The Timbers got a scoreless draw against the San José Earthquakes on Saturday night.
There were some positive points to highlight, although finishing continues to be Portland’s Achilles heel.
David Bingham or Jazzy?
Now that Slovenian goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič is with his national team, backup goalkeeper David Bingham had the chance to showcase himself. He has done very well in the chances he’s gotten this season.
When comparing both goalkeepers’ stats, you can see that there’s not much difference between these two—at least when we talk about their numbers. So far, Ivačič has played the double amount of games as Bingham, but both have recorded four catches and three punches. Bingham has one more clean sheet than Ivačič, but the Timbers have played better defensively in the last handful of games, so this is a team effort.
It’s Bingham who has done better in terms of saves. He has a 78.3% success rate in this department, while Jazzy has a 69.8%.
What about distribution? The Slovenian has made 361 passes in 12 games—30.1 passes per 90 minutes—with a 47.1% success rate in short passes. He’s completed 32% of long passes. Bingham, on the other hand, has made 181 passes in six matches—putting him at 30.2 passes per 90 minutes—and has a slightly better success rate than Jazzy, completing 57.5% of short passes and 41.5% of long passes.
As you can see, both have been pretty similar in terms of numbers with Bingham being slightly better. The American goalkeeper did well against San José, and he made two incredible saves that helped the team get another clean sheet.
Cristhian Paredes continues to be in good form
Ever since Cristhian Paredes came back from injury, he has been one of the best on the field. This match was no exception. He contributed to the attack by creating three chances and helped the team in defense with six tackles—two more than Dario Župarić, who was second in the team. He also registered two clearances, two blocked shots, and two interceptions.
Is good that Paredes is helping so much with the defensive-offensive transition, even more so now that Santiago Moreno has dropped in form a little. He hasn’t been as good as he was some weeks ago and the team needs him to go back to be in his old form.
Good defensive performance
Despite San José being a tough opponent, Portland did well to limit give their space to work in. It is true that the Earthquakes finished the game with 12 shots total, but only two of them went on goal. The most dangerous was the free kick that hit the crossbar and left Bingham’s goalpost shaking.
“They feel that they have more support, and by that, I think they feel more comfortable,” said head coach Gio Savarese when asked about Portland’s defensive performance. “The good thing has been the fact that the communication has improved. There’s more talking on the field. Also, the team is fitter. The guys feel strong and we saw that they put in a very strong performance all the way through the end.”
And speaking about strong performances, shout-out to Diego Chará and his 13 recoveries.
With the scoreless draw against San José, the Timbers got their third straight clean sheet and the question is how long will they be able to keep it like that? How will they do defensively against Chicago on Wednesday night?
Good chances, no goals
Portland did well moving the ball in San Jose’s part of the field. They didn’t try to shoot right away, but they made the Earthquakes chase the ball to try to find spaces to get clear shots.
The Timbers also pressed high, which resulted in the home team losing possession many times, especially in the right wing.
But despite the chances created and the pressing and recoveries, Portland just couldn’t change the score. It looks like the final pass or some decisions are not the right ones, and promising looks end up in nothing.
Is the coach concerned about his team not being clinical in the final third? “Today we created the chances,” he said. “Now we just have to put them away. That is the next step, but I’m very content in what I saw from the team in regards to the opportunities and now we have to make sure that we can capitalize on those opportunities.”
And no pointing fingers here, but this counter-attack showed so much promise that it was a waste to finish it in this way.
The xG also indicates the Timbers should’ve scored at least one or two goals, since they finished the game with 1.62 expected goals, to San Jose’s 1.21.
Final thoughts
The Timbers did well against San Jose. It was a convincing performance in so many ways, but they still need to find success in the final third. They’ve managed to score only two goals in their last six games, and that’s just not enough.
Right now they’re in the ninth position of the table, barely hanging on the last playoff spot, and we already have passed the first half of the season. It’s getting real, and Portland needs to start to make stronger performances in the final third and find a way to score more goals ASAP.
