Category: Soccer

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 3, Real Salt Lake 0

Post author By Phuoc Nguyen
Post date July 18, 2024

Photographer: The Kris Lattimore

Do you want to see fireworks? The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake are the two best goalscoring teams in the Western Conference, and in the top three of MLS.

Ahead of their latest matchup, Timbers head coach Phil Neville jokingly said that the game screams “nil-nil” scoreless draw. The 3-0 scoreline told a different story.

The game kicked off a scorcher at 88 degrees, but luckily the shade covered the entire pitch.

Eryk Williamson earned a second straight start, this time in place of David Ayala, who is on a minutes restriction due to a knock he took against Nashville.

Portland’s starting XI asked Diego Chará to do more heavy lifting in protecting the backline and Williamson to help more defensively as well.

This game came down to both team’s backlines, an area where RSL excels on paper.

Against Salt Lake, the Timbers continued to play without care in the world. They’re having one heck of a time with one another, and the results match the on-field vibe.

In the second minute, Santiago Moreno outmuscled his way to the ball outside of the box and hit a beautiful low-driven cross into the box. Moreno’s cross hit Felipe Mora in stride for the 1-0 lead.

In the 8th minute, Portland saw Chará get a yellow card for something that could’ve simply been called a foul. To make matters worse, Jonathan Rodríguez received one for dissent.

The match got extremely chippy in the 22nd minute when, Cristian Arango “inadvertently” fouled Evander into the ground for refusing to stop play for Braian Ojeda. Both teams intervened in midfield. Mora received a yellow for having a hand to the face of Andrés Gómez. Arango and Gómez also received yellows for their roles in the altercation.

In the 43rd minute, Gómez lead an RSL counter, and Miguel Araujo made a goal-saving intervention. James Pantemis made the next one to keep the score unchanged.

If you thought Portland would slow down in the second half, you’d be dead wrong.

In the 48th minute, the Timbers released a barrage of shots on goal: starting with Rodríguez’s header, then Mora’s close-angle shot, and finally Moreno’s smashed volley home to make it 2-0.

The Timbers continued to play with confidence. They were precise in their counters and in possession, and controlled the match. This team is playing their best football of the season (outside of the Dallas game).

Neville deserves a ton of credit for finally finding the right mix of players, but so does general manager Ned Grabavoy, who has added the right pieces to the team. To make it even more exciting, Portland is expected to add another designated player in the summer window.

2-0 is the most dangerous score for a team, and RSL nearly got on the board in the 75th minute with a Arango header, but it caromed off the post.

In the 90th minute, Evander put RSL to sleep with an absolute blast, with a fantastic assist from Antony, for the final score of 3-0.

“I’m really pleased,” said Neville. “I think it was our most complete performance of the season. We’ve played like that for 20 to 30 minutes, maybe even a half, but we’ve not played like that for a 90-minute period.”

This performance was a masterclass from the Timbers, who put together what is definitely their best win of the entire season.

Source: FotMob

The big four?

Photo by Kris Lattimore

Moreno is making a case to be included in the designated player squad of Evander, Rodríguez, and Mora. He has found consistency and has played his role on the right wing phenomenally.

Neville and his staff have spoken glowingly of Moreno in recent weeks. He’s contributed to five goals in the past four games. His role is quite unique with the team—although he aligns as a right winger, he has freedom to drop into midfield like he did for much of the second half.

“His growth has been incredible” said Neville at the team’s media availability prior to the match. “We’ve got some incredible assets, and I think he’s probably one of our biggest.”

With an assist in his pocket, Moreno also tallied a goal in the 48th minute with an amazing volley. He is now up to 13 goal contributions on the year, with five goals and eight assists this season.

In his 100th appearance for the club, he was lights out.

He subbed off in the 84th to a rousing, and well-deserved, ovation of “Oh, Santi Moreno.”

“It’s a special moment,” said Moreno. “Ever since I got here, the fans have been absolutely amazing. I want to send them greetings and hellos from here, because they’re always there for us, and thanks for helping us get three points as we try to fight for the playoffs and ultimately bring a trophy to Portland.”

