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| Ooh, better than my metaphor... |
That was weird, right? Fun, for sure…but weird.
No question surrounds the game’s decisive factor: the Los Angeles Galaxy’s defense, which fucking s-s-s-s-s-sucked tonight. I’m going to check something, but I swear I’m not peaking. How many shots on goal did the Portland Timbers post tonight?
Ah, off by one. I was almost certain the Timbers had as many shots on goal and they had goals tonight, but that still makes the same point: Portland put just 10 shots on LA’s goal tonight, and that’s a rarefied strike-rate, six to ten. Or the indication of a defense - and a back-line, in particular - at odds with itself. When Portland broke down the Galaxy’s defense tonight, I damn near shattered - see here and definitely here. How many things had to go wrong, all the way down to LA’s defense almost miraculously keeping Jorge Villafana onside for the knock-back to Eryk Williamson (right?) - and, like most miracles, you don’t want to look too closely (fuck off, VAR!) - for that goal to come together? And yet, the Galaxy still had a couple more fuck-ups in ‘em, and on that one play, God bless ‘em.
That takes nothing away from Jeremy Ebobisse’s hammer of a short-range free-kick (and I’m always shocked when they go in clean from that close), or Diego Valeri’s cross-body, seeing-eye lob over LA ‘keeper, David Bingham, who probably didn’t even know he was exposed until he watched the ball sail over his head. In true Timbers fashion, they gave fans reason to doubt they’d hold a succession of leads, but they held on for what, when you add it all up, was a solid 6-3 win. And, for those not keeping track, Portland has built an impressive road record since coming back from Orlando. That kind of resilience serves a team well in playoff systems.
LA fought sporadically but fought hard when they did. For stretches of the game, they pushed the ball back into Portland’s half as if sending wave after wave of fresh players at them (it’s good; it was just the same eleven dudes). And congrats to Julian Araujo on his first MLS goal, because breaking your duck that hard sticks nicely in the memory, but it captured the essence of LA’s attack tonight: if you take away Christian Pavon’s final attempt to throw his team a life-line, something about the Galaxy attack felt over-improvised. I held out Pavon’s goal because, going from memory and broadcast-booth chatter, he tries that same move all the time. At times, LA took a basketball-style approach to Pavon - e.g., give him the rock and let him loose.
On those occasions the Galaxy actually got going and pulled Portland apart, Dario Zuparic had either the right line (the flawless, squeaky clean tackle to stuff (I think) Ethan Zubak, alone on goal), or position (see cutting out cut-back that would have been a tap-in for at least two Galaxy attackers). Mabiala, meanwhile, seemed to get to everything anywhere near him, even kicking away a ball over this head; dude’s legs looked eight-feet long out there tonight. The entire defense, on the individual level, played strong games tonight: I’m getting more comfortable with Bonilla, and Villafana was freakin’ Zelig out there tonight. They gave up three, obviously, something a defense gets away with something closer to annually, and, whatever I thought of their individual performances, Zubak’s goal was soft.
Something else that stood out: this game looked nothing like Portland’s last two. Seattle’s Cristian Roldan exaggerwhined about Portland’s defense playing deep against them, but he wasn’t wrong about the Timbers overall posture, not to mention how much they struggled to break out of Seattle’s pressure. Hell, the Vancouver Whitecaps looked sharper and more enterprising than the Timbers the very next week - the Whitecaps! - and Portland played that game “on the road” at Providence Park. If I had to name the difference, it would be the way the Timbers got after the Galaxy in the first 10 minutes. And, once they discovered they could, they played like it would just keep going for the full 90 minutes. Araujo’s goal stunned them like a sucker-punch, and they spent the rest of the first half recovering, but there was something comi-tragic about the timing of Portland’s goals from the half-time whistle: the Galaxy would strive and spazz to put pressure on Portland’s defense, only to have the Timbers punish one turn-over after the other into a break-out.
The best example of that, and the only one that resulted directly in a goal, shows the template. First, thank gods Williamson had enough speed and strength the slip the blockade inside Portland’s defensive third. When he finally shrugged off his pursuer and sprinted clean, he found Valeri just over the midfield stripe, who found Yimmi Chara at the top of LA’s 18. Some very tidy work by Yimmi, one simple pass to Villafana, and a grass-cutting pass across LA’s box later, Felipe Mora tapped in a goal at the far post, putting the Timbers back up 4-2. And that’s how the game felt - i.e., that LA could never catch up, like one of those dreams where you can see something and chase it, but never catch it. No matter how hard they tried, Portland would always put another past them. Or two. How often does anyone get to type that?
Right, let’s wrap this one up with all the thoughts I couldn’t get into the narrative.
- Portland out-possessed LA and, dare I say, passed them to death? That happens what? Like once every six games?
- I really like Mora. He’s smart, he knows where to put himself, he has a confident shot, and he’s…just weirdly good at hold-up play. I know I’ve said that before, but it surprises me every time.
- Yimmi Chara has quietly made himself pretty useful - see Portland’s (and Mora’s game-opener), for one - and I don’t see that getting noted as much as I’d expect. It’s only three goals and, now, one assist, but they’re all pretty recent and look more and more replicable.
- I’m consistently dubious on Villafana, but I can’t make that hold up this season. He’s been good to very good in 2020 and I’d hate to be the guy trying to push him out of the starting XI right now. Would I still start Marco Farfan over him? Yes. Can I justify that? No, not really.
- To close on the dark side of the coin, damn, have Cristhian Paredes and Marvin Loria regressed. Williamson had ample good moments tonight, but he’s not the same player that caught everyone’s eye in Orlando. I have no questions about Williamson right now, who’s only had one game I’d call bad, but Paredes got spun dizzy tonight and in both directions, and Loria could never seem to make up his mind on what to do, regardless of the space he had. That they left me pining for Andy Polo says everything about where I rate them as depth pieces right now.
That’s all for this one. Till the next game. And pour one out for the Colorado Rapids. I took a cheap shot at them in the last general MLS post and, while it's the kind of joke I'd make about myself (trust me), they're dealing with something awful and scary and I wish the best to all the players and staff who tested positive for COVID, and for the loved ones worrying about them.
No question surrounds the game’s decisive factor: the Los Angeles Galaxy’s defense, which fucking s-s-s-s-s-sucked tonight. I’m going to check something, but I swear I’m not peaking. How many shots on goal did the Portland Timbers post tonight?
Ah, off by one. I was almost certain the Timbers had as many shots on goal and they had goals tonight, but that still makes the same point: Portland put just 10 shots on LA’s goal tonight, and that’s a rarefied strike-rate, six to ten. Or the indication of a defense - and a back-line, in particular - at odds with itself. When Portland broke down the Galaxy’s defense tonight, I damn near shattered - see here and definitely here. How many things had to go wrong, all the way down to LA’s defense almost miraculously keeping Jorge Villafana onside for the knock-back to Eryk Williamson (right?) - and, like most miracles, you don’t want to look too closely (fuck off, VAR!) - for that goal to come together? And yet, the Galaxy still had a couple more fuck-ups in ‘em, and on that one play, God bless ‘em.
That takes nothing away from Jeremy Ebobisse’s hammer of a short-range free-kick (and I’m always shocked when they go in clean from that close), or Diego Valeri’s cross-body, seeing-eye lob over LA ‘keeper, David Bingham, who probably didn’t even know he was exposed until he watched the ball sail over his head. In true Timbers fashion, they gave fans reason to doubt they’d hold a succession of leads, but they held on for what, when you add it all up, was a solid 6-3 win. And, for those not keeping track, Portland has built an impressive road record since coming back from Orlando. That kind of resilience serves a team well in playoff systems.
LA fought sporadically but fought hard when they did. For stretches of the game, they pushed the ball back into Portland’s half as if sending wave after wave of fresh players at them (it’s good; it was just the same eleven dudes). And congrats to Julian Araujo on his first MLS goal, because breaking your duck that hard sticks nicely in the memory, but it captured the essence of LA’s attack tonight: if you take away Christian Pavon’s final attempt to throw his team a life-line, something about the Galaxy attack felt over-improvised. I held out Pavon’s goal because, going from memory and broadcast-booth chatter, he tries that same move all the time. At times, LA took a basketball-style approach to Pavon - e.g., give him the rock and let him loose.
