Two Steps Forward...
Portland Timbers vs San Jose - Game 11
Hope bubble…
I really wanted to see a victory this game. There was a nice pot of hope brewing in me, that this team was on par with the best in the league. I DO think they can play at the same level as the best, but this game showed me they cannot do it consistently.
The goals against count has been rising over the last few games -- 2 from KC, 3 from LAFC, 2 from the Galaxy, and that appears to have been a warning sign that the defense was about to lose the plot.
I'm not making any bold statements that this is a season defining game, other than it is not, but I do feel like this team still hasn't figured out how to play their desired style, for a full game.
So now I'm assessing why this lineup gave up so many bad goals.
Injuries?
I was surprised to see no Pantemis, Fory, Chara, or Rodriguez on the team, yet alone not starting. What happened there? I heard an announcer say that Jimmy P was injured so he wouldn't be playing. There was nothing on social media and after the match I finally looked on the MLS site to find this:
How many of those are real, who can say? I know with the large number of games this month, I imagine there was some creative license taken to give players a rest. I guess we'll see who is available for the US Open Cup game on Tuesday.
In any event, we had Bravo and Crepeau in, with a bench of Kevin Kelsy, Omir Fernandez, and Ari Lassiter as attacking subs. Ayala and Ortiz were our holding mids, and the lack of those mentioned above, was definitely felt.
Cut me...
It was painful to watch the Timbers fall prey to the cutback ball over and over. From what I could see, Bravo and Mosquera were both too far up the field several times in the first half and Ortiz and Ayala weren't working in a pivot to provide support for the back line. San Jose had it way too easy and our "team defense" could be called nothing of the sort.
Finn Surman also seemed to struggle a bit. I don't put it all on him but he was faked out and slow to respond on several goals. Maxime was also unspectacular in his return as keeper. I don't fault him for the goals but I definitely feel like we lose something at the back when Jimmy isn't playing. That does not reflect well on Max and his leadership of the defense.
Overall, the back line did not seem to communicate well or track runners as needed.
In the second half, things cleaned up a bit, I wrote a note of Bravo running up the sideline, then passing the ball and instead of continuing his run, he held up and then pulled back on defense. I assume that he was following the original plan pointed out to the team "again" at half-time but, damage already done. I haven't listened to Phil's post-game press conference yet but I saw a quote that he felt the team didn't stick to the plan, and that sounds and looked right to me.
And that brings me back to my original point: This team is good, can be great, but doesn't yet have the mentality it takes to be a champion.
Who knows, maybe they'll learn from this game, keep it in their back pocket, pull it out when they're feeling cocky, and will adopt that ruthless mentality that I want to see so badly.
Until then, I expect we'll see a lot more of these preventable goals and haphazard defensive play.
A New Hope... (yes, May 4th people)
Tuesday we kick off our foray into this year's US Open Cup. I fully expect the Timbers to take this seriously and field a strong team. This is a competition I feel they are more likely to win than MLS Cup and since we've never won it and it grants a CONCACAF Champions Cup berth, it's well worth the effort.
May Day
This is one seriously busy month of games. The Timbers could realistically be playing two games a week until June. I sure hope the "injuries" above aren't actually long-term as the depth of this squad and its ability to stick to the plan are going to be challenged in ways they haven't seen yet.
I suspect in one months time, we will have a good handle on exactly who this Timbers team really is.
The Deets:
Next Game: At Tacoma Defiance - US Open Cup
Time: 7pm PT
On: CBS Sports, Paramount +
Current Standings:
Place: 3rd (2nd, 4th, 4th)
PPG: 1.64 (1.8, 1.67, 1.75)
My Match Ratings:
Top Offensive Player: Mora (He got the goal, it was a good one, and he worked his ass off)
Top Defensive Player: NONE
Flop Defensive Player: Surman (he was out of position and lost his man or didn't challenge fast enough on several goals)
Match Officials:
Rating levels -- Ghost (best), Ninja (decent), Circus Clown (poor), Elon Musk (worst)
Match Officials Rating: Ghost
This was not a match affected by the officials. I'd say VR also being in place made sure the Timbers didn't lose by two additional goals that were very tight. The ref called a decent game, didn't make it about him, and therefore gets a ghost rating. (Also, the stoppage time was much more reasonable this week)