Who just passed Darlington Nagbe for fourth all-time in assists for the club? Yup, you guessed it: It’s Moreno.

Eryk

Photo by Kris Lattimore

In a report from Tom Bogert, “the expectation is Eryk Williamson would be on the move. Clubs around MLS are aware he’s available and there has been interest…”

Last week, Williamson started as the No. 10 in place of Evander. This week, he started as part of Portland’s double-pivot in place of Ayala. His versatility has been on full display the past few weeks.

Neville has also spoken highly of Williamson on what seems to be a weekly basis for the past month or so.

When Ayala is healthy, that’ll be his starting spot. However, Williamson has made a statement that he deserves more minutes and starts even with a logjam at midfield.

Complaints continue to be about Williamson’s defensive work, but he has put shifts in. He led the team in the first half with six defensive actions.

Obviously he is gifted with the ball at his feet, but he is becoming a two way asset for the Portland Timbers. Losing a player of his caliber, especially when Cristhian Paredes has not been in-form would be a massive blow.

“I keep thinking about Eryk Williamson’s performance in the last two games and think he played really well,” said Nevile. “But for me, he just played to his level. The level that I expect, the level that we want, the level that he’s capable of.”

Backline

Photographer: The Kris Lattimore

Inter Miami, RSL, and Portland are the three best goalscoring teams in MLS right now. RSL leads the Western Conference in goals and came into Providence Park looking to continue their attacking ways. Ahead of the game, Neville talked about how the match was an important one to see where his team is at. He also spoke about his backline needing to rise to the occasion.

Claudio Bravo, Dario Župarić, Araujo, Juan David Mosquera, and James Pantemis got the message loud and clear.

“The back four played really well, but I also thought that our defensive shape from the front was probably the best it’s been,” said Neville. “They pressed, they blocked paths, they doubled up. I think Claudio Bravo had his best games since he’s come back, and he needed that game. All the back four playing really well. [James Pantemis] played well.”

This was Portland’s fourth clean sheet in their past nine matches. They’ve only allowed nine goals in that span, as well. It’s not the best record, but they’ve come a long way from where they started the season.

“For me personally, all I want to do is never let in a goal, but we know that that’s just not realistic,” said Pantemis. “I do the best I can, and the fact that we’re able to get [a clean sheet] and the team’s helping me is even better. I think I’m more happy for the guys. I know that at the beginning of the year, we were letting in quite a few goals. From a goalkeepers perspective, it was frustrating, because it wasn’t necessarily we were getting broken down or we were letting bad goals. It was just mistakes. I think we’ve cleaned that up, and knowing that we have quality like that in the back, and then with the keepers as well, I can foresee more clean sheets and even better defensive performances. I just think now it’s all clicking, and I’m just happy that we’re all finally getting what we deserve for clean sheets.”

Outside of a few RSL chances and one close call, Portland’s defense was dominant and looked decisive cleaning up their goal. Pantemis had little work to do, but he commanded his box extremely well all game.

Can they build on this? Is this something everyone can expect more of? Those are the only remaining questions.

Amazing

Photo via Jeremy Peterman/@SportsGuyJeremy

Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 4, Nashville SC 1

Post author By Phuoc Nguyen
Post date July 10, 2024

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

To round out their third game in eight days, the Portland Timbers faced off against Nashville SC Sunday at Providence Park. The match was one of the most complete performances Portland has put together all season, and they continue to rise in the table.

Unfortunately, both head coach Phil Neville and Evander were suspended for this match. Dave Van den Bergh and Eryk Williamson took Neville’s and Evander’s places, respectively.

The city of Portland is in the midst of a heat wave. The kickoff for the game was 98 degrees. Luckily, there was absolutely no sun on the pitch.

In the early going, neither team could muster much going forward. They were feeling each other out and trying to find the game.

However, the flood gates opened right after that for the Timbers.

