Portland Timbers 0-0 FC Dallas: A Time to Take Chances

Just because it feels good, doesn't mean it's right.

I’m not sure where to start this post, so I’ll start with Jeff Attinella. Seeing him go down twisted the knot in my stomach a little tighter for the Portland Timbers’ slide down the shute of the 2018 inevitable end-run. It’s not that I think Steve Clark isn’t a good goalkeeper, than I think Attinella is a better ‘keeper. And with the Portland Timbers teetering on the edge of a margin, this team needs every advantage it can get. I don’t know a thing about the recovery time for separating shoulders (it happened a second time, and during the game, right?), but I’d rather have one steady ‘keeper back there, than have a guy start, then try to keep a semi-meaningless ball from rolling off the field, and then, after two-three arduous minutes, get his arm back in place only to have pop out again.

Look, I’m slapping the turf with Jeff Attinella, not at Jeff Attinella. Bottom line, while I might think Attinella is a better ‘keeper, I’m also at a place where I want the best possible, consistently fieldable iteration of the Portland Timbers on the field every week until their whole goddamn season ends - even if that means starting Clark (the fuck you mean “fieldable” isn't a word?).

That said, minus one highly relevant player (see: Blanco, Sebastian), the Timbers fielded its A-team tonight and…look, it’ll take a miracle for this team to do anything serious in 2018. I took a handful of pros and cons away from this game, but the overarching marker for Portland tops out at “good.” A team with any worthwhile mojo wins a game like this - i.e., if they can’t break down one of the top teams in the league with Plan A, they can put a call in to Plan B and get a result or rescue a draw. Generally speaking - and this game coughed up more than the usual number of “yes, buts” - the Timbers aren’t built to do that. That Blanco was missing didn’t help, but, on the evidence, his presence hasn’t been make or break for Portland this season, even as he makes the team usefully better.

At the same time, what goes for Portland applies to Dallas: they’re more or less a solid defensive team with a handful of useful means to get to goal and, Lord willing, score them. Overall, Dallas is every bit as unremarkable as the Timbers - i.e., their results don’t catch the eye, and they’ve lately relied on certain, specific people (in their case, Michael Barrios) to keep them in the running. Close observers of the Portland Timbers should find that both accurate, and a little sad, because, no matter how you arrange the letters, none of what happened tonight, and for either team, spells “G-L-O-R-Y.” Call last night’s 0-0 draw a blown opportunity for both teams, and, holy shit, is that really the first time I mentioned the score?

Then again, what was there to say about “the action” in this match? The (essentially wasted) chance that Larrys Mabiala planted in Cristian Colman’s lap might have been the game’s best. The one clear time the Timbers created a moment ended with Lawrence Olum whacking the ball out from Andy Polo’s feet, while also catching Andy Polo (and, wow, didn't even warrant its own clip; maybe it's in the full highlights?). In Olum’s defense, new systems sometimes confuse even veterans, and Olum definitely played confused at several moments last night. With that - bear with me - we reach the real jumping off point for this post.

I am thrilled about playing any form of a two-forward set-up. That tickly feeling in my tummy follows from the simple idea that Plan A - very basically, defend deep and counter - stopped paying dividends maybe 8, maybe 10 games ago. In that light, this game becomes about figuring out a better way to play, or in this case attack, even if at the last possible hour. If the Timbers make any noise this season, this is what will bring it about - i.e., some new way of getting more players in the attack that doesn’t leave them for dead at the back.

On the other hand, the painful reality is that they don’t have the personnel to field a balanced team. That applies more to the attack than it does to the defense - and I mean that in the sense that Portland can reliably defend better or worse according to how it organizes the defense, but there’s no combination of personnel and/or substitution pattern that says to me, “yes, this is how the Portland Timbers score.” Catch as catch can, aka, the Timbers’ basic method, isn’t a sin, but you don’t put it up as collateral against your mortgage either. When the Timbers started Jeremy Ebobisse next to Samuel Armenteros, that necessarily meant adjusting to a new arrangement in that left the back a little more exposed. In personnel terms, this was swapping David Guzman for Ebobisse.

