Tag: Jeremy Ebobisse

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Tactical Takeaways: Timbers 2, LAFC 2

Courtesy of MLS

Match after match, the Portland Timbers continue to impress.

Two games in, and it seems as if there’s something new and more creative to take away from each game—something that we did not see back in March.

Against the Los Angeles Galaxy, we saw an increased sense of confidence throughout the team that manifested itself through the team’s combination play and intricate movement. In its game against Houston, we saw a team both creating and exploiting space all around the field, playing long balls with a purpose to unlock the Dynamo defense while shutting down one of Major League Soccer’s most potent attacks.

Portland did it again on Thursday night, coming in with a disciplined and compact defensive shape that managed to contain what is usually a LAFC buzzsaw to win Group F.

I don’t have much to say to open this column other than just to mention how impressive this Portland team has been over three games. The shape that the Timbers played last night required a lot of discipline (which I will go into later). I mentioned on Twitter than containing LAFC for 90 minutes is a Herculean effort––both the Dynamo and Galaxy learned that over the past week––and Portland looked defensively solid for more than 75 percent of the game. I guess what I am saying is that the Timbers look primed to make a run in this tournament and that my outlook on the team is a lot brighter than what it was when I left Providence Park back in March.

And … I guess I should mention that I had to put my bonfire-building supplies away late into the match. It’s time for the Timbers to get revenge for what was an embarrassing defeat a  season ago.

Goals

7′ – Jaroslaw niezgoda

The Timbers got out to a dream start against LAFC, striking first in the seventh minute.

Taking advantage of LAFC’s aggression, Portland found success in testing the opposing backline early and often. Thanks to ESPN’s aerial cam, it’s easy to see what went into Niezgoda’s opening goal, the Pole’s first as a Timber.

During this transitional moment, Portland creates a mini-overload on the right side of the field. During this, Niezgoda is sitting between the right center back and right back, waiting to pounce. The overload pulls Tristan Blackmon towards the sideline while Latif Blessing, the right back, is caught cheating a little too far up the field. This leaves Niezgoda with yards of space to run into, and he makes the finish look easy.

Conceding first is not a new trend for Bob Bradley’s men: They did it against both the Houston Dynamo and LA Galaxy. This may be looked back upon as an easy finish, but the goal proved vital for the Timbers, allowing them to weather 15 minutes of LAFC brilliance and come away with a point at the end of the game.

36′ – Bradley wright-phillips

Yes, Bradley Wright-Phillips is not the same lethal player that carried the New York Red Bulls on his shoulders for what seems like a decade, but he is still one of the most dangerous strikers in MLS—and he proved it yet again on Thursday night.

This goal comes down to movement. Wright-Phillips sees the right side of defense pushed high and immediately makes a looping run to find that space while losing his defender, Bill Tuiloma, in the process.

Thanks to the space that his movement created, when Wright-Phillips receives the ball, he has a few touches to settle it before firing it past Clark. This is a clinical, outside-the-box finish from the Englishman, proving that age is just a number.

40′ – mark-anthony kaye

In his post-game media availability, head coach, Giovanni Savarese, mentioned the tired legs that his team was playing with near the end of the first half. That can easily be seen in the second goal the Timbers gave up in the course of four minutes.

Honestly, there is not too much to this goal. It’s just poor marking at the back post by Bill Tuiloma as Kaye gets by him with a quick spin move. Kudos to the Canadian for the good finish, because there’s nothing that Clark could really do there.

81′ – Jeremy ebobisse

In a tournament with so many young players breaking out for their respective teams, Jeremy Ebobisse’s star may shine among the brightest.

For the third-consecutive game, Ebobisse found the back of the net for Portland, this time rising up and sending a towering header past Sisniega.

This is just pure grit from some of the Timbers tallest players. In a way, Tuiloma makes up for his role in the two LAFC goals as he finds the energy to rise up and win this ball in a crowded box. After a missed half-chance minutes earlier, Ebobisse makes no mistake this time as he powered the ball to the bottom right corner.

Ebobisse is making a name for himself so far this tournament. You have to think that US Men’s National Team coach, Gregg Berhalter, is watching every game in the bubble with a close eye and Ebobisse is commanding his attention.

Tactical Thoughts

compact setup and discipline key to result

One of my biggest takeaways from this match is the defense shape that the Timbers played in. It was a narrow 4-4-2, both horizontally and vertically, that allowed space out wide, but prevented any penetration from a LAFC lineup that knows how to exploit even a sliver of space. Playing with such a compact shape for 90 minutes against one of the league’s best sides requires insane amounts of focus and discipline. Give or take a few moments, the Timbers looked relatively drilled in this setup.

The 4-4-2 did its job for a majority of the game. As seen above, LAFC was content to pass it backwards and around the block. To exploit this system, the ball needs to be played quickly between the lines with a purpose. Because LAFC played more of a probing style early on in the game, players were able to step up and win balls in both defense and midfield. According to Opta, the Timbers made 40 CLEARANCES(!!!) over the course of the game compared to LAFC’s eight.

Below, I’m going to insert a couple of examples of what the Timbers want to do. It’s a lot of last-ditch tackling that happened time and time again throughout the game.

In this clip, the midfield does a good job of stepping up and preventing LAFC to get the ball in a dangerous, central area.

Here, the defense does a great job to cut this pass off as LAFC looks to make a direct pass towards the top of the box.

This third example is what happens when you have a defensive midfield of Diego Chará and Cristhian Paredes. Portland wanted to ensure that if LAFC tried to play centrally, they would be punished. And it worked.

defend, defend, and defend some more

There’s so much that I wanted to touch on when it comes to the defense side of the ball that I thought I should separate it into two different sections.

The defensive shape that Portland used was a very compact 4-4-2. How it defended was in a mid-block.

By playing this way, the Timbers invited LAFC to towards midfield before applying pressure. The goal of this is to create space in behind LAFC’s backline, and then take advantage of the aggression to create opportunities by running into this now-vacated area.

The Timbers were relatively successful early on but, from the 30th minute until halftime, players started to get tired, and they stopped playing into the space that they created after winning the ball. This allowed LAFC to implement a counter man-marking system, which continued to win the ball high up the field, effectively trapping Portland in its own half.

“I think what was difficult today was when we lost the ball so quickly,” Diego Chará said after the game. “When we recovered the ball, we tried to play forward, but we missed a lot of passes, and I think that made it more difficult for us to keep the ball.”

All of this is evident in the graphics below.

Courtesy of Opta
Courtesy of Opta

Look at where Portland defends versus where LAFC defends. Portland is playing a dangerous game of bend-but-don’t-break soccer, mostly in its own half, while LAFC is constantly trying to play on the front foot.

I can throw so many more graphics and stats such as the ones above in the article, but I don’t need to. The Timbers put on a defensive masterclass on Thursday night. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it’s the type of shape that every team that wants to make a deep run into a tournament needs. It’s important to remember that LAFC can exploit any defensive system and, if the Timbers could look like this defensively every game, they could go quite far in Orlando.

“The first thirty minutes we had the better of the play. We were very tight, and we didn’t allow them to be able to create much,” Savarese said when asked about LAFC’s dominant stretch. “In the last 15 minutes in the first half, they started to find the balls in between the lines; they started making better movements in those areas that we wanted to protect, and we were tired so we couldn’t close those spaces as well as we did the first thirty minutes.

“We also gave up the ball in those moments, different than the first thirty minutes when we had a lot of the ball and were smart in the way me moved it. I think that the two goals were two moments that are a little bit separated from them finding space. Yes, they had a little bit more of the ball in those minutes, they tried to create, but we defended very very well even though we had some players being tired.”

Playing through the press

When a team presses as hard as LAFC does, the opponent usually has two options: A) Try to play through the pressure in hopes to find space to attack into; or B) Stop thinking for a few seconds and clear the ball, praying to find a teammate somewhere  in the attack.

In the past, the Timbers would have taken option B, trying to recycle the ball wide and play it long, which often resulted in a quick loss of possession. But these are not the Timbers of old. Against LAFC, Portland invited the pressure and attempted to move up the field through multiple series of intricate passing and combination play. It did not always work, but when it did it was pretty.

Part of playing through a press is knowing when to commit numbers forward after winning the ball versus when to sit back. Whatever the decision is, every player needs to be on the same page to ensure that there are no gaps. Playing into the created space catches a team when they are most vulnerable at the back, but if you lose the ball, there is now plenty of vacated space for the opposing team to exploit.

Above is an example of what happens when a team gambles wrong. Remember the compact 4-4-2 block I pointed out above? This is what it looks like when caught in transition.

“It was a challenge trying to balance [attacking versus defending], understanding that we didn’t want to expose ourselves defensively, but also not wanting to sacrifice the potential for a counter-attack and getting in behind the space that they were leaving,” Jeremy Ebobisse said. “A fine line for attacking players, myself and the wingers, to balance, but ultimately I think that we had some good opportunities on the break.

“That shows a job well done to manage difficulties when they had the ball and were penetrating us and those times we were able to break out, complete a few passes, and unbalance them.”

As Ebobisse eluded to, this is a formula that teams have to get right every game. There were moments in which the Timbers were caught out, like shown above, but overall they put in a solid defensive shift and allowed their attacking talents to find a pair of goals on the other end of the field.

Now it’s onto the round of 16, where FC Cincinnati awaits. One of the surprise teams of the tournament so far, the onus will most likely be put on the Timbers to break down a compact Cincinnati side. If Portland can put together everything that they’ve shown from the group stage of this tournament, advancing to the final eight is a real possibility.

It’s time for revenge.

 

 

Video courtesy of ESPN aerial cam. Graphics courtesy of Opta and StatsZone.

Categories
Soccer Thorns

Timbers Win Group F with 2-2 Draw Against LAFC

Courtesy of MLS

The Portland Timbers scored early and late in Thursday night’s 2-2 draw against Los Angeles FC, clinching the top spot in the Group F of the MLS is Back Tournament with the point over their recent rivals.

Continue reading “Timbers Win Group F with 2-2 Draw Against LAFC”
Categories
Soccer Timbers

Timbers Win Third Game in Four Months, Third Game in a Row

Courtesy of MLS

In a battle between two teams looking to outlast their opponent, wear them down, and catch them off balance, the Portland Timbers were the team still standing after 90 grueling minutes against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night. In their second game of the MLS is Back Tournament group stage, the Timbers looked in control for most of the match as they fought their way to a 2-1 victory.

Although the Dynamo went down a man in the final minutes of the match after Alberth Elis picked up his second yellow card of the night, it was the Timbers’ ability to take their chances that played a deciding role in the match. Inch-perfect finishes from Jeremy Ebobisse in the 35th minute and Diego Valeri in the 61st minute put the Timbers up 2-0, giving the side the breathing room needed to see out the match.

Before his sending off, Elis did manage to pull one back for the Dynamo, earning a penalty kick in the 86th minute after putting a header off the hand of Jorge Villafana — who had an otherwise excellent game — and then stepping up to convert the spot-kick past Steve Clark to pull the Dynamo back within one with minutes left in the match.