In the 18th minute, Jonathan Rodríguez stole the ball near midfield and proceeded to drive to the top of the box. He slipped a ball into Felipe Mora, who calmly finished for his tenth goal of the season.

In the 21st minute, the team executed a perfect counter. Juan David Mosquera initiated it with a dribble and a great ball out wide to Williamson. Williamson returned the ball to Mosquera, who “passed” it to a wide open Rodríguez for an easy finish.

Minutes later, the Portland Timbers won a spell of possession. Santiago Moreno served the ball from midfield out wide to Rodríguez, who calmly took a few dribbles and smashed it far post past Nashville’s Joe Willis.

In the 29th minute, Williamson made it 4-0 off a perfect, low-driven cross from Moreno. This marked his second goal of the season and first since the season opener.

After that, the cooling break took effect, and Nashville SC interim head coach Rumba Munthali had a chance to get after his team for their abysmal showing in the first half.

Unfortunately, that didn’t cool them off one bit and only made it worse. After a VAR check, in the 35th minute, Brian Anunga’s yellow card was upgraded to a red card after video showed Anunga’s studs going into the back of David Ayala’s leg. The visitors were down four goals and had to play with 10 men for the rest of the game.

In stoppage time, Forster Ajago’s goal was called offside.

In the next Portland possession, Rodríguez was taken down in the box. The official called it right way, but reversed it after going back to VAR.

The first half demonstrated the prolific attack Portland possesses and how dangerous this team is when they are allowed to play on their own terms.

In the second half, the Timbers were on cruise control.

With Rodríguez on hat trick watch, the team did everything they could to feed him the ball.

In the 82nd minute, Nashville’s Sam Surridge found a tap-in goal after the Timbers could not stop their opponent’s initial through ball or the following low-driven cross. They gave up the clean sheet on a very well-worked goal. It was Portland’s only blemish on a beautiful evening of football.

Photo Taken By The Matthew Wolfe

“A bit of a hiccup, obviously, last Thursday, so we wanted to have a bounce back,” said Van den Bergh. “And I think this was a good game for that, so very happy with the three points. On the other side of things, a little disappointed we couldn’t keep a clean sheet that would have been really big for James [Pantemis], for our defenders, but at the end of the day, when you’re facing Nashville at home, and you tell me in advance that we’re going to win 4-1, I would have signed a dotted line. So, all in all, a good win. I would have liked to have scored a couple more goals in the second half, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. But all in all, was a good performance by our guys.”

Eryk

With Evander out, Van den Bergh opted for Williamson in that role.

In the first half, he tallied his second goal of the season.

Once Antony was subbed on in the second half, Williamson moved back to a double pivot with Diego Chará to help preserve the win.

However, after Moreno came off, Williamson moved back to the No. 10.

His versatility, dynamism, and creativity makes him extremely valuable to have on this team. Even though MVP candidate Evander and rising star David Ayala, are ahead of him on the team’s depth chart, there is still a role for Williamson.

“Eryk Williamson showed why he is a very, very good player for us and why we have him on the roster” said Van den Bergh. “I mean, he was outstanding tonight, not just his goal, but overall, I don’t think he lost three balls tonight […] He’s been good in practice, and he deserved his chance.”

History

For the first time since 2022, an MLS club has had three different players to score at least 10 goals or more: Rodríguez, Mora, and Evander.

The three designated players have been money all year and show no signs of slowing down.

“You can see we got along so well, and we try a lot to have fun while we’re playing” said Mora. “And I think we’re enjoying playing alongside each other.”

“Extremely happy with the fact that we have three players on 10 goals,” said Van den Bergh. “I found out that it’s the first time in Timbers history, which is pretty wild. Very happy for those three. They’ve been putting in the work since the day I got here.”

Hat trick watch

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

Never in the history of the Portland Timbers has a player scored a hat trick. Rodríguez was the latest one burned by the team’s curse.