The question is whether or not trying to tilt into the attack worked or not and, to this point, the answer is “no.” I didn’t see many chances in the game, and I feel even sadder after seeing the numbers. At the same time, I now see a universe in which the Timbers can play those two forwards, if only they figure out how to organize the players behind them. For what it’s worth, I saw enough in Ebobisse’s knock-down/hold-up play to think that he could reasonably complement Armenteros’ preference for defense-stretching runs. All in all, I think there’s a method to the madness of having the Timbers play a two forward set. The sooner the better, I say, and can I get a “harrumph” on that?!

And now - why not? - let’s talk worst-case scenarios. Portland plays its next game against Real Salt Lake, in Utah. When I either tweeted or posted (who remembers, right?) that I thought that I counted the Dallas game a big deal, that followed from the whole damn nexus of ideas around this weekend. Between…several things - e.g., RSL’s recent form at home (10-1-4) and Portland’s road form (3-7-5) - the general odds mitigate against a Timbers win. On the happy side (and through the grace of God) only one of Portland’s immediate rivals - Seattle, because of course - has an easy afternoon next in Week 32 (against Houston, in Seattle). The Galaxy, meanwhile, has to continue its run away to Sporting Kansas City. Back to the Timbers, and this is as opposed to LA, they can be an god-awful pain in the ass to break down when they want to be, and God Bless Plan A, people!

All in all, and my disappointment aside (game as sleep aid), Portland v. Dallas was one damned interesting game (contradiction. pow.) And this where I ride some nitty-gritty to the end of the post.

First, best wishes to Alvas Powell because whatever happened to him looked powerfully uncomfortable, and I’ve been on my share of the wrong side of those. For all that, I mean all that on a human level, by which I mean I want Powell to get better, but I don’t see him as key to anything the Timbers do. With that, God speed, get well, and do feel free to keep trying to be a better player. I’m pulling for ya, kid!

At the same time, based on last night’s performance, and against a team that generally keys to his position, Jorge Villafana sure as hell made it look as if he’s reclaimed starting left back. Everywhere I spotted him last night, I saw Jorge doing good things. Zarek has been good over there, but Villafana can be better. And Zarek can be good at right back too; it’s just that the balance goes elsewhere.

Finally, Lucas Melano played better than I’ve seen him play in…well, to acknowledge the totality of it, I haven’t had much faith in anything but that kid’s (fucking magnificent) hair since 2015, and I don’t feel remotely bad about that. That said, he made the most of his 15+ minutes on the field and that followed from something that’s always eluded him: decisiveness. He started and (nearly) ended his best moment of the night, and that’s what the Timbers need if they want to do anything this season. This team needs a game-changer, whether its Melano or Ebobisse.

Back to the worst case, say Portland ends next weekend on 48 points, while Seattle ends on 50, RSL on 49, and LA on…why not stick with plausible and call it a draw, on 45 points. (That said, if LA wins, they'll be breathing down the Timbers' necks with 47 points.) With RSL ahead of them in the standings, who knows? Maybe they play to starve an already feeble Timbers attack? Another draw would put Portland on 49, while pushing RSL at 50 points, just one ahead of them, and with only two games to play. These are fragile times, basically, and with more permutations than discussed above.

Best case, meanwhile, the Timbers beat RSL in Utah. That puts them on 51 points, and who the Hell cares what Seattle and LA have at that point? Better yet, Portland will then play RSL in Portland and with their heads full of doubt and fear for the future…

…all the same, the Timbers could have ended yesterday with three more points, but they never really threatened to score. They made changes too, and that’s great, because this team needs something new - and before even that wears out (e.g., Valeri and Chara will retire one day, and before you’re ready). I don’t know what the two forward set will do, but I still think it beats the hell out of giving up. More to the point, what’s the difference between losing the championship today, tomorrow, or in early November? The Timbers know they can defend. The question is whether they can win when it counts.

Insofar as I have a vote, I say they go for it.