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| Almost this bad. No exaggeration... |
If someone told me at 3:00 pm PST that the Portland Timbers would tie Honduras’ CD Marathon 2-2 in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions’ League home-and-home series, I would have shaken his/her hand and said, "thank you very much." And, some really unnerving details aside, I’m still there. I’ll pass quickly over the caveats - e.g., Portland’s knee-deep in a long off-season, a playing surface composed entirely of divots lumped together, travel, nerves, age, etc. - and offer two big take-aways:
1) Portland did allright despite playing in the soccer equivalent of half-finished sentences; and
2) if the central defense doesn’t tighten the hell up, Steve Clark’s gonna need longer arms.
One final thought: it took me 2/3 of the game to remember that Marathon hails from Honduras, and not Nicaragua, and that realization took the edge off the panic a little. No disrespect to Nicaragua intended, but one of those nations is ahead of the other in real-world soccer terms. Now, some notes on the game…
First things first, I saw both combinations, and attempts thereof (thereto?), that will actually come off at Providence Park and that makes me more optimistic about the second leg. Even when Marathon’s defending forced a hitch in the momentum, Portland’s players generally had sound ideas about how to move the ball forward; the grass grabbed the ball like Velcro on passes and dribbles alike - so many scooped passes, so many stifled first touches, and for both teams, by the way - but the thought process came through. My one caveat on that follows from Marathon’s peculiar defending, especially in the first half: defending can come from either pressure or organization, but the Hondurans offered neither, and even seemed mildly surprised, when Portland played passes in between their lines. I’m not sure how much the Timbers will see that in league play this season, but, what the hell? Fingers crossed.
Drilling down, I saw hints of a couple problems in defense, neither of them good. Seeing Portland’s central defenders struggle that hard with literal basics like tracking runs - see Marathon’s first equalizer and the damn-near go-ahead goal from a disturbing similar spot not even 10 minutes later - puts very direct questions as to much necessary shit the central tandem has sorted out. Based on the highlights (which, son of a bitch, don't appear to allow you to select individually any more), you’d have to ask every player but Josecarlos Van Rankin to explain himself (Larrys Mabiala, more than the rest), but that was nothing less than a tap-in - a real gut-punch given that Portland had at long last broken through via Felipe Mora just…wow, four minutes earlier.
Further, and in the kind of “tale of two halves” you never want to read about your team, the Timbers (more or less) sorted out that problem only to get all glass-jawed on set-pieces. I’d really like to avoid the “there but for the grace of Steve Clark” phrasing I used off-and-on in 2020, but Mathias Techera (I think) had two damned easy headers on Clark’s goal and…well, there but for the grace of Steve Clark, Portland could have returned home with an eight ball in front of ‘em.
Honduras’ second equalizer looked uncomfortably familiar as well - i.e., the Timbers got caught pushing numbers into the attack, only to see the ball shoot past them the other way - and both goals popped a thought into my head: Portland’s defense only seems to hold up when the game’s in front of them; emergency, even adaptive, defending continues to haunt this team.
To switch to the bright spots -and, honestly, where else can I start? - Diego Valeri looked like the spriest Portland player on the field - and over the full 90 too. While his free-kick rightfully makes the highlights (and it belongs to him, dammit; that is a pure “but, for” situation, so stuff that “own-goal” nonsense), there was one emblematic moment later in the game (78th minute, in fact) that has me feelin’ groovy about Valeri’s 2021. He received the ball in the dead-zone between the middle and the top of Marathon’s defensive third and had (I think by then) Pablo Bonilla as an easy wide option and with a defender closing; Valeri not only didn’t take that easy option, he pinged a well-weighted ball through a seam I couldn’t even see to a run by Mora, one that the grass helped and thwarted in equal measure. Inspiration met technique and he only had a second to pull it off. Da-amn.
One other something I might have imagined stood out, and I’d dismiss it if it didn’t make so much sense, but…did Portland play a two-man defensive midfield with Eryk Williamson as the chaser (i.e., the guy who hunted the ball) and Diego Chara as the catcher (i.e., the guy who cleaned up the resulting slop and everything else)? If so, that feels like more than a smart system, it could be the thing that allows Chara more minutes over the length of the season. I think it’ll work especially well with Williamson - a player with the legit two-way game to make it both workable and dangerous - but it’ll be interesting to see how it translates to other players (e.g., Cristhian Paredes) as the season progresses.