Rodríguez had a brace in a matter of minutes, and had the rest of the game to make club history. He drew a penalty late in first half stoppage time, but for some reason VAR overturned the call. Although the initial ruling was a tad soft, reversing the decision still doesn’t make much sense. After that, the team tried to find Rodríguez every time they got down in the attacking third, but it was not meant to be.

The wait continues…

Photo of the night

Diego Valeri with drums in Timbers Army. Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

Tags Dave van den Bergh, Eryk Williamson, evander, Felipe Mora, Jonathan Rodríguez, Phil Neville, Portland TImbers, Santiago Moreno

NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 0, Royals 0

Post author By J
Post date July 3, 2024

The Portland Thorns have been resting on their laurels since their 2022 NWSL championship season and have not worked to cultivate a new identity in the two seasons since. After an uninspiring 0-0 draw to the worst team in the league, the Utah Royals, on Saturday night at altitude, it’s clear that the eight-week Olympic break cannot come soon enough.

There are a multitude of valid reasons why the club has been in purgatory for several years, most notably being the sale of the club from Merritt Paulson’s cold hands. The ownership tumult has further complicated the club’s ability to find a permanent, competent head coach to step in after Rhian Wilkinson’s resignation. The club has been slowly leaking world class players from that 2022 squad, and they have not brought in many replacements. Coupled with the lack of tactics and willingness to change and adapt from former head coach Mike Norris and current interim Rob Gale, it seems almost like a miracle that Thorns have managed to dig out a niche in fifth place in the NWSL standings. (Even that placement feels less impressive when we’re reminded that over half—the top eight of 12—teams qualify for the postseason.)

It almost feels futile to try and break down the team’s tactics when it’s the same each week (get the ball to Portland’s wingers, who then are tasked with taking on the defense one-vs-one to get to goal), and the rest of the league has figured the Thorns out. But alas, I will try to.

Against Utah, Gale chose to start Nicole Payne at right back and Reyna Reyes at left back, relegating the Thorns’ best defender, Marie Müller, to the bench. Müller has been consistently leading the Thorns on several stats, including tackles, recoveries, and crosses, and post game Gale clarified that her absence was to allow her to rest after the many minutes put on her legs in recent games. Against a dismal attacking side that has only scored seven games thus far, it seemed like a reasonable action. However, Müller’s absence required Reyes to play on her much weaker left side to accommodate Payne at right back. Payne is a good pure defender, but is weak in possession. She made one progressive pass and only had two touches in the Thorns’ attacking third. For a team that likes their outside backs to push high and join the attack, these numbers are dreadfully low. Reyes, in her sophomore season with the team, is seeing the field markedly less, mostly due to the competition at her best position, right back. Her strengths are opposite those of Payne; Reyes is better on the ball due to her time in midfield at the University of Alabama, but she lost all of her duels on the night against the Royals. Her attacking play was much better, with 13 touches in the final third and two in the Royals’ penalty box, but on her weaker foot, her passing and distribution suffered.

Like Gale said post game, “sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition,” and the Royals were able to successfully mark the Thorns’ midfield out of the game. Hina Sugita and Sam Coffey have been the fulcrum of the Thorns’ build this season, and other teams have begun to realize that if they press them high, then the Thorns are forced to play through their wingers, who are much more easily dispossessed. The Royals’ press led to many misplaced and overhit passes, particularly from Coffey, which resulted in easy turnovers and put the Thorns right back on the defensive foot. Gale has been asking Hina to play deeper to allow for Coffey to push forward, and the two of them work very well together. Still, Hina and Coffey ended up accounting for one through ball between the both of them, which meant Sophia Smith severely lacked opportunities to show off her skills in behind the defense, and Portland’s attack suffered greatly.

The other most puzzling part of the Thorns’ lineup on Saturday was the inclusion of Ana Dias as the starting No. 9, which pushed Smith out wide. Dias put on a show in the charity match midweek, scoring a hat trick, and I had hoped that her confidence would translate to the league game. Which unfortunately was not the case. In her 75 minutes , Dias had one accurate pass and three shots, none of which were on target. She had three touches in the Royals’ box, and only 0.1 expected goals. To put it bluntly, she had a very poor showing. While Dias’ signing was relatively low stakes for a player with only seven appearances for her country and who had been playing in the Russian league (i.e, not a very competitive one), the gamble has not paid off, and the Thorns’ offense is lacking as a result. That she plays in the No. 9 position exclusively forces the Thorns’ best player to play in a position that she is not as successful in, and means that the crosses and plays into the box that Smith does get off are oftentimes wasted by Dias. Against a team like Utah that has allowed 27 goals thus far, it was a reasonable gamble for Gale to take, but unfortunately, the team is paying for it.

The Thorns have one more game before they take an eight week break, and it’s against the incredibly lost San Diego Wave, who just fired their head coach. On paper, it’s a home game that the Thorns should win handily, but, if the Wave press high and are disciplined at the back, it could easily turn into another 90 minute slog. The Olympic break cannot come soon enough, and hopefully the pause will give the Bhathals a chance to finally make an announcement about which world-class coach will come in and take over, hopefully lifting the Thorns out of their holding pattern and back to the top of the table where they belong.

Tags marie muller, nicole payne, reyna reyes, rob gale, Royals

Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 3, Minnesota United 2

Post author By Phuoc Nguyen
Post date July 2, 2024

Photo by Kelsey Baker.

The Portland Timbers honored Dairon Asprilla Saturday with a whirlwind 3-2 victory against Minnesota United.

Unfortunately, the Timbers did not get the memo early on, as the visiting Minnnesota hammered Portland for their sloppy, uninspired, and dreadful play early—and earned two goals for the effort.

Although the home side had their chances, the finishing was absolutely horrific. Jonathan Rodríguez, Santiago Moreno, and Felipe Mora all had chances and could not put anything away. When they got a good shot on goal, United goalkeeper Clint Irwin denied them. It looked very similar to the Philadelphia Union debacle earlier this season.

However, Mora drew a penalty late in the half, and Evander converted convert to halve the lead at 1-2.

The second half was all Portland. In the 73rd minute, Moreno finally broke through to equalize with a left-footed rocket.

Asprilla came on right after and looked to make one last heroic play.

The Providence Park crowd rightfully gave him the standing ovation and applause he desperate deserves. He is loved, adored, and appreciated by the Rose City. As a club legend, he will never be forgotten.

Thank you, Dairon Asprilla

Asprilla joined the Timbers ahead of the 2015 season. Little did he or the club know, it would change their lives forever. Nearly 10 years later, he finally said goodbye to his second home, Providence Park.

In his goodbye letter to Portland, Dairon Asprilla shared a heartfelt message to everyone:

Head coach Phil Neville confirmed the club legend would play minutes in his final game at the last training before the Minnesota match.

As reported by Jeremy Peterman of Cascadia FC, it was Asprilla’s wish to retire as a Portland Timber. Unfortunately, the front office and ownership could not agree on the terms.

As he arrived to the stadium, fans were waiting to greet and thank him one last time. There was something special in the air, and it was going to be a wonderful night.

Photo by Kelsey Baker.

A magical moment

In the 82nd minute, Evander lobbed a ball to find Asprilla. He hit it one-time into the box. It found Moreno’s header in stride and directed it to Rodríguez, who just needed to tap it in. But Rodríguez missed it…

The Timbers again thought they’d found the game-winner in the 87th minute off Antony’s header, but after VAR called it back.

The stage was set for the Timbers legend to shine and finish his story the only way he knows how.

Like a fairytale, in the 92nd minute, Asprilla got on the end of a long ball and hit it off the bounce. He placed it in front of the box to find Rodríguez for the match winner! In his final game as a Portland Timber, he created a moment that 22,000 supporters would never, ever forget.

Photo by Kelsey Baker.

This player has been magical since he arrived. Would you expect him to end it in any other way? Of course not.

“I’m very fortunate to have been part of this club for nine years,” said Asprilla. “I’m leaving happy, and my heart is happy.”

Postgame, he has one final message for the fans: “I think not only today, but these past days have been very, very long days” he said. “I tried my best to prepare for it, and I didn’t expect the moment of leaving to come so fast. I have a good opportunity to go back home and be very close to my family. I’ve tried to control my emotions as best as I can through these days, maybe hide my feelings a little, although people around me have given me a lot of great words. It’s been great to be around them. It was hard to come here from another country alone, but then this became my home. It’s been hard to see all the amazing messages and not being able to respond to them all. But mostly, I just want to thank everyone for the love that they’ve given me. I hope they can see this video, this message, and just to tell them that they’re my family.”

Photo by Kelsey Baker.

¡Gracias, Dairon!

“Thank you” is not enough, and it’s not even close to what he deserves, but all we can do now is say those two words.

Thank you for sharing your gifts on the pitch with everyone. Thank you for always being your authentic self. Thank you for all that you did for the city and community.

Thank you, Dairon Asprilla!

Photo by Kelsey Baker.

Did you know?

Asprilla, Diego Valeri, Diego Chará , and Darlington Nagbe are the only four players in club history to make at least 200 appearances for the Portland Timbers.

Tags Dairon Asprilla, Loons, Minnesota United, MLS, Portland TImbers, PTFC

Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

Post author By Melina Gaspar
Post date June 22, 2024

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

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

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.

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

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.

Tags David Ayala, evander, Jonthan Rodríguez

Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 0, St. Louis 0

Post author By Melina Gaspar
Post date June 14, 2024

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

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

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

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

Tags David Ayala, Jonathan Rodríguez

NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Orlando Pride 2, Portland Thorns 1

Post author By J
Post date May 30, 2024

Photo by Kelsey Baker

The Portland Thorns’ unprecedented six-game winning streak was bound to come to an end eventually, and a clash against top-of-the-table (!!!!) Orlando Pride on a sweltering Florida Friday night finally did them in.

Initially listed on the pregame availability report as “questionable,” the Thorns went the entire 90 minutes without Sophia Smith, who was “just a day or two too early with the low leg injury,” according to interim head coach Rob Gale. Her injury is not severe or lengthy enough to keep her out of the USWNT camp this week, but hopefully Emma Hayes doesn’t make a bad first impression and play Smith before she’s 100% sound.

Going up against the league leaders and their driving force Barbara Banda, Gale needed to prove that he was more than just a vibes merchant and can tactically guide the team—especially without crucial the support pillar of Smith.

Here is what he got right, and what he got wrong.

Right: Izzy D’Aquila

Making just her third appearance of the season—and longest yet at only 28 minutes—Izzy D’Aquila came on and took full advantage of the opportunity to play at her best position as the No. 9, something she rarely got the chance to do under former head coach Mike Norris, netting the first regular season goal of her career.

Bringing on D’Aquila in the 62nd minute was a smart change by Gale, and he deserves credit where it is due, but unfortunately, he also needs to be held accountable for his initial starting XI and the poor showing of the first half.

Gale started a front line of striker Christine Sinclair, left winger Olivia Moultrie, and right winger Janine Beckie. Only one of those three players was playing in their preferred and strongest position, and only one of them is fast (the answer is Beckie to both). With no speed up top, the Thorns were absolutely smothered by the Pride’s press in the first half and could not break through. Portland only managed three shots (and only one on target) in the first half to Orlando’s 14, and they only had six touches in the Pride’s 18-yard box—an absolutely abysmal stat line for the Thorns.

Once Sinclair was removed from the game, the pace picked up immediately. The Thorns tripled their number of shots and entered the Pride’s box 15 times. While Orlando’s halftime substitution of Banda very well could have been the reason for the Thorns’ increased number of touches and possession, adding the speed of both D’Aquila and Payton Linnehan to the front line was a tremendous help in allowing the Thorns to successfully press.

The question going forward becomes: How can D’Aquila get on the field more as a No. 9 when Smith’s name is written in on the starting XI in that position in permanent ink? With Morgan Weaver out until after the Olympics in August at minimum, and Linnehan still unable to play major minutes, the Thorns lack options out wide. In the 2023 season, D’Aquila got some minutes out wide, but did not get any return on goal involvements. The best course of action moving forward, and to prevent Smith from picking up additional knocks that can keep her off the pitch, is for D’Aquila and Smith to split minutes at the No. 9. Besides the season opener against the Kansas City Current where Smith played 75 minutes, she has consistently gotten 85 or more minutes in each game. While the Thorns rarely had the commanding 2+ goal lead that might have given Gale the confidence to sub Smith off early, a valid argument could be made that against consistently weak teams like the Houston Dash, Angel City, and the Utah Royals, D’Aquila can get the start and the bulk of the minutes while Smith rests.

Another option that requires Gale to be a bit more bold in his formations is to have Smith and D’Aquila start in a front two. This change would allow the Thorns to build up the pitch centrally—the region where they have had the most success since Gale took over—and D’Aquila can unleash the through balls she consistently played forward for fellow Bronco Kelsey Turnbow at Santa Clara.

Wrong: Jessie Fleming

On the whole, the Thorns’ midfield had a collectively bad game, and it was probably Sam Coffey’s worst performance in a Thorns jersey. The starting trio of Hina Sugita, Coffey, and Jessie Fleming were unable to possess the ball, and they routinely lost it to the Pride’s intense pressure. However, 11 games and eight starts into the season, I think it is a fair time to examine how well Fleming has adjusted to the league and question whether or not she is a starting-caliber player for the Thorns.

Fleming was pulled from the game at halftime, after a 45 minutes where she was clearly the weakest link of the three midfielders, and replaced by Linnehan. The move allowed Moultrie to slide back to her more natural central position. In those 45 minutes, Fleming had 10 completed passes over 16 total touches, and she won none of her duels or tackles.

With two coaches already in her short tenure at the Thorns, it is possible Fleming’s poor positioning is due to a lack of clear instruction and tactics from the coaches. But regardless, with the international and elite club-level experience that Fleming has under her belt at only 25, her field awareness should be much higher.

Per FBref, Fleming is in the 50th percentile of progressive passes compared to other midfielders and in the 80th for progressive runs. As the player at the top of the Thorns’ midfield triangle, Fleming should be the most creative player, playing balls forward to unlock the Portland forwards. However, that is not the role that she has been playing. She more often than not opts for short, less than 10-yard passes either perpendicular or backward (an average of 56% of her passes per-90 minutes are short; an average of 40% are medium, between 15 and 30 yards).

Despite playing in that more advanced midfield role, Fleming only has one assist on the season and holds an average of 0.12 expected assists per 90 minutes. For comparison, Moultrie, in the same eight starts, has 0.21 expected assists and 0.42 expected goals and assists per 90 minutes. As the two players are competing for the same position, it’s fair to say at this point that Moultrie is the more productive player and should be starting in that attacking midfield role. Moving her into that space also opens up a spot on the wing for Linnehan to slide into.

As of right now, Fleming is not fitting into the system that Rob Gale is trying to play, and by placing her into the midfield, other players like Moultrie and Sinclair are forced to play out of position, which ultimately hurts the team as a whole. Fleming’s hefty transfer fee, international resume, and Barclay’s experience does not—and should not—make her a guaranteed starter in the league.

Tags izzy d'aquila, jessie fleming, Olivia Moultrie, Orlando Pride

Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, Sporting KC 1

Post author By Phuoc Nguyen
Post date May 29, 2024

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

The Portland Timbers had a favorable home run, going against the Seattle Sounders, the San Jose Earthquakes, and ending with Sporting KC. All three opposing teams were near the bottom of the table. But Portland fell short against the Sounders. The Earthquakes were on their way to a win before Portland was gifted a late red card to turn a 0-2 deficit into a 4-2 win.

Sporting KC is not a good team this year, which they’ve shown through their play all season long. Playoff teams—as the Timbers hope to be—need to beat these types of sides at home. The Timbers were the better team going into Saturday, and they needed to show it.