In the heat and humidity of the Orlando summer, a major factor in the match against the Dynamo seemed to be the fresh legs of the Timbers’ substitutes.

Giovanni Savarese went to his bench early on Saturday, bringing on Andy Polo for Yimmi Chara in the 60th minute. He then made two more subs in the 69th minute, bringing on Marvin Loria and Jaroslaw Niezgoda for Eryk Williamson and Jeremy Ebobisse. Finally, Savarese capped off the night by bringing on Chris Duvall for Pablo Bonilla in the 82nd minute after the youngster absorbed his third hard foul of the night.

The Dynamo, on the other hand, made one sub in the 62nd minute, one in the 87th, and two in the 88th.

As a result of Savarese’s aggressive use of subs, the Timbers looked markedly fresher than their opponents during the second half even after having played with a man down for a big chunk of last Friday’s win over the LA Galaxy. With the Dynamo flagging, the Timbers subs were able to make a real impact on the match, quickly breaking up Dynamo attempts to get forward and winning the fifty-fifty balls that might otherwise have given Houston a chance to get back in the game.

Despite being subbed off late in the match, Saturday was a successful first-team debut for Bonilla who got the start over Chris Duvall at right-back, being granted the privilege of matching up against the Dynamo’s vaunted attacking trio: Alberth Elis, Darwin Quintero, and Mauro Manotas. Bonilla, a Venezuelan youth international signed from T2 exactly one month ago, was introduced to the MLS life by the Dynamo when in just the 7th minute he took a cleat to the thigh from Houston midfielder Maynor Figueroa.

Despite the rough treatment by the opposition, Bonilla acquitted himself well in the first half, providing solid coverage down the right flank and acting as an outlet for Yimmi Chara on his regular runs forward. In the second half the youngster continued his strong outing, getting further forward down the pitch as well as providing several clutch tackles when the Dynamo got forward on the Timbers’ right.

Most interesting was Bonilla’s play with Marvin Loria after the Costa Rican 23-year-old came on as a substitute early in the second half. After spending the pre-suspension preseason together with T2, Bonilla and Loria had clear chemistry playing together on the wing and combined for a strong chance on goal that Loria ultimately had blocked by a defender as he got his shot away.

The win against the Dynamo guarantees that the Timbers will reach the knockout rounds of the MLSIBT and leaves the Timbers with a final group match against LAFC next Thursday that will at most affect the Timbers’ seed coming out of the group stage.

How the Timbers treat this match will tell us much about how they view this tournament and how they view the possibility of playing out the remainder of the season. These group stage games count as part of the 2020 MLS regular season, so it will be interesting to see if the Timbers view this last group stage match as a chance to get minutes to players that have mostly served as subs like Niezgoda or Andy Polo, to bring in some youngsters like Blake Bodily or Marco Farfan who have yet to see the pitch, or just another game to run out the regular starting XI, tournament be damned.

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Tactical Takeaways: Timbers 2, Galaxy 1

Courtesy of MLS Soccer
To view this content, you must be a member of the Rose City Review Patreon
Unlock with Patreon
Already a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to access this content.
Categories
Soccer Timbers

On the Road Again

Photo by Kris Lattimore

June 9, 2011 was a perfect day for soccer in the Midwest. 

Almost a decade has passed since Sporting Kansas City christened then-Livestrong Sporting Park, but Rick Dressel, the team’s Director of Team Administration, recalls every detail perfectly.

He remembers watching The Cauldron come to life for the first time—the electric atmosphere as the temperature dropped and kickoff loomed. That night, a recorded 19,925 fans filled a stadium with an official capacity listed at 18,467. The final result—a 0–0 draw against the Chicago Fire—may not have been the most entertaining, but it’s a night that will always stick with him.

“That night compared to the night we won it all back in 2013, as far as the energy goes,” Dressel said. “It was a beautiful night, perfect soccer weather. The energy of the place, the players’ energy level, just everything was like a cup final. To do that for the first time—and we’ve experienced opening up stadiums before as a road team, and always have thought that was pretty cool—you can feel the electricity, and that night’s atmosphere is one I will never forget.”

In the 25-year history of Major League Soccer, just five teams—including Sporting—have started their seasons with at least eight consecutive road games. From lack of chemistry to inconsistent results, each team undoubtedly faced its struggles, but also developed a sense of camaraderie. To many in these organizations, the trips came to define much more than the current season; they defined a new era with a new stadium, oftentimes more exciting and fortuitous than the one it left behind.

Six games into their 2019 season, the Timbers were in trouble. Sitting on just one point nearly halfway through their twelve-game season-opening road trip, the team needed a spark.

Portland had opened the season with a 3–3 draw against the Colorado Rapids in what was one of the coldest regular-season games in league history. In that match, a late equalizer from Rapids rookie Andre Shinyashiki provided a preview of the rough weeks to come.

In their third game, the Timbers lost 3–0 to FC Cincinnati, one of the league’s worst teams at the time. In their fifth, Portland gifted the San Jose Earthquakes their first win of the season in another 3–0 defeat. 

Shortly after their loss at Avaya Stadium, Portland held a team meeting.

“Once we had that reflection, some words were said, and some feelings were vested in that moment,” forward Jeremy Ebobisse said, “but we started to turn it around and played better together.” 

“You know that the first five games of the year do not make or break your season,” goalkeeper Jeff Attinella said. “Obviously you want to get out to a good start, but I think the circumstances that we were in were beyond challenging when you’re thinking about coming off a Cup final.”