On those occasions the Galaxy actually got going and pulled Portland apart, Dario Zuparic had either the right line (the flawless, squeaky clean tackle to stuff (I think) Ethan Zubak, alone on goal), or position (see cutting out cut-back that would have been a tap-in for at least two Galaxy attackers). Mabiala, meanwhile, seemed to get to everything anywhere near him, even kicking away a ball over this head; dude’s legs looked eight-feet long out there tonight. The entire defense, on the individual level, played strong games tonight: I’m getting more comfortable with Bonilla, and Villafana was freakin’ Zelig out there tonight. They gave up three, obviously, something a defense gets away with something closer to annually, and, whatever I thought of their individual performances, Zubak’s goal was soft.
Something else that stood out: this game looked nothing like Portland’s last two. Seattle’s Cristian Roldan exaggerwhined about Portland’s defense playing deep against them, but he wasn’t wrong about the Timbers overall posture, not to mention how much they struggled to break out of Seattle’s pressure. Hell, the Vancouver Whitecaps looked sharper and more enterprising than the Timbers the very next week - the Whitecaps! - and Portland played that game “on the road” at Providence Park. If I had to name the difference, it would be the way the Timbers got after the Galaxy in the first 10 minutes. And, once they discovered they could, they played like it would just keep going for the full 90 minutes. Araujo’s goal stunned them like a sucker-punch, and they spent the rest of the first half recovering, but there was something comi-tragic about the timing of Portland’s goals from the half-time whistle: the Galaxy would strive and spazz to put pressure on Portland’s defense, only to have the Timbers punish one turn-over after the other into a break-out.
The best example of that, and the only one that resulted directly in a goal, shows the template. First, thank gods Williamson had enough speed and strength the slip the blockade inside Portland’s defensive third. When he finally shrugged off his pursuer and sprinted clean, he found Valeri just over the midfield stripe, who found Yimmi Chara at the top of LA’s 18. Some very tidy work by Yimmi, one simple pass to Villafana, and a grass-cutting pass across LA’s box later, Felipe Mora tapped in a goal at the far post, putting the Timbers back up 4-2. And that’s how the game felt - i.e., that LA could never catch up, like one of those dreams where you can see something and chase it, but never catch it. No matter how hard they tried, Portland would always put another past them. Or two. How often does anyone get to type that?
Right, let’s wrap this one up with all the thoughts I couldn’t get into the narrative.
- Portland out-possessed LA and, dare I say, passed them to death? That happens what? Like once every six games?
- I really like Mora. He’s smart, he knows where to put himself, he has a confident shot, and he’s…just weirdly good at hold-up play. I know I’ve said that before, but it surprises me every time.
- Yimmi Chara has quietly made himself pretty useful - see Portland’s (and Mora’s game-opener), for one - and I don’t see that getting noted as much as I’d expect. It’s only three goals and, now, one assist, but they’re all pretty recent and look more and more replicable.
- I’m consistently dubious on Villafana, but I can’t make that hold up this season. He’s been good to very good in 2020 and I’d hate to be the guy trying to push him out of the starting XI right now. Would I still start Marco Farfan over him? Yes. Can I justify that? No, not really.
- To close on the dark side of the coin, damn, have Cristhian Paredes and Marvin Loria regressed. Williamson had ample good moments tonight, but he’s not the same player that caught everyone’s eye in Orlando. I have no questions about Williamson right now, who’s only had one game I’d call bad, but Paredes got spun dizzy tonight and in both directions, and Loria could never seem to make up his mind on what to do, regardless of the space he had. That they left me pining for Andy Polo says everything about where I rate them as depth pieces right now.
That’s all for this one. Till the next game. And pour one out for the Colorado Rapids. I took a cheap shot at them in the last general MLS post and, while it's the kind of joke I'd make about myself (trust me), they're dealing with something awful and scary and I wish the best to all the players and staff who tested positive for COVID, and for the loved ones worrying about them.
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