The main surprise was Portland head coach Phil Neville opting to start a four-back after beginning the past few matches in a three-back. Along with the formation change, he gave Kamal Miller the start at left back for the first time all season.

In the beginning, it was an ugly affair of football. Miscommunication, sloppy passes, and bad decision-making consumed most of the first half.

It took until the 16th minute either side to get a shot off. At the half both neither had registered a single shot on target. Although the Timbers were the better side, they had almost nothing to show for it. They were ahead in shots (five to one) and expected goals (0.39 to 0.05).

Portland took over in the second half. In the 51st minute, Evander put on a bunch of moves and played a perfect cross into the box. The ball found Felipe Mora’s head to open the scoring.

But true to form, this team struggled to hold a lead or sniff a clean sheet.

In the 62nd minute, Sporting worked the ball in and around the box under barely any pressure from Portland. Alan Pulido laid it back to Memo Rodríguez, who ripped one past Max Crépeau to equalize.

Still, the Timbers were largely the better team on the field, which paid off in the 79th minute. Antony steamed forward with the ball and played it to Jonathan Rodríguez. He found Mora for the header. Mora who steered the ball to Evander, who placed it past KC goalkeeper Tim Melia for the 2-1 lead. Initially the ruled was called offside, but a VAR check overturned the call.

In the last minutes of stoppage time, Crépeau came up with possibly his biggest save as a Timber when he denied Johnny Russell’s header to preserve the win.

Portland needed to take care business, and they did. Outside of one hiccup the Timbers played like the better team, putting up an expected goal margin of 2.05 to KC’s 0.25, and got the job done.

“I’m really pleased with the three points” said Neville. “It’s two wins out of three now, which is what we expect and what we want. I think we’ve seen improvements now over the last two or three weeks. Tonight was probably our best defensive performance in terms of our shape and organization.”

David Ayala’s time?

With Diego Chará at 38 years of age, the Timbers have been looking for his successor. They may have found him in David Ayala. Both play similar brands of football and do all the hard work necessary to be Portland’s No. 6. When either leave the pitch, there is no doubt that they gave it their all.

Ayala was the biggest bright spot for the team in the first half. He led the team in five stats: defensive actions, clearances, chances created, duels won, and interceptions.

This has been a common occurrence for him. He fills the stat sheet with his incredible work rate, efficiency, and soccer IQ.

Neville has spoken glowingly about him all season, and the hype has not slowed down one bit.

“I thought David had his best game” said Neville. “I got him in before the game tonight, and I told him I didn’t want any bullshit tonight… He needed that little bit of tough love. He knows what I think of him.”

The only thing holding Ayala back seems to be his match fitness. After coming back from an ACL tear, he has yet to play a full match. The 75 minutes he played against KC were the most since his return to the pitch.

“I told him I’m not taking him off after 60 minutes anymore,” Neville said. “If you can’t make it to 90 minutes, you can’t make it at this club.”

Kamal Miller LB

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

Miller was one of the biggest surprises in the starting XI. The shock did not come from him starting, but that he started at left back.

“Kamal obviously is a centerback when I brought him [in],” said Neville. “In a way, he’s my boy. But there’s no way I could leave out Miguel Araujo, or Dario Župarić [who both started the match in the middle of defense]. They’ve been playing really well, and they give us some maturity in that back line.”

With Claudio Bravo returning and only available for limited minutes, Neville opted to start Miller.

Miller provided stability on the left side and ventured forward in opportune times. This was one of the most solid performances from any left back who has started for Portland this season—although we should note that it was against Sporting KC.

Wow

Miguel Araujo led the team Saturday in defensive actions with 15, clearances with six, recoveries with 11, and interceptions with two.

Tags David Ayala, evander, Felipe Mora, Kamal Miller, MLS, Portland TImbers, PTFC, RCTID

Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 1, Minnesota United 2

Post author By Melina Gaspar
Post date May 25, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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.