 |
| Keep the happy memories, wherever you find them. |
Periodically, and only through the latter half of the
season, I’ve asked - no, demanded - that the Portland Timbers rest key players - your Diegos (Chara and Valeri) and, although I’ve never mentioned the
centerbacks, or fullbacks, I was glad to see Zarek Valentin and Larrys Mabiala
catch a breather. When the Timbers did that tonight...it did not go well.
Factually, if you’ve got any belief in this team left (and I do, if in
heavily-caveated form), the first half of Minnesota United FC’s 3-2 win over
Portland felt like someone pulling your esophagus out through your asshole.
That goes double when you’ve been persistently arguing, directly or indirectly,
that the Timbers have to trust their depth.
To start with the first half (I mean, why not?), and let’s
take the Timbers out of the equation, I would have never expected any assemblage
of professional players to crumble under pressure like that. Minnesota sicced a player on every ball before Portland players could take a breath, and Portland gave away
their giveaways often and by every available means - e.g., stalling on the
ball, through panicked, yet ambitious passing, and, in Alvas Powell’s case, by letting
indecision cause the professional athlete’s version of a seizure. Warning signs
flashed miles/minutes ahead of the goals Minnesota scored and, after all those
goals piled on (this one by a defender...nice), I was anticipating the second half like a cancer diagnosis.
Something else happened instead - and I’d argue that only complicated the
proper understanding of the mess that was tonight.
I appreciate that a stats-loathing crowd exists within the
soccer world; I would’ve called myself a card-carrying member for years, but,
between not having enough time to follow all the teams and beginning to wonder
whether watching every game isn’t just a pathway to more elegant bullshitting,
I’ve come around to numbers. And no specific stat captures the shift in game
state in this game quite like shots: at the half, Minnesota had 13 shots, 8 on
goal to Portland’s 4 shots and 1 on goal. Now comes the flip: the game ended
with Minnesota on 18 shots, 10 on goal, while the Timbers finished with 12 and
5 - a number that puts the second half at 5 shots, 2 on versus 8 shots, 4 on. And the game looked like that, and I think that's clarifying. In this case, those numbers told the story (there are no bad stats, there are
only stats badly applied).
To step away from the top-line, tonight was all about testing
a personal theory that the Timbers can rest key players without falling apart.
With that in mind, I report, and with some sorrow, that the live demonstration of
a Tomas Conechny start hinted heavily that he’s not yet ready for prime time, and that’s
the worst thing about tonight. (Also, is Lucas Melano ready for...any time?) I understand the concept of “young player,”
but the contrast between Sebastian Blanco finding the ball versus Conechny’s protracted, and likely accidental, hiding from it is damning. I won’t judge Conechny on this one game because,
isolated, “meh” instances aside, I never really saw him. Then again, I clearly wasn't the only person to find him underwhelming: Conechny was subbed at the half, and that Portland - again, by the numbers (and
through the eyes) - looked, and shot, far, far better in the second half. To note it, this came before Diego Valeri’s entered the game.
It was Diego Chara who came into the game at the half and, probably, settled everything down. Never forget that, and starting
building the mold for that statue. I have persuasive arguments on this subject,
don’t test me.
As for the Timbers’ recovery, sure, their first (glorious) goal was fluky AF, but, if they all count the same, that Powell’s Hammer should
count a little more, not least because it came out of the left side of fucking
nowhere. As hinted at above, maybe too lightly, Powell was a fucking wreck in
the first half, a bundle of nerves and bad decisions for a full, agonizing 45
minutes. Worse, he was not alone. Within in the first half, I can only defend
the games of the following: Blanco, Andres Flores, and Liam Ridgewell (yeah, I
saw the slow half-step, and will defend it). I want to defend Samuel Armenteros
here on the grounds he got terrible service, but he attempted enough “flair”
plays for a magic show tonight, and none of them outside a one-man-show shot on
goal at that 48th minute remotely came off. You can fuck up by trying too
hard, something else to not never forget.
The last two paragraphs, between them, get at why I see this
game as a counter-point: on the evidence, the Timbers can’t win without playing
its best team, and that has depressing implications all over. Literally, all
over.
Before wrapping up, I want to make one thing very, very
clear: this wasn’t a game Portland should’ve expected to win. Minnesota hasn’t
just been very good at home all season, they’ve been improving since the start
of 2018. They’ve added attacking pieces since the start of 2018 who have paid
off somewhere between “like a motherfucker” (Darwin Quintero) and generally (the suddenly gimpy Romario Ibarra).
If you’d known about how steadily The Loons played at home, you’d be, 1) less
shocked by the result and, 2) more impressed by the Timbers’ comeback. Ibarra
bagged a brace tonight before Portland ever got started. Sure, you can rue
Minnesota’s third goal, and the entire, disastrous first half, but you can also
take comfort in having a clearer sense of the Timbers' options on the bench....maybe you don't make up a jersey for Melano if you're not gonna use him?
Until tonight, I could always daydream about the quality of Portland's depth; it was nice to have something speculative to hold onto (think a deed to land with sweet, sweet (but also unexplored) mineral rights!). We saw what happened tonight and,
whatever you think of it (it was bad, bad!), there’s nothing to do about it
now. This team will only get as far as its real starters and deft
man-management take it. I want to think of tonight as a pure gamble, rolling
the dice and seeing which side of them gazed to the heavens at the end (snake eyes, dammit). All in all, the Timbers are in a tricky
spot - they have an aging first team that’s fine, more or less, but they also
don’t have a second gear. And that’s probably why it won’t matter a ton if they
make the playoffs: Portland has a good team, but also a one-dimensional one.
I have one final thought and that goes back to David Guzman,
a player who I consider as pivotal as any other Timber in the here and now. If
he has a role on the team, I’d argue that it comes with creating from depth -
i.e., it’s his job, in other words (and as I interpret it), to spread the field
from a deep position. That matters even more because Guzman is neither a great
tackler (think Jewsbury, who I suddenly miss a ton), nor a great tracker
(think, Chara), which leaves great passing
as his only real upside. For those who caught a tweet I posted on Friday (any hands?), I'd hoped Guzman woukld be the stepping stone to getting the attack out of first gear. On
tonight’s performance, with all the giveaways in the first half and the general
anonymity in the second, it’s hard to be optimistic about the Timbers’ chances
in the MLS 2018 playoffs.
I still think Portland will make them; the fight tonight, as well
as the competence of the key players, should lift them over that low bar. I’m
fucking thrilled to see the Timbers FO start managing minutes, even while I
understand that this might have been the one and only time it was possible
(good job, guys!). But, barring a late revelation, literally something Timbers
fans haven’t seen before, they’ll stall between the play-in, or the first home-and-home series against whomever. Again, if this team makes, never mind wins, MLS Cup, I’ve got $100
on the line. Which, after some thought, I might just sprinkle on the ground
outside my house, instead of just handing $5 bills to strangers...seems like a good way to get arrested, really.
To wrap up this particular game, no, it wasn’t good.
Moreover, it got to why other teams shouldn’t think too much about the Portland
Timbers when they game-plan for the 2018 post-season. After all, if you can’t
beat a mediocre team that’s good at home, how the hell are you going to reach
MLS Cup?
I can still see it, people. But I’ll stop seeing it if this
team doesn’t get all three points against FC Dallas next weekend. All for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment