Portland Timbers 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps: Sorrow, Joy, Perseverance

Now, if he farted right there, it changes everything...

You know that idea where something is “due,” that sort of law of averages principle that something will change, if only because it can’t go on forever? Think that’s called “the gambler’s fallacy,” but I’m not looking it up, because, yolo.

The Portland Timbers were always going to lose a game at some point - even a game at home - but, as with the gambler’s fallacy (again, assuming that’s the phrase), that doesn’t make any more sense of last night’s 1-2 loss tothe Vancouver Whitecaps than chalking it up to The Butterfly Effect. That movie was shit, but I don’t think anyone watched it last night, and that leaves fans looking for other causes.

To name mine, I couldn’t six Timbers - this is just the starters or thereabouts - who played solid games last night: Diego Chara, David Guzman, Zarek Valentin, Alvas Powell, Sebastian Blanco, and, happiest note for me, Andy Polo. In a more generous mood, I’d add Julio Cascante to that list for his several moments of top-notch, one-on-one defending, it’s also impossible to credit a back (really?) four that “team-fucked-up” once, and gave Vancouver as many clear looks as it did. I’d also argue that, for all its gaffes - even the gaffiest gaffe of gaffes by the typically gaffe-free Jeff Attinella (dude…) - those mattered less to the overall outcome than Portland’s unfocused, molasses-laced execution for most of the first half, and its jitters-ridden, yet shockingly effective, attack in the second half.

To turn, now, to the names not listed above, here’s a lot of what happened: Diego Valeri missed a bread-and-butter chance (no highlight, sadly), plus a brutally-timed miss on a penalty kick, but, most importantly, the ‘Caps feasted on picking the ball off his toe on the inlet passes to breakdown Vancouver’s defense; Samuel Armenteros couldn’t find the game and Dairon Asprilla has no game, at least not beyond sweating green-and-gold out there - which is nice and all, but instead of getting excited when the ball falls to Dairon in a good spot, I’m mostly curious as to the precise way he’s going to fuck up the shot. In light of all the above, it felt a little like surrender when Armenteros came off just after the half, but that wound up being…if not the right move, then a right move. Polo gave the team more width (his two runs from wide made the ‘Caps spreads out, if only for a while (example)), and that finally got the Timbers attack rolling.

“Rolling” is loose here, because Portland’s most effective moments came when a ball they crossed in created a mess in Vancouver’s area (example). This featured a lot of bodies and even more flailing, but the former caused the latter, and the Timbers rarely managed a clean shot. When those rare occasions came around, they drew penalties - one by Valeri and another by Blanco - and, again, this whole thing fucking grates because Portland lost this game more than Vancouver won it. And yet, credit to key ‘Caps’ players for their execution - Kei Kamara doing his open-field wrecking-ball thing (first goal, and more), Brek Shea making the most of the pastures he had to run in (second goal, and more), and Cristian Techera’s small-man ghosting on one end (again, second goal), and I was really impressed by Aly Ghazal (Vancouver’s No. 66) as the epicenter of Vancouver’s defense. A bunch of kicking later, some cleaner than others, and that’s Vancouver walking out with three points. Portland could have won this game (instead of bounding off the bar...), they should have drawn it, but they did neither in the end.

Sigh.

For all the above, some heartening silver linings linger in all the grey of a….it’s called what again? Ah, yes, a loss. (You know how you lose track of what to call the sun during Portland winters?) To start with my favorite, I just had a blast watching Alvas Powell, not just last night, but lately. It wasn’t until Ross Smith said the word “confidence,” however, till I appreciated what I’m seeing. The kid thinks he’s Jesus out there, something that’s most apparent when Powell makes a great defensive play and follows it up by attempting either an impossible “hero” pass or a run through every single opposing player on the field. It comes off about as often as you’d expect, but I don’t mind it because, 1) Powell is locked-in, and 2) it’s just so damn fun to watch. Credit Giovanni Savarese for finding a sound way to use Powell this season, or at least lately.

Blanco, meanwhile, presents a tougher case - and walked along a similar line. He was, without question, the Timbers’ most effective attacking player - especially in the second half, when the tactical shifts opened up more space for him. He found more seams, and made more of them, than any player on the field. Like Powell, though, he also tried to do too much, taking too many dribbles, holding the ball too long, etc. etc. I don’t remotely blame him for it, either, the team needed it. And that makes this silver lining a little bigger: when other players struggle, Blanco is there to step out, and often does. It’s good having more than one go-to guy out there, if not better than good.

To name the biggest blemish, besides the loss, I mean, it’s a slow slippage in Valeri’s play that I’ve either seen lately, or have decided to create as a short-hand for “things going wrong.” He was sloppy last night, and globally - bad touches, wayward passes, and a general lack of sharpness (e.g., all the times he lost the ball, or a ‘Caps player stepped in front of him) - and I’ve seen that more than once this season, and more than I’d like to lately. To give him full credit, few players respond as positively to loose performances as Valeri does (with Asprilla-like intensity) and, again, that makes him one hell of a captain; by insisting he take the second penalty, Valeri took full responsibility for his penalty kick miss, and that’s badass by definition. What’s going on? Dunno, but it’s nothing awful, something more like fatigue than the beginning of a decline. Maybe give the guy a couple starts off to take a little wear off his body, maybe even get him hungry again - and I make that point without questioning his competitiveness. It’s a long season is all, so maybe there’s some wisdom in giving him a spell.

I’m going to wrap up there, not because there isn’t any more to say (e.g., did Vancouver play around Portland’s midfield, or did the Timbers midfield keep getting caught too high; what the hell is Portland going to do about a legit shortage at forward, etc.?), but because I think last night’s loss turned on the things above - and that those things above speak to how well Portland bounces back from this loss this Wednesday against DC United. We’ve got a quick turn-around, y’all, and another debriefing/deconstruction just a few days from now. Till then.