And…yeah, I think that’s it for the big picture. I don’t want to project any of the above faults and glories through the season (well, I want to think Valeri will kill it all season), but I didn’t fail to notice that those 90 minutes provided a (semi-disturbing) Cliffs Notes re-read of Portland’s 2020. As for the return leg, I’m not entirely sure what I think about Marathon. They have some real quality in that team and, for what it’s worth, I think they’ll benefit nearly as much from an improved surface as Portland will. Player to player, the Timbers probably edge them in talent on any field (right?), but I have no doubt they’ll bring the fight to Providence Park next Tuesday, so Portland bet strap their shit on right for that one - especially given the final result on the away leg. For a first game after a long lay-off, they put themselves in the second-best possible position. It’d be a shame fucking a pisser to waste that.
1) Portland did allright despite playing in the soccer equivalent of half-finished sentences; and
2) if the central defense doesn’t tighten the hell up, Steve Clark’s gonna need longer arms.
One final thought: it took me 2/3 of the game to remember that Marathon hails from Honduras, and not Nicaragua, and that realization took the edge off the panic a little. No disrespect to Nicaragua intended, but one of those nations is ahead of the other in real-world soccer terms. Now, some notes on the game…
First things first, I saw both combinations, and attempts thereof (thereto?), that will actually come off at Providence Park and that makes me more optimistic about the second leg. Even when Marathon’s defending forced a hitch in the momentum, Portland’s players generally had sound ideas about how to move the ball forward; the grass grabbed the ball like Velcro on passes and dribbles alike - so many scooped passes, so many stifled first touches, and for both teams, by the way - but the thought process came through. My one caveat on that follows from Marathon’s peculiar defending, especially in the first half: defending can come from either pressure or organization, but the Hondurans offered neither, and even seemed mildly surprised, when Portland played passes in between their lines. I’m not sure how much the Timbers will see that in league play this season, but, what the hell? Fingers crossed.
Drilling down, I saw hints of a couple problems in defense, neither of them good. Seeing Portland’s central defenders struggle that hard with literal basics like tracking runs - see Marathon’s first equalizer and the damn-near go-ahead goal from a disturbing similar spot not even 10 minutes later - puts very direct questions as to much necessary shit the central tandem has sorted out. Based on the highlights (which, son of a bitch, don't appear to allow you to select individually any more), you’d have to ask every player but Josecarlos Van Rankin to explain himself (Larrys Mabiala, more than the rest), but that was nothing less than a tap-in - a real gut-punch given that Portland had at long last broken through via Felipe Mora just…wow, four minutes earlier.
Further, and in the kind of “tale of two halves” you never want to read about your team, the Timbers (more or less) sorted out that problem only to get all glass-jawed on set-pieces. I’d really like to avoid the “there but for the grace of Steve Clark” phrasing I used off-and-on in 2020, but Mathias Techera (I think) had two damned easy headers on Clark’s goal and…well, there but for the grace of Steve Clark, Portland could have returned home with an eight ball in front of ‘em.
Honduras’ second equalizer looked uncomfortably familiar as well - i.e., the Timbers got caught pushing numbers into the attack, only to see the ball shoot past them the other way - and both goals popped a thought into my head: Portland’s defense only seems to hold up when the game’s in front of them; emergency, even adaptive, defending continues to haunt this team.
To switch to the bright spots -and, honestly, where else can I start? - Diego Valeri looked like the spriest Portland player on the field - and over the full 90 too. While his free-kick rightfully makes the highlights (and it belongs to him, dammit; that is a pure “but, for” situation, so stuff that “own-goal” nonsense), there was one emblematic moment later in the game (78th minute, in fact) that has me feelin’ groovy about Valeri’s 2021. He received the ball in the dead-zone between the middle and the top of Marathon’s defensive third and had (I think by then) Pablo Bonilla as an easy wide option and with a defender closing; Valeri not only didn’t take that easy option, he pinged a well-weighted ball through a seam I couldn’t even see to a run by Mora, one that the grass helped and thwarted in equal measure. Inspiration met technique and he only had a second to pull it off. Da-amn.
One other something I might have imagined stood out, and I’d dismiss it if it didn’t make so much sense, but…did Portland play a two-man defensive midfield with Eryk Williamson as the chaser (i.e., the guy who hunted the ball) and Diego Chara as the catcher (i.e., the guy who cleaned up the resulting slop and everything else)? If so, that feels like more than a smart system, it could be the thing that allows Chara more minutes over the length of the season. I think it’ll work especially well with Williamson - a player with the legit two-way game to make it both workable and dangerous - but it’ll be interesting to see how it translates to other players (e.g., Cristhian Paredes) as the season progresses.
And…yeah, I think that’s it for the big picture. I don’t want to project any of the above faults and glories through the season (well, I want to think Valeri will kill it all season), but I didn’t fail to notice that those 90 minutes provided a (semi-disturbing) Cliffs Notes re-read of Portland’s 2020. As for the return leg, I’m not entirely sure what I think about Marathon. They have some real quality in that team and, for what it’s worth, I think they’ll benefit nearly as much from an improved surface as Portland will. Player to player, the Timbers probably edge them in talent on any field (right?), but I have no doubt they’ll bring the fight to Providence Park next Tuesday, so Portland bet strap their shit on right for that one - especially given the final result on the away leg. For a first game after a long lay-off, they put themselves in the second-best possible position. It’d be a shame fucking a pisser to waste that.
Loose Change
- Anyone know the ETA on Jeremy Ebobisse, Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Sebastian Blanco? As I said in a preview on another channel, the Timbers should be fine so long as they have any of those two players back for more than less of the season. That said, after looking at the bench for tonight, they need even one of them like a motherfucker between right now and the next leg in the CCL…which assumes they get there.
- Was it just me or did someone in the broadcast booth mention Mora’s “big frame”? To his credit, he plays that way, if with a welcome wrinkle from Karl Malone’s game. Mora doesn’t just deliver solid post-up play; I haven’t seen a guy draw fouls like that since Alejandro Moreno - and that guy was a master of it.
- Labored as it was, I didn’t see Portland’s first goal coming until it went in, but I did see Van Rankin’s smart role in making it happen - that and his couple well-timed latent high-press steps forward. Despite giving up the assist (fuck it; fullbacks get beat), I’d call that a solid debut. I didn’t see much of Claudio Bravo, usually a good thing for a fullback, so I’ll sit on thoughts/opinions him for another minute or two.
- Because it’s an obsession, I perked up when Marvin Loria and Paredes came on the field, because I am very, very curious as to where they are in this 2021. For what it’s worth, I thought Loria found his feet after a try-too-hard start, while I only really saw Paredes fuck up. I’ll sit on Paredes for a bit (mostly because I want him to chase the doubts from my mind), but it feels like Loria’s biggest issue is a combination of speed of thought letting the ball do the work; to explain that, he needs to make decisions/passes quicker, even if it’s the simple one, not least because doing so should open up space for him to dribble. All in all, he’s just got to see and hit his passes faster.
- Finally, no, I didn’t forget about Williamson’s near wunder-shot. Ah, what might have been…
- As noted (in all caps) on twitter, I wasn’t able to give the opening 20 minutes the attention I wanted to, so it was good to catch a thing or two I missed in the highlights. To recap, there was more Mora, and those early minutes saw some of the best out of Yimmi Chara (for whom I hold on to high hopes). They also recalled the man who set up Williamson’s near-miss, Dairon Asprilla. I get that he’s a fan favorite (or just some fans I interact with), but I was reminded of how little he’s done for the Timbers - and I mean globally, as in numbers over time, versus specifically, because every goal in the playoffs counts like pregnant ladies eat (e.g., for two, or even three).
That’s all for this one. Until next week…and then the week after, then the week after. Eeeeeeee!
On Catcher Chara, most of the first half he didn't look very involved, perhaps even slow to the point of worry... until later in the game when he had to switch to Chaser Character and the world returned to the normal timeline.
ReplyDeleteHe's still got it, but it would be great if he didn't have to use it much while Eryk/Paredes/Renzo do the chasing.
Also, I know this is timbers but WHY WAIT SO LONG TO MAKE A SUB JFC
On Catcher Chara, most of the first half he didn't look very involved, perhaps even slow to the point of worry... until later in the game when he had to switch to Chaser Character and the world returned to the normal timeline.
ReplyDeleteHe's still got it, but it would be great if he didn't have to use it much while Eryk/Paredes/Renzo do the chasing.
Also, I know this is timbers but WHY WAIT SO LONG TO MAKE A SUB JFC
Oh, yes. The subbing phenomenon. I'm still trying to figure out why the bring Zambrano at all if they're just gonna haul him around ilke luggage.
ReplyDeleteEryk sombrerod a dude in the box and got an outside of the boot shot off that required full keeper arm extension... but of course he would not have helped the Olympic qualifying effort. My lord.
ReplyDeleteI really thought the lack of conditioning showed; they looked tired late in the first half and near dead late in the second. That should get better as everyone gets into shape (and if we use our subs) so I am optimistic for the season. I expected them to come out looking a little rusty but I thought the first 15 minutes were great so more reasons for optimism. I thought Paredes and central defense look like holdovers from 2020 season; so a couple of reasons for pessimism.
ReplyDelete