The team seemed to find a spark of momentum in Frisco, Texas the next game. A controversial handball called in the 95th minute denied the Timbers a late point against FC Dallas, but the result gave players a bit of hope. The next week, the Timbers picked up their first win of the season, beating the Columbus Crew 3–1 at Mapfre Stadium.

“When they scored early in that game in Columbus to go up 1–0, you could just feel the team loosen up, because they hadn’t scored first in any game that year,” Timbers TV play-by-play announcer, Jake Zivin, said. “Columbus had some good chances in the first 30 minutes, and you don’t want there to be that feeling of ‘here we go again.’ Then they score and you could sense the mood rise. From then on it was like, ‘Okay, they’re back. This is what we’re used to from them.’”

The Timbers celebrate after another goal in a 4–0 win over the Houston Dynamo | Photo by Kris Lattimore

By the time the 12th and final game rolled around, the Timbers were sitting on 11 points. 90 minutes later, they would leave Chester, Pennsylvania with three more after defeating the Philadelphia Union 3–1. As summer—and a long homestand at newly renovated Providence Park—approached, the Timbers had just five road games remaining on their schedule.

“Given the adverse conditions, having the cross-country trip, that was a game we were willing to concede, but we came out flying and in good form,” Ebobisse said. “That was the end of our road stand as well, so we got over this massive hump, and that was a major boost for what was to come.”

If, in March of 2011, you had asked Callum Williams to point out Salt Lake City or San Jose on a map, you may have been met with a blank stare.

The 21-year-old broadcaster from Birmingham, England took a chance on American soccer when he traded his job with the BBC for a play-by-play broadcasting position with Sporting Kansas City. Just six days after landing in Kansas City for the first time, he was off to Los Angeles to cover the team’s first game of the season against Chivas USA. 

Williams learned a lot about North America and its intricacies during that opening road trip. Vancouver, BC became one of his new favorite cities, and now he has family there. Williams estimated that he spent more time at Chicago’s Midway Airport than he did at his new home in Kansas City over the season’s first few months.

“I’ve never heard of Columbus, Ohio. I’ve certainly never heard of Denver, Colorado, and all these other places,” Williams said over Zoom. “For me, I relied a lot on adrenaline, and because I was so young and because I had such enthusiasm for the new challenge, it all went by in a flash, really.”

Necessary tasks like getting a Social Security number, viewing apartments, and obtaining a driver’s license took a back seat to jetting around the United States and calling games for a struggling Sporting side that couldn’t seem to find any positive momentum.

Graham Zusi, who played a role in Sporting’s 2011 team, attempts a slide tackle on Diego Valeri | Photo by Nikita Taparia

That season, Williams forged a solid working relationship with head coach Peter Vermes, who always took the time to talk to the young broadcaster and answer his questions. 

Despite the criticism that Vermes received when his team sputtered out of the gate, Williams and Dressel both believe that he was a big reason as to why the team didn’t break early on. 

“The way Peter coaches, he tends to have a really good group of guys because of the way he coaches and the way he expects everybody to put their chair in,” Dressel said. “We typically have really good players, so I can’t think of any challenging moments in that respect.”

Behind the leadership of Vermes, Sporting rallied in the second half of the season, making its way to the 2011 Western Conference Finals before eventually being eliminated by the Houston Dynamo.

Nick Hagglund arrived in Toronto to what appeared to be a team in transition. The tenth pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft draft would be joining a team that finished ninth in the East a season ago, but also one that just spent big money to land Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley.  

With just ten games remaining in Hagglund’s rookie season, the team fired head coach Ryan Nelsen and promoted its academy director, Greg Vanney, to the role. This all came with looming renovations to BMO Field, which would force Toronto to start the following two seasons with long road trips. 

Vanney was keenly aware that spending long weeks away from home spelled potential disaster, but also figured that the trip could help the team build chemistry. Luckily for him, his second theory proved correct.

“For us, it felt like [the road trip] set a good foundation for the rest of the season, so that when we came into our form, we were defensively sound and we were able to play the soccer that we wanted to,” Hagglund said.

In Hagglund’s mind, there was no bigger reason for the team’s eventual upswing than Bradley’s leadership. Yes, the talent was there, with players like Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, but many acknowledged that Bradley was the glue that held everything together. In many ways, he was TFC’s culture.

When asked to expand on Bradley’s influence, Hagglund brings up his first-ever MLS game against the Columbus Crew. Like any rookie would be, he was anxious, but Bradley soothed the 22-year-old’s nerves by telling him to relax, play simple, and find him. And that leadership wasn’t just displayed on the field.

“He cared about the whole organization,” Hagglund said. “It wasn’t just about the team. He cared about the organization from the top to the bottom, doing things the right way, and demanded those things to be done the right way. From how the field is to how families are taken care of, he truly embodied what the club was about.”

Luke Wileman, who often calls TFC’s games for Canada’s The Sports Network, spent a lot of time around the team during those seasons. He believes that Toronto’s 2017 treble-winning team would not have been possible without the culture and work ethic that Bradley set back in 2015.

“You need leaders in those situations, and I think one of the reasons TFC has been so successful is because of the change in culture, expectation, and leadership that Michael Bradley brought when he originally came in,” Wileman said. “It’s those kinds of leaders that you need to build that culture. Michael Bradley is invaluable in terms of setting the standard and holding players accountable. That was a key for TFC.”

Nick Hagglund (left) attempts to defend Sebastian Blanco | Photo by Kris Lattimore

According to those who spent time around the four teams, the importance of having a leader on these long road trips cannot be understated. Yet, while DC United had veterans, the abundance of younger players made the team’s 14-game opening road trip in 2018 all the more unique. 

United played 12 of their first 14 games on the road, but their two home games came at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and 4,000-seat Maryland SoccerPlex, respectively. When the team began to play at Audi Field, many within the organization still joked that they still felt as if they were going to National Airport.

“You don’t think that in a few months, in the heat of summer, Wayne Rooney is coming, but you knew what was coming at the end of the summer in Audi Field, a new stadium. You’re just going to get energy from that,” DC United play-by-play voice, Dave Johnson, said. 

The young core of players bought into that idea. They knew going into the season that the trip wouldn’t be easy, but they committed to growing together as a team, and by the end of the season it paid off. 

By the end of the road trip, whether it was seven weeks or 14, every team expected to come home to either a brand-new or renovated stadium for a lengthy homestand. While these opening road trips seemed to drag on, there was always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hours before Toronto FC’s first game at freshly renovated BMO Field, the organization held a grand reopening ceremony to celebrate a project years in the making. Vanney, Mayor John Tory, and then-Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Tim Leiweke were among those in attendance to usher in a new era of soccer in Canada’s biggest city.

The sun shone down in Toronto, and the mood couldn’t have been better. With the team returning home on eleven points, there was plenty of optimism around the organization. With a new roof in place and expanded capacity, the team finally had a home that matched its ambitions. 

“When the team signed Defoe and Bradley, [Leiweke’s] big thing was, ‘Why can’t we be great?’” Wileman said. “‘TFC has had all these things go wrong, but why can’t we be great? Two years later, they make the playoffs for the first time, they have Altidore, Bradley, and Giovinco in. Now they are opening up this stadium that looks so much better than it used to.”

“Seeing the stadium for the first time, it was like ‘Wow,’” Hagglund said. “This is a true football stadium. This is going to be packed. You’re going to live for the darkest nights where it is rainy, where it is cold, and the lights are on with the place packed and ready for big games.” 

Minutes before kickoff of the first game at newly renovated Providence Park | Photo by Nikita Taparia

In DC, opening night at Audi Field felt just as surreal, but for a completely different reason. If you were to have told Johnson, who started calling the team’s games back in 1996, that he would be covering the club in a brand new venue in the heart of Washington, DC, he might have laughed. This was Washington, after all, where politics and bureaucracy often make it impossible to land a downtown stadium. Johnson brought up past examples in which local professional teams tried and ended up with stadiums in Landover, Maryland.

Little did he know that 24 years later, Wayne Rooney would be suiting up for United the same summer that sporting excitement in the city was reaching all-time highs. It was a far cry from past seasons of playing at a run-down RFK stadium, to say the least. 

“There’s no lightning in a bottle story here,” Johnson said. “Soccer has been laid down for fifty years. In Washington, DC, go look at 1980, when Johann Cruyff played with the Diplomats. They averaged 20,000 fans a game. Look at what Portland did, or what Seattle did in the old NASL. All of this doesn’t just happen overnight. People grow up with the sport, and that’s why you reach your position now.”

When asked to look back and reflect on whether or not the road trips and the hassle were worth it, nearly everybody took a moment to collect their thoughts. At the end of the day, nothing compared to the feeling of coming home: the packed stadiums, the unique energy, the chance to be there for a unique moment in franchise history.

“This stadium changed absolutely everything in [Kansas City], and I think that leading up to the stadium, it’s a story that doesn’t often go told honestly,” Williams said. “A lot of people weren’t really fans at the time, or only started following it when the stadium was built. It was a period of adjustments, a stage of a lot of those players’ lives where they had to prove they could play at this level as well. It was a fascinating introduction to the world of Major League Soccer, and it was a stage of my life that I will never forget.”

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Adjusting to Life Without Moreira

Photo by Kris Lattimore

An already tough start to the season gets even tougher as the Portland Timbers prepare to deal with the lengthy absence of starting right back, Jorge Moreira.

ESPN’s Taylor Twellman broke the news of a potential long-term injury on Saturday afternoon, and Timbers.com writer, Richard Farley, later shared that the Timbers believe Moreira could have a partial meniscus tear in his left knee that requires surgery.

There have been no reports as to how long a potential surgery would sideline the Paraguayan, and with his loan from River Plate expiring in June, it’s a devastating blow for both the player and the organization.

But injuries happen in sports, and there’s nothing that the Timbers can do other than continue forward. What Moreira brings to the team is difficult to replace, but adjustments will have to be made. However, before looking at how the Timbers can move forward, it’s important to understand what Moreira brought to the team.

What the Timbers will be missing

Anytime an MLS side signs an experienced player from South America, especially from teams such as Boca Juniors or River Plate, they expect a talented player that can come in and contribute right away. A season ago, the Timbers needed a starting-caliber right back, and they found their guy in Moreira—a player with 57 starts for River Plate under his belt.

The 30-year old plays a huge role in the Timbers’ attack, often tasked with making overlapping runs into the final third, sending in crosses for strikers in the box, and, if necessary, using his speed to track back and win the ball back in defense.

https://gph.is/g/4L5K11r

When Portland plays out of the back, Moreira’s job is straightforward: find a way to beat the first line of defense. In the clip above, Moreira does a good job of beating Minnesota United’s initial pressure before finding Sebastian Blanco with plenty of room to exploit down the left wing. By beating that first line of defense, the Timbers create advantages in midfield that they hope to exploit.

Sometimes, defenses can’t stop him, and when this happens Moreira is more than happy to blaze by and immediately burst into the final third. In the clip above, Moreira continues to run into the vacated space before whipping a cross into the box. While the play didn’t result in a goal, Moreira’s aggression is on full display as he creates another dangerous opportunity for his team.

However, Moreira can be most advantageous in the final third when the Timbers need to provide service to runners in the box.

https://gph.is/g/Ev15RJg

https://gph.is/g/4MkL196

Oftentimes, Moreira will play a one-two with a midfielder as he makes an overlapping run before swinging a cross into the box. Above are two different examples of the crosses that he makes. Against New York Red Bulls, Moreira’s cross is low, finding the feet of Cristhian Paredes near the penalty spot. In the game against Vancouver, Moreira sends a lofted cross into Jeremy Ebobisse at the perfect height for an attempted header.

Just Moreira’s presence in Portland’s attacking third adds another layer to the Timbers offense. When plays break down, he serves as an extra player in and around the area, another body that can capitalize on a stray bounce or get on the end of a cross.

https://gph.is/g/aXJlPVn

In the goal above, Moreira pulls out a moment of individual brilliance as he quickly thinks to chip a rebound over the head of Chicago’s keeper.

https://gph.is/g/aN80OG9

In Columbus, his late run to the back post provided Paredes with a passing option. Moreira took advantage by helping the Timbers secure their first win of the 2019 season.

If there are any areas of his game that gave Timbers’ supporters headaches, it is in Moreira’s aggression to get forward whenever possible. While he can hold his own defensively, Moreira is often caught too high up the pitch, leaving acres of space for opposing attackers to run into. In the season opener against Minnesota United, all three of the Loons’ goals came from a counter-attack that involved players streaking down the vacated space in the flanks.

Being caught upfield on the wings is a common problem that can be fixed through adjusting playing style or tactics. What Moreira brings to the game, and the spacing that he provides, is valuable and will be missed—he is a TAM player after all.

Ultimately, all of this begs one simple question: How will the Timbers adjust to life without Moreira for a prolonged amount of time?

How can the Timbers adjust?

If there’s one area where Timbers couldn’t afford to lose players to injury, it’s the defense. With the loss of Zarek Valentin and a majority of Portland’s depth concentrated at center back, head coach Giovanni Savarese will have to get creative when it comes to the outside back position.

The Timbers have employed a four-man backline throughout a majority of its MLS history, but maybe it’s time that Savarese has to think about converting to a back three to fit the personnel.

The utilization of a back three has been gaining traction within the league—and in international soccer—over the past few years. This setup has a number of benefits which include the ability to create a numbers advantage in the midfield, make life difficult for teams lining up with a single striker, and being more defensively sound at the back.

Atlanta United made the switch to a back three under former head coach Tata Martino and rode it to large amounts of success, including an MLS Cup. In Martino’s system, Julian Gressel, Atlanta’s right back, was free to roam up and down the entire right side, picking out crosses and helping the team in transition moments.

Another proponent of a back three is Manchester City, where, under the leadership of Pep Guardiola, they won the Premier League. City don’t have an outside back like Gressel, but the ability to re-allocate their numbers to provide advantages elsewhere on the field proved to be very beneficial.

In the Timbers’ system, a back three would most likely consist of Dario Zuparic, Larrys Mabiala, and Chris Duvall. The question in that situation would be how Portland wants to play in midfield. Do they experiment with Andy Polo in that position, something that they did in the preseason? On the opposite side, does a shift in formation force Jorge Villafaña to the bench? Would all of this force Yimmi Chará to play a Gressel-eque role on the right side?

A side benefit of playing a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3? Unleashing Diego Chará as an ultimate force in the midfield by allowing him to focus solely on doing what he does best: destroying plays. With two center backs, Chará is often tasked with dropping into the backline, either to help defend or to start possession from the back. With a third center back, Chará wouldn’t have to worry as much about screening the backline or dropping back to receive the ball; he would be free to roam around the defensive midfield and put out fires.

However, it’s significantly more likely that Savarese sticks with the tried and true four-man backline. Twenty-one-year old Marco Farfan has MLS experience at right back and could slide right in to replace Moreira. This would allow Villafaña to stay in on the left and requires the least amount of change tactically. The only thing that could be an issue is how Portland deals with the ever-increasing talent of MLS wingers. In the next few weeks, the Timbers will come up against David Accam, Gustavo Bou, the duo of Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi (!!!), Ilsinho, and Alberth Elis. A 30-year old and 21-year old having to deal with that quality could very well put the Timbers in dangerous predicaments on defense.

Another question that needs to to be asked: regardless of tactical formation, does Savarese still push both outside backs high? Or does he play more conservative, with one, or both, players sitting in the defensive half?

Pushing both outside backs high limits dangerous wingers by forcing them to defend, but throughout the preseason and one game of the regular season, Portland has been continuously exploited down the flanks. Without a purely attack-minded defender for the distant future, Savarese could decide to take this more conservative approach on the wings. Time will tell.

This injury to Moreira, arguably one of Portland’s most important defenders, couldn’t have happened at a worse time. With Savarese still searching for defensive solutions after last week’s 3-1 defeat—and a two-game road trip coming up—the Timbers will have to come up with a fix quickly.

Hindsight is 20/20, and after playing a few games, the Timbers may be wishing that they had a little more depth in defense.

Categories
Soccer Timbers

The Importance of Tactical Consistency

(Kris Lattimore)

What makes a club good at developing and fostering talent?

