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| I'm good. |
It didn’t show up in the score-line, but the field hella
tilted toward the Vancouver Whitecaps’ side of the field throughout the night.
And that’s just one reason why the Portland Timbers beat them by an understated 2-1. All the same, that understatement has a lot of qualifiers.
It starts with Vancouver’s starting eleven and, frankly, a
bunch of stuff that I’m simply not getting from the commentating crew. For
instance, if Vancouver is treating this game as one last dress rehearsal prior
to ducking into their CONCACAF Champions’ League series against (pretty sure,
but I don’t care enough to look it up) the New York Red Bulls, then, no, I don’t
understand that starting line-up. Sure, I can see Russell Teibert out there
over the (later to be proved more effective, and, c’mon, who’re we kidding?)
Andrew Jacobsen, but why is Nigel de Jong playing (maybe) the Left 3 in a
4-2-3-1? Because, golly, that’s not his skill-set. Giles Barnes is an on-acid vivid open field player, so who the hell came up with the terrible idea of
stuffing him into the No. 10 role, where he’s got goons nipping at his heels at every
turn? That man is pure quick-slash-with-the-dagger, not the player who picks
the lock.
All in all, I went into the 60th minute thinking that
Portland’s coach, Caleb Porter, had held the better cards (seriously), but played
the weaker hand, but I premised that on the idea that Robinson rested his starters so that they'd, 1) not burn too much going into the big games; and 2) they'd turn the tables on a tired Portland team. I was wrong, wrong, wrong, though, because, take away the Cristian
Techera free-kick (and, for the record, missed the foul, but does it really
matter? I mean, that stuff happens), and the Whitecaps barely showed up
tonight. Hold on…I’m scouring my notes for exonerating details for Vancouver’s overall
outing. I think I end on the over-arching and important statement that
Vancouver will not be this bad again this season (and, if they are, god bless
you Carl Robinson, because you’re fucked) and David Ousted looks close to
possessed in his mission of absolutely fucking killing every last ghost of his
sharply sub-par 2016 season. We’re talking Biblical and/or Rome v. Carthage
level hatred. Serious shit, basically.
As for Portland, I have, literally, one complaint. I’ll get
to that shortly, because I want to start with one fun detail. Tonight, more
than any thought or moment, confirmed a couple ideas that seem fundamental to
the Portland Timbers’ 2017. In no particular order:
1) I would take as little as possible from tonight’s game
because it demonstrates one of soccer’s great truisms: if one team can’t find a
way to pressure the other, the game will necessarily be lopsided. An attack
that depends on de Jong finding a way around an outside back without a leading
pass to help him, and using Giles Barnes to combine through traffic, and all of
that with Erik Hurtado up top, has more going against it than for it. That’s
less about those players than playing those players (yes, aware of the pile-up
of “player”) in weird, dumb spots. All I’m saying is, I’m continuing to think
about Carl Robinson’s place in the world, not starting to.
2) On Portland’s side, it’s still very much the Diego Valeri
and Fanendo Adi Show. As much as I think the night belonged to Vytas (cheerio,
pip, pip!), and as much as I thought Adi looked a little sloppy here and there tonight
(screw it; the man deserves a few nights off), both players facilitated play
all over (Valeri, especially, who looks as good as he ever has, if not better
in terms of preseason), and, as is their wont, showed up in the decisive
moments, too. That’s less a knock on the rest of the team (Dairon Asprilla
excepted, though even he improved over the course of the game) than to say
that, if Sebastian Blanco really starts rolling for Portland…holy shit. Just,
HOLY SHIT!
Before digging into details, I want to flag just one moment in
the game – and it’s not even a moment that lead to anything, but it framed an idea like a photograph, only in real-time. First, there’s a little prefacing:
Portland gloriously worked its way into Vancouver’s 18 at least twice during
the period after the ‘Caps put on a few of their starters – so, by that I mean,
the Timbers were playing something closer to Vancouver’s best…and they still
walked the ball in. Both shots fell to Darren Mattocks and he did good by both
of them; Ousted did better by one, and Mattocks could only stab at the other.
Still, if Portland can do that all year, we are in A World of High Upside.
Le Moment Magique in my mind was a little more subtle. To
set the scene, the ball found Valeri a few steps on top and to the left of
Vancouver’s 18; Darlington Nagbe, meanwhile, lurked to his right near the top
of the 18. What made this play fun was watching Nagbe hang back while Valeri
lunged in; that mattered because Nagbe knew that, by hanging back, he created
space for Valeri’s lunge; more to the point, Nagbe also knew that, even if
Valeri got a step ahead of him, he was fine holding his run because Valeri
would be able to skip the ball to him, even if from a step ahead, and Nagbe
knew he could cope with the pass that followed too. This goes without saying,
but, when the level of faith is that high, it’s a little easier to believe.
(TM)
All in all, I’m feeling real, real positive about the
Timbers’ chances right now – and that’s even without the team signing a
starting centerback. As I see it, and – UGH, jesus, YES! I know this is
preseason – Portland looks, like, eye-catchingly solid in the middle, if only
when the starting line-up takes the field. All the same, I mentioned a
complaint up top, so I better get to that before I start falling all over
myself (and dramatically fainting onto the chaise lounge, and posing
provocatively over the arm of the couch), about how the Timbers look this
season.
Talking Points
1) Lawrence Olum Doesn’t Pass Very Well, And This Is More
Interesting Than You Think
For a small stretch immediately after halftime tonight, I joined in a frothy debate on twitter about Liam Ridgewell’s relative quality when it comes to
centerbacks with good ideas about how to pass out of the back. My opponent came
at me with statistics (valid ones, too), I came back at him with the eye test. When it comes to soccer, I might think stats are largely shit (no, in virtually all
cases I do), but I’m also not willing to discard a raw number just
because the eye test tells me to. As such, and to get back to the title of this
sub-section, I’d be willing to accept that Olum underhit, overhit, and
generally caused more problems than he solved tonight while passing out of the back, but I’m still OK with
him in the defense, so long as he serves the primary purpose of any good
defender – e.g. getting in the way.
Swear to god, people over-think this shit. And, yes, I still
question the meaning of that long-ball statistic. Hell, I’m not even sure “saves”
means shit as anything beyond the loose, useful reminder that your goalkeeper
was busy.
2) Vytas and Nagbe
This partnership worked tonight pretty well as I assumed it
would – e.g., Vytas goes forward while Nagbe leans back. While a couple more
goals would have been nice, especially given the relative dominance, I do
believe that Portland has a great two-pronged attack from the left, and
promising (and well-compensated) seeds of the same on the right. I can’t close
this section without admitting the Vancouver’s defense dropped too deep on both
of Portland’s goals (e.g., they ball-watched), but Valeri’s run on the first
goal (late, even if not by much) speaks eloquently to the Lithuanian’s upside
as a Timber. And then Nagbe drops back, per his natural inclination…..drool…
3) The Anchor
GUYS. Based on tonight alone – and, crucially, with just,
like, a month to build it up - the Diego Chara / David Guzman central midfield
pairing looks like two well-oiled cogs turning one another in righteous
circles. As someone who indulges in (positive) hyperbole on cycles that track eclipses
(rare? right?), I think Portland has an actually elite midfield pairing for
2017, for as long as it may last (by injury and/or act of an angry god) and may
god bless it. I read the same thing about how immediately simpatico Guzman and
Chara are right now, but I never thought I’d see it on the field so soon. My
point is, and this comes from nothing, these guys talked about soccer on the
way in. They look good right now.
Overall, I don’t read anything into Portland’s preseason
beyond anything that feels like something the team can work with. And, happily,
I’m seeing that stuff, as well as greenshoots all over…
…here’s a funny thing, though. What if everyone else does
what we’re doing, only better?
I think we’re about to enter into a VERY interesting time…
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