Monday, May 28, 2018

Colorado Rapids 2-3 Portland Timbers: The Simplest Joys (and Choices)

Life is better when time/space bends.
“I expect more of myself than that.”
- Samuel Armenteros, saying exactly what you want a player to say
Armenteros undoubtedly endeared himself to, well, every person who cries green and gold in either mood (joy and sadness, obvs), and he hit the perfect tone with his humble and hungry post-game interview with Nat Borchers. Diego Valeri, on the other hand, probably struck a deeper vein when he had his turn to chat with Borchers; so long as a team knows what it’s doing out there, the questions start and end with doing it and, in Valeri’s words, not thinking about the past. What I mean is, sometimes a pile of clichés about just doing better, being better says everything. Especially when you’re on a six-game winning streak. Alternately (or not), there this:

“The Timbers probably aren't thinking much about the big picture.”
I lifted that from MLSSoccer.com’s recap, precisely because I’m not entirely sure what it means. These Timbers are playing well and just needs to keep doing…just that - i.e., as Valeri and Armenteros said, between them, they just need to keep doing what they do, only more and better. The scales balanced out in the box score, but a Colorado Rapids team looking for bright spots needs better. The Timbers, meanwhile, have all the good news they could possibly want: a confident road win where the opposition could only score through the Timbers defense - e.g., Julio Cascante’s trying-too-hard (but thanks for trying!) own-goal and a late, late show penalty that I, frankly, didn’t care enough to get upset about. And here’s why:
“I expect boring and low-scoring. Worst-case, the Colorado Rapids hold down the fort for 80+ minutes, then steal a goal/win after Portland’s legs/lungs give out.”


“Best case the Portland Timbers scores early, forcing the Rapids to play. Could run up the score on that  (8/10)”
That tweet, by me and one day before the game, amounts to what I expect to be a mediocre movie and walking out…just thrilled. This game was my Wachowski (Then?) Brothers' Speed Racer, basically, with way less cool lights/effects (OMG, it's full of stars) and perhaps a couple fewer fleets of fancy. Don’t me wrong: that’s a good thing. The Portland Timbers have again achieved the state of semi-boring, somewhat-reliable predictability that results in one win after another. Six wins, in fact.

Still, the game played against those expectations - even before Portland scored. The Rapids played like a team hunting hungrily for a win, and that resulted into some reasonably satisfying end-to-end play. On the other hand, The Rapids, as a team with an appalling 4 goals scored in six games (hold on, math: that’s 0.67 goals per game) has no reasonable expectation of keeping up when the pace hits a higher gear. I won’t go into depth on Colorado, mostly because I can’t. While I always watch these games in various states of distraction, this viewing featured more “shiny objects” than most (kittens, friends, family; it was intense, and welcome). For all that, the attempts from them that I saw in the match highlights didn’t stand out in the game - and that’s mostly because the whole thing got swallowed in a perspectival haze that read, “STRUGGLING.” If nothing else, they don’t have the foot speed in defense (paging Marvell Wynne, the Rapids’ former cheat-code) to pin a team in - especially one that counter-attacks as ably as the Timbers. OK, yes, I’ll comment on it.

I’m less excited about the specific, spectacular goal Armenteros scored - which, to be clear, was amazing - than I am that he got himself in position for a hat trick (is that hyphenated? do I care?) and, but for want of a right foot, would have had one. The goal itself was a marvel of invention, even if one replay that I can’t find just now shows that he lost the ball for a split second (and it’s really worth listening to Armenteros’ walk through it in that interview up top, at least if you’ve had that kind of semi-conscious moment, no matter the level). That finish, though, that’s the thing I’ll remember, personally. Just…perfection, a nice spinning curl, etc.

Before moving on, let me briefly speculate that Diego Valeri’s game-clinching (though not butt-clenching, thankfully) goal might have required more subtlety. I mean, to freeze the defender like that. And then Tim Howard….do spare a thought for Tim Howard? I mentioned the Rapids’ problems on the goal-scoring side of the ball, but this makes 15 goals surrendered in those same six games - a solid 2.5 goals allowed per game, on top of a curse on a team that can’t score. Imagine being one of the best goal-keepers in U.S. history (just this guy) and playing behind that kind of defense.

I’m going to return to, and end on, Armenteros, because, based on the evidence, I don’t think there’s a ton to sort out with the Portland Timbers right now. Sure, the defense broke down more often than anyone would like, and Portland could very well have doubled Colorado’s goal production for their abysmal streak (hold on…math; eh, not quite; the Rapids’ 2 goals in their previous 5 games put them at 0.4 goals per game), but the late penalty looked fluky, and Portland generally kept the Rapids in front of them. Valeri and Sebastian Blanco did their expected damage, especially when set loose in Colorado’s open pastures. Unless Howard’s gloves count on this one, that’s two more assists for Blanco today, another goal for Valeri, and more evidence that this team has a semi-reliable, or until-further-notice formula for winning games. And that brings the topic back to Armenteros.

I’m not going to crap on Fanendo Adi, not least because I don’t think there’s any need. Adi does wonderful things in a game, especially against the right teams - e.g., teams that deploy a pair of big bruising centerbacks and a good shield in front of them (e.g., FC Dallas). Both Adi and Armenteros can play in Portland’s general, break-from-deep system, but they’ll just bring different things to the table. That said, to float my personal, conceptual theory, Adi and Armenteros play different roles in Giovanni Savarese’s current system. For Adi, it’s dropping deeper to receive the ball, while acting as both passing-pivot and occasional channel-runner for Blanco and Valeri. Armenteros, on the other hand, gives Portland a decent back-to-goal presence (seriously, imagine being the next defender to cover Armenteros with his back to goal and his first goal from today fresh in your mind), but his biggest strength comes with making runs, using his pace.

In most circumstances, I’m not unconvinced that Armenteros isn’t the better fit for Blanco and Valeri as they rush into the open field. He gives both Argentines more space in which to operate just by stretching the field, while Adi’s best at compacting the same space and combining (and, it bears noting, by receiving balls from deeper players (e.g., your Charas, your Polos, your Floreses and your Paredeses. Eses). They’re both good options, but not a lot of teams will keep pace with Blanco and Valeri in full flight, and with Armenteros insisting up top.

In all honesty, there’s not much to say about Portland right now, beyond arguing they have things figured out. Colorado is definitely not good at the moment (and that’s a conversation that needs starting), but this was still a road win that, more than anything else, keeps the confidence building streak alive…

…and, yeah, it’s time to talk about peaking. I don’t know that “peaking” really exists per se; personally, I understand it as other teams figuring out how to exploit your weaknesses. I figure someone will solve Portland’s current scheme someday, and that other teams will both use and expand on the same blueprint.

I know something else about Portland. This team has good players this season, at least so far. More to the point and, I’m pretty sure again, the players look really bought in. Look, I’m not even entirely sure what’s going on - especially with Zarek Valentin and Alvas Powell looking something other than vital, ditto for Cristhian Paredes and Andy Polo (or, this week, Andres Flores) - but the results are not just coming, they look better every week, even if in different ways.

There’s a World Cup break coming and, personally, thank god for that, and on multiple levels. All the same, I’m worried that some Western Conference teams, and maybe some relevant Eastern Conference teams (e.g., the ones that Portland will play), will improve/cohere in the interim. Portland looks really good right now - Saturday had them looking like a reliable win, if under the right circumstances - but it really is an agonizingly long season. As much as we have Major League Soccer to thank for that, those are the rules the Timbers, and every other team plays under…

…still, yeah, Portland’s crushing it right now. So, I’ll just enjoy it. Till next week (then some kind of hiatus; film at 11).

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