It’s a simple question, yet one that seems to have a complex answer. How can a franchise help young, budding talent improve and ultimately thrive at the MLS level and beyond? Is it by having a large scouting network that can unearth talent seemingly anywhere in the world, like New York City FC or New York Red Bulls? Is it consistently giving younger players a majority of the minutes (#playyourkids), a la FC Dallas or Real Salt Lake? Or is it something else?

When it comes to youth development, the Portland Timbers may not be the first club that comes to mind, but what they are good at is establishing an identity that is upheld throughout the organization.

Employing a similar style of play at each level of the organization establishes a consistency for players who often find themselves on the bubble between the first and second teams. While the concept of a team’s tactical identity, top to bottom, is used in a club setting, it’s a more prevalent point of discussion when it comes to the international game. With player movement so much more fluid in, say, the United States player pool, players such as Ulysses Llanez or Giovanni Reyna need to be ready to slide right into the senior side from the youth setup when called upon.

Some coaches prefer every level of the organization to run an identical tactical setup and style while others are more flexible, allowing younger sides to adjust how they play based on personnel or their own established identity. The Timbers want to be somewhere in between.

Like any MLS team, Portland has a defined style of play that holds up from the academy to the MLS side. Over the past few seasons that style has consisted of attacking through wide channels, finding attackers in the box off of crosses, dominating the midfield, and, when the opportunity arises, countering like crazy. With a few minor adjustments based on personnel, that is how Timbers 2 (T2) wants to play as well.

“We strive to mirror what the first team does,” head coach Cameron Knowles said. “I think it’s important that when a first-team player comes to us, the things we’re asking them to do in the game make sense. When a T2 player goes and trains with the first team, they understand their role as it relates to the team.

“…I don’t think we try to deviate too far from that, but obviously, with playing in a league and playing for points, week to week we have to come up with a plan to win a game and that’s where things can differ. In training and a lot of the principles of play, I think there is a lot of consistency from the top-down throughout the club.”

At times, what makes playing similar styles exceptionally difficult is the lack of consistency in the roster. While the first team is afforded the luxury of meticulously planning for the game ahead while adjusting to any tactical wrinkle, T2 often sends players up a level to train while receiving an academy player or two for training themselves. With that being the case, it is imperative for those T2 call-ups to know what to expect at a Savarese practice versus at a Knowles practice.

“The last two years we have been pretty flexible tactically, anyone who watches [the Timbers] will be able to notice that,” Jeremy Ebobisse said when asked about the major tactical differences between T2 and the first-team. “We’ve played a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-3, a 4-3-2-1, a diamond, two up top. It’s hard to mirror that if you’re the second team. The first team is planning based on personnel and based on the opponent ahead.

He added: “Themes are pretty similar: defend, protect the middle, take advantage of your chances going forward if it’s on the counter or in the build-up phase. It’s largely similar, but how we go about them sometimes is going to differentiate.”

What that means is that, sometimes, a shift in tactics will be necessary to win the game. For example, playing fast and in transition is great, but against a team such as Phoenix Rising or even New Mexico United that can exploit that suddenly available space, it’s not ideal. In games that come down to those pivotal tactical audibles, Knowles will not be afraid to scrap the plan and play directly to his player’s strengths.

“It goes both ways,” Eryk Williamson said. “I know that usually, it’s ‘This is what’s being asked of you, go do this,’ and at the same time [Knowles] is a head coach who wants to win and I really appreciate it.

“…He says ‘I know this is what is being asked of you, but we’re playing Phoenix Rising where now, it’s a habit. We cannot mirror what the first team is doing, now we need to go out and try to win this game.’ That’s a huge part of being flexible as well, it’s not ‘Oh, can I just go out there and personally do well,’ but can you have the right mentality to go out and do well in every game that you play in.”

At the end of the day, having the flexibility to quickly shift tactics is beneficial. But it is also important to monitor how everything comes together on the field. Maintaining those tactical similarities helps with player adjustment and is something that the Timbers and T2 want to accomplish this season, but, if necessary, Knowles is not afraid to change anything up. It will be interesting to see how that plays out as the season progresses.

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Break on Through (to the Other Side)

Renzo Zambrano (Kris Lattimore)

The bright sun peeked out through the fog on another cold Pacific Northwest morning as the Portland Timbers’ first team entered the pitch for another day of training. On the outskirts of the field were the goalkeepers, already multiple drills into their practice. Field players were beginning to stretch on the opposite side of the field.

A few feet away from all of this is a fence, teasingly covered in black and tall enough to obscure any passersby from sneaking a peek directly at the practice field. On the other side of this fence is another pitch—that one, tantalizingly close, yet a world away, is where many young players begin their professional journeys for Timbers 2 (T2). This less-secluded field is where players continue their development, with the ultimate goal of becoming permanent fixtures at the practice field across the fence. 

It’s been six years since T2 started, and as time has gone on, more and more players are beginning to make that very jump. Two seasons ago, forward Jeremy Ebobisse made the leap from the USL Championship side to the first team; last season, Marvin Loria, Eryk Williamson, and Renzo Zambrano followed. What makes T2 pivotal for player development is that the program is connected to the first team, allowing players to make the transition from the development academy or college to the professional level. 

For Zambrano, a Venezuelan who had only played in Spanish-speaking countries, being a part of T2 allowed him to adjust to living in America and gain more confidence in himself as a player, all while receiving multiple opportunities to play game minutes. 

“When I came from Spain, I had an injury,” Zambrano said, mostly in English with a little help of a translator. “So my focus was playing every single week in as many minutes as I could. The confidence the coaches gave me to be able to play, develop, and eventually make it to the first team was key.”

