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| FUCK YOU! (A metaphor) |
A handful of metaphors come to mind for this one - including a decent painting ruined by someone dragging a smudge of ink across it - but that one feels right for telling the story of that confounding damn thing we all watched a few hours ago.
I’m seeing a light split in opinion online, mostly around the question of whether or not the Portland Timbers controlled a game they ultimately lost 1-2, and in more ways than one. On the latter, Jeff Attinella’s (at time of writing) freak injury around the 70th minute, which left the Timbers in goalkeeper purgatory, i.e., a space where you factually have a goalkeeper, but do you? - no offense to Hunter Sulte, but you’re not really supposed to go that far down the depth chart to find a guy to push between the sticks, at least not outside a feel-good movie with that right outcome, but here we are. There was also Diego Valeri getting stuffed on a penalty kick by Stefan Frei, then getting handed a second chance on the penalty, only to shank that one off the post, then knock back his own rebound. (I’ll just go ahead and admit I forgot that’s a no-no.) My frustration with this game comes from/with that moment. I’ll get to that…
I hereby note the box score, mostly on the grounds it shows an even game (but do give that passing map a gander), but also because it shows something I wouldn’t have guessed, i.e., Portland firing as many shots as Seattle. A few only come back to me because I wrote them in my notes - a pair by Marvin Loria (more later), in particular - but my primary recollection of this match sees Timbers’ players giving-and-going all around the 18, sometimes poking through the odd ball, but mostly moving around a lot to get an obstructed view of a goal, only from a different angle. The thicket of Seattle defenders never left the front of the goal and Portland’s attackers seemed bound by some silent agreement that they’d bash through that or lose trying. When I tweeted, “shoot the ball, please,” it didn’t come from nowhere.
Still, between that set of factsd and what Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said at the half, I’d call that a kind of control: Portland won most of the 50/50s, I don’t think Seattle wanted to lose the ball where they did, or as often, and Portland didn’t have much trouble advancing the ball. In my book, that’s control. All that delivered some chances - e.g., a cut-back from Valeri that Jeremy Ebobisse will bury when he’s match-fit - but it mostly applied pressure on Seattle’s defense and kept them on the back-foot. And, when a team plays from the back foot, they sometimes make mistakes - e.g., Seattle’s Shane O’Neill to roll forward a lazy pass that Eryk Williamson stepped into and fed to Ebobisse, leading to a Timbers’ penalty and a chance to take the lead. Which, given the Timbers’ struggles with getting a clean look, counts as a gift.
The Timbers received a couple others - Seattle’s Raul Ruidiaz missed two shots that Seattle’s Raul Ruidiaz does not miss. That applies more to the first shot than to the second, but both happened before Shane O’Neill committed a second crime (fouling Ebo in the box) while trying to cover up the first (the stupid pass). And that’s what made Valeri’s back-to-back misses so gratingly unexpected: love ‘em or hate ‘em, Seattle fields sound defensive teams with fair consistency - e.g., 2016 wasn’t great and 2019 was worse, but they’ve hung around league-best for most of the past five years. And they usually don’t make the kind of mistake O’Neill made tonight. My point is, Portland was handed this game, several times over - again, Ruidiaz’s misses, O’Neill’s mistake, the penalty, then the chance to re-take Valeri’s first crap kick - and they somehow spurned every offering...
...and none of this would have hurt nearly as bad, or felt so frustrating, had the Timbers walked out looking gassed and oxygen-deprived. Instead, they played a pretty decent and confident game - e.g., I loved the thinking behind some of the passes into the Seattle thicket - and really did look the team most likely to get three points from the game. And then…well, it just unraveled.
Like that cliché about the weather, if you stick around long enough, Portland’s defense is gonna screw up. This time, Dairon Asprilla played a looper from Dario Zuparic a little too casually, after which he allowed Cristian Roldan to bull past him and cough a ball toward Ruidiaz. His stab at the ball, lead to a 1/4 shot, lead to a bobble, lead to a penalty kick. Ruidiaz stepped to the spot and made what Valeri - again, that’s VALERI, the guy you trust to keep your kids safe, your car running, and your table rich with bounty - failed to do twice look easy. (I find penalty kicks boring as goals, so I don't link to them much, but here's the video panel, go nuts).
For what it’s worth, I think something broke in that moment. Portland had one of those games where they did most things right and, on the rare times they did anything wrong, they got away with it. It felt like a win from the 25th minute to around the 60th - and one I wouldn’t have expected going in - only to have the whole thing fly off the rails, and continue to fly further from for the rest of the game. And the subs…don’t get me started on the subs. Something about, never have so many striven so hard to contribute so little.
The rest played out from there. Fredy Montero scored a second for Seattle not long after the first. It wasn’t pretty either, unlike Bill Tuiloma’s too-little, too-late beauty of a free-kick, a goal that absolutely deserves a better setting and happier circumstances, maybe a rout on the return leg, and who do I have to write to make this happen?
