we can say he’s not in the same form we saw last season.

 

It was a miracle the Timbers went to halftime without having conceded. (Though VAR saved Portland from conceding a penalty kick at the end of the first half.)

Nonetheless, the parity in the score didn’t last long. In the 54th minute, Nikola Petković left McGraw and the rest of the defense behind.

Source: Apple TV / MLS
Source: Apple TV / MLS

“Embarrassing” indeed.

It didn’t help was that Miguel Araujo had to be subbed off at the end of the first half, and Dario Župarić replaced him. Araujo didn’t have an excellent performance. but he did well and covered for some of his teammates’ mistakes. Putting a centerback who has been surrounded by rumors on the field maybe was not the best, but Neville didn’t have much of a choice with Kamal Miller unavailable.

A week set aside

After three games on the road and only one out of nine possible points collected, Portland is finally going home. On Sunday, they’re going to play a very important match—not only for the rivalry but because the team will have a new chance to collect three points again. Their fans will play a very important part in this match, and the Timbers must use them to the team’s advantage.

By this point, the fans are disappointed but keep waiting for a convincing performance from their team. This rivalry match is the perfect opportunity to make them happy again—and to give them a reason to regain confidence. After all, the reality between these two teams is pretty similar. Portland sits 12th in the table with 10 points, and Seattle has the same number of points, although they’re 11th. The big difference between these two? The number of goals conceded. The Timbers have conceded 10 more goals than Seattle but have also scored seven more.

It should be an even match, one where the midfield can make the difference. No doubt the best news Portland(ia) received this week was Adam Susman’s report that everybody was fit and good to go against Seattle, including Evander and K. Miller.

Hopefully, Sunday will be a turning point in the season.

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, LAFC 3

Photo: Kris Lattimore
Photo by Kris Lattimore.

Not even a point. The Portland Timbers fell 3-2 at BMO Stadium on Saturday.

Portland was disappointing to watch once again. They conceded two goals to Los Angeles FC, which made them chase the match as they have countless times this season.

Can’t stop conceding

“We cannot keep giving teams a two-nil [lead] and expect to win games of football,” Timbers head coach Phil Neville said after the match. “It’s unacceptable, it’s on me. We need to fix it, and we need to fix it quickly.

“We are so close to being a good team if we learn that one bit. If we don’t learn that one bit, it will be a long season.”

And Portland’s coach couldn’t be more on point. The Timbers have shown so much potential—not only this season, but we could see glances of what they were capable of last year. It’s a shame, though, that they keep making the same defensive mistakes. And Neville is once right, too, that it’s on him—and on previous Portland coaches. You don’t wake up one day and become terrible in defense. This problem has a history.

The Timbers remain in second place for most goals against in MLS this season, reaching 21 in the match against LAFC. On the flipside, they’ve scored the second most goals of any team in the Western Conference. Is that enough for this club?

“We’ve been receiving a lot of plaudits for the way we attack,” Neville said. “To be honest, right after the game on Saturday, the first thing I thought about was, ‘I’m getting fed up with that.’ I want people to praise us for winning games of football, not playing well and losing.”

By winning Saturday’s match, LAFC inclined the scale in their favor, since the California side has only won three of their last 11 regular season matches against the Timbers. Nonetheless, LA seemed the stronger side going to this game, since they were unbeaten in eight straight home games and, just like the Timbers, had scored multiple goals in seven of those eight matches.

What fullbacks?

LAFC found themselves very comfortable in Portland’s wings, especially in the left. Denis Bouanga, Mateusz Bogusz, Eduard Atuesta, and Ryan Hollingshead found space and time to do as they pleased.

 

Timbers Miguel Araujo and Juan David Mosquera had a complicated night, which helped the home team find their way to open the score. Mosquera was caught ball-watching, completely unaware of Bouanga until too late. As a consequence, Araujo had tried to stop Bouanga but couldn’t. The LAFC attacker crossed the ball, and Kamal Miller ended up pushing into the back of his own net.

Capture: MLS / Apple TV
Capture: MLS / Apple TV

Portland wasn’t having a good first half. LA’s wingers were killing them, and if not for some lucky offsides, the match would’ve gotten very ugly very early. But even so, scoring an own-goal hurt a lot. Friendly fire is always hard to deal with, and if we add another goal against just seconds before halftime… well, let’s say it was a hard pill to swallow.

It feels like the Timbers are under a lot of self-imposed pressure to not concede, and that’s playing against them; it’s messing with their heads instead of making them play with a chip on their shoulder to prove everybody wrong.

Diego Chará’s Series of Unfortunate Events

On the day when Portland’s iconic captain, Diego Chará, became the player with the most appearances for a single club in MLS history, everything went south for him.

Not only could he not enjoy the special day with his fans in Portland, but he collected a loss. And he he, in his good old-fashioned way, collected a yellow in the 72nd minute.

One minute later, Santiago Moreno scored the equalizer for Portland, and two minutes later, Maxime Chanot received a yellow for a foul on Chará. Then, Chará received his second yellow, when, after being dispossessed by Atuesta, he fouled the LAFC midfielder trying to recover the ball in the 76th minute.

As a result, Cristhian Paredes had to come into the match for Felipe Mora, who had a quiet game. The absence of Evander harmed Mora, since he wasn’t fed with as many balls as needed.

LAFC grew after Chará’s send-off, and goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau had to intervene many times to keep Portland in the game.

Outside of the box

Due to Evander’s absence, the game’s fluidity wasn’t there. Portland’s goals weren’t as fancy as they have been.

However, it was good to see Jonathan Rodríguez finding the back of the net again for Portland’s first goal of the evening. He showed great technique in his tally and was the Timber with the most shots in this game, with six (two blocked, two off target, and two on target).

It was also good to see that the Timbers had some luck in this game. If it wasn’t for a deflection, Santiago Moreno’s goal—Portland’s second—wouldn’t have happened.

It was a shame the Timbers couldn’t get at least a point. Bouanga’s confidence was high after scoring not only a brace in the previous game against LA Galaxy but also the equalizer in stoppage time.

The Timbers showed they have problems defending second balls, and Bouanga took advantage of that when he showed up completely unmarked after Crépeau stopped a header and the defense couldn’t clear it. The striker shot a diagonal ball that hit the far post and got in. As a result, Bouanga scored the winning goal in stoppage time again and left Portland empty-handed.

The Timbers will continue their string of road games against Charlotte when they play at Bank of America Stadium May 4 at 4:30 p.m. PT.