During May of last season, Zambrano received his first opportunity to play with the Timbers. Shortly after playing the Tacoma Defiance in the USL, Zambrano remembers being told by the coaching staff that he would be getting to start in a regular-season mid-week match against the Houston Dynamo.

“I prepared for that moment and worked very hard, because this is a very competitive squad and there are many players who want to be stars,” Zambrano said. “Obviously I knew that I had to take advantage of that opportunity and do the best I can, both in training and also in the games.”

While Zambrano needed to adapt to a whole new country, culture, and language; Williamson—a Virginia native—recalls the helpfulness of just having a designated place to develop and get minutes before making the jump to MLS.

“Right away, I learned what do I have to get out of a professional game, what do I have to do for ninety minutes, what do I have to do for the time I’m stepping on the field,” Williamson said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that I take from T2 games. Making sure that I am getting my job done, so when it is time to make that step, it’s repetition.”

Eryk Williamson attempts to thread a pass in a preseason game against Minnesota United (Kris Lattimore)

Unlike most of the USL Championship, T2 is directly tied to an MLS side. Having that in Portland allows players and coaches at all levels of the organization to interact. Sometimes that interaction takes place in the cafeteria; other times, a first-team player might check out a game or training of the USL side. 

“It’s pretty cool when they come say ‘Hi’ to you and ask you how you’re doing,” current T2 midfielder Carlos Anguiano said with a smile.

The close relationship between the two branches of the club benefited Williamson, who has been working closely with the Timbers’ video and data analyst, Shannon Murray, and assistant coach Miles Joseph over the past few years. The three often sit down and go over film. Williamson learns more about what the first team coaches want to see out of him, which helps him shape his game in the right direction.

Last June, the fitness staff advised Williamson to be ready in case he was needed on the first team, who were finishing up a hectic, road-heavy start to the season. A few days later, head coach Giovanni Savarese told him that he was going to start in the team’s mid-week match in Montreal, a testament to his hard work and performance for T2.

“It’s one of those things where you always have to be ready, whether it’s your chance or not,” Williamson said.

Yet, for as beneficial as T2 can be—and that’s the consensus—sometimes being a part of the second team is difficult for players, especially mentally. One player with mixed emotions from his time on T2 is current first-team striker Jeremy Ebobisse. Ebobisse, it can be argued, is the most successful player to come out of T2—he recently signed a contract extension with the first team—but his time in the USL was tumultuous.

In his first season with T2, Ebobisse played three games before being called up to the first team, where he trained but often sat on the bench during games. Later that season, he played in the US U-20 World Cup and returned only to play in a handful of T2’s remaining games.

“That [apparent] regression was challenging mentally, but ultimately going to play with T2 taught me that there’s a lot of responsibility on players that the club views as first-team guys for the future,” Ebobisse said. “If you do not live up to the standard of raising everyone else’s level, then ultimately you’re going to face consequences, and I faced probably the hardest and worst consequences where I found myself on the bench for T2 my second year right before breaking through. I think there are some hard lessons to learn, but through it all, it’s a unique place to have to grow. Obviously, you hope to bypass it, but if you have to spend a year or two there are lessons you can take out of it.”

Jeremy Ebobisse attempts to bring down the ball in a preseason matchup against Minnesota United (Kris Lattimore)

An in-form start to the 2018 season was quickly derailed by multiple injuries, call-ups, and time on the bench, which made it almost impossible to establish any type of consistency until the season’s latter half. Coming into the organization with high expectations of himself, Ebobisse found the proximity to the first team more mentally challenging than he anticipated.

“This is just my personal opinion, but it’s almost detrimental to a player’s well-being if they are not mentally strong enough in that moment to know that there is a barrier separating where they belong, and the guys they see and train with most of the time and where they’re at,” Ebobisse said. “So when I am on the turf training for T2 and I see the first team having a competitive training and competing and laughing and yelling, I want to be a part of that. Sometimes adjusting to that position is challenging as well.”

But in a way, it was that proximity to the first team that ultimately benefited him. Ebobisse made some close friends in the Timbers locker room who continued to encourage him and helped him stay mentally engaged during the tough moments. In fact, it was Larrys Mabiala and Bill Tuiloma who told Ebobisse he would be getting his first regular-season start.

“I was at the stadium training, they saw the practice scheme and said ‘You’re starting this weekend, you better be ready. Are you ready?’ while laughing,” Ebobisse recalled. “I said ‘What are you guys talking about,’ and tried to downplay it in the moment like it’s another training.”

“Knowing that you have guys in your corner,” Ebobisse continued. “Mabiala was on the field with me that game and I think he was as happy that I scored in that game against Colorado as I was. Just surrounding yourself with good people is always really important.”

While it was a challenging couple of seasons for Ebobisse, the young American now plays consistently for the Timbers every weekend. Zambrano took advantage of his opportunity at T2 and is beginning to cement himself as a solid rotation player in the midfield. And while Williamson is still in between T2 and the first team, he believes that he is close to his breakthrough. 

For some players it is motivating whereas for others it is more challenging, but being a part of T2 has ultimately helped every player that has come through in different ways. Every T2 player dreams of someday taking that next step. One day, the hope is, they’ll move to the other side of that fence, symbolizing the transition from the second division of American soccer to the first.

“It’s definitely motivating,” Ryan Sierakowski said of his aspirations. “It’s in reach, it’s right there, you can feel how close it is. It’s motivating to know that having a good run of games and showing your quality you can be called up at any time.”