There was enough about this game that I’m happy about - and I’ll close on that below - but, between more fucking injuries and a fatal mistake (or two), this game had an unwelcome whiff of non-Orlando 2020 about it. The main thing taking away the sting of it right now is the fact I’d written off the three points going in. Between Seattle’s unusually strong early form and a Timbers team on short rest, I got more than I expected out of this one. Now, for some other positives…
- Hold on, one thing: did this game look unusually slow to anyone/everyone else? Ok, now the positives…
- I’d call this Marvin Loria’s best game since 2019, so that’s nice. I didn’t see him get caught in possession often as I sometimes do and he generally better and faster decisions. And, unlike too many Timbers tonight, Loria hesitated less when it came to taking a shot. Say, that rolls nicely into this…
- Despite getting thrown into this one unexpectedly and earlier than he had any way of knowing, Bill Tuiloma played a dynamite game. There was the goal, obviously, but bis work to keep the Timbers in possession in Seattle’s defensive third lead to Loria’s second (and better) shot. He snuffed things out all over, did overall well and, generally shined like a little bright spot out there tonight. The better the depth looks, the better I’ll feel about the games ahead - especially when the schedule stacks up later. Related to that…
- How good did it feel to see Felipe Mora come off the bench? Before you answer that (and lighten up, fer crissakes), take a step back from whatever specific thoughts you have about Mora and rephrase the question as, how much better do you feel knowing that Portland has someone to call from the bench who has an actual chance to change the game? That’s, 1) Mora, and 2) something Timbers’ fans haven’t been able to say since late summer/early fall last year. And it should get better…which doesn’t mean it’s not sensible to fret about the goalkeeper situation. I’ve got furniture twice as old as that Sulte kid.
Because it doesn’t feel right to end on a high after the Soccer Gods giveth and taketh so rudely today, I’m going to close on a down. The most disturbing thing about today for me was the response after Seattle went ahead - and I mean from that point to the end of the game. Opinions about who had control over what notwithstanding - and I’m fine agreeing to disagree on that - but Portland actually looked defeated for the first time after that happened. The verve evaporated at that point, the simple stupid belief that playing that ball there, to that one spot, dried up and never fully returned.
It’s not the bare thought of a loss that hurt/has me wondering today. Again, I’d braced myself for that. It was those little intangibles…well, that and seeing nothing between Portland and the bottom of the Western Conference table besides an absolutely shambolic Minnesota United FC. The bottom half the West is kind of fascinating right now…seriously.
Till the next one…
I’m seeing a light split in opinion online, mostly around the question of whether or not the Portland Timbers controlled a game they ultimately lost 1-2, and in more ways than one. On the latter, Jeff Attinella’s (at time of writing) freak injury around the 70th minute, which left the Timbers in goalkeeper purgatory, i.e., a space where you factually have a goalkeeper, but do you? - no offense to Hunter Sulte, but you’re not really supposed to go that far down the depth chart to find a guy to push between the sticks, at least not outside a feel-good movie with that right outcome, but here we are. There was also Diego Valeri getting stuffed on a penalty kick by Stefan Frei, then getting handed a second chance on the penalty, only to shank that one off the post, then knock back his own rebound. (I’ll just go ahead and admit I forgot that’s a no-no.) My frustration with this game comes from/with that moment. I’ll get to that…
I hereby note the box score, mostly on the grounds it shows an even game (but do give that passing map a gander), but also because it shows something I wouldn’t have guessed, i.e., Portland firing as many shots as Seattle. A few only come back to me because I wrote them in my notes - a pair by Marvin Loria (more later), in particular - but my primary recollection of this match sees Timbers’ players giving-and-going all around the 18, sometimes poking through the odd ball, but mostly moving around a lot to get an obstructed view of a goal, only from a different angle. The thicket of Seattle defenders never left the front of the goal and Portland’s attackers seemed bound by some silent agreement that they’d bash through that or lose trying. When I tweeted, “shoot the ball, please,” it didn’t come from nowhere.
Still, between that set of factsd and what Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said at the half, I’d call that a kind of control: Portland won most of the 50/50s, I don’t think Seattle wanted to lose the ball where they did, or as often, and Portland didn’t have much trouble advancing the ball. In my book, that’s control. All that delivered some chances - e.g., a cut-back from Valeri that Jeremy Ebobisse will bury when he’s match-fit - but it mostly applied pressure on Seattle’s defense and kept them on the back-foot. And, when a team plays from the back foot, they sometimes make mistakes - e.g., Seattle’s Shane O’Neill to roll forward a lazy pass that Eryk Williamson stepped into and fed to Ebobisse, leading to a Timbers’ penalty and a chance to take the lead. Which, given the Timbers’ struggles with getting a clean look, counts as a gift.
The Timbers received a couple others - Seattle’s Raul Ruidiaz missed two shots that Seattle’s Raul Ruidiaz does not miss. That applies more to the first shot than to the second, but both happened before Shane O’Neill committed a second crime (fouling Ebo in the box) while trying to cover up the first (the stupid pass). And that’s what made Valeri’s back-to-back misses so gratingly unexpected: love ‘em or hate ‘em, Seattle fields sound defensive teams with fair consistency - e.g., 2016 wasn’t great and 2019 was worse, but they’ve hung around league-best for most of the past five years. And they usually don’t make the kind of mistake O’Neill made tonight. My point is, Portland was handed this game, several times over - again, Ruidiaz’s misses, O’Neill’s mistake, the penalty, then the chance to re-take Valeri’s first crap kick - and they somehow spurned every offering...
...and none of this would have hurt nearly as bad, or felt so frustrating, had the Timbers walked out looking gassed and oxygen-deprived. Instead, they played a pretty decent and confident game - e.g., I loved the thinking behind some of the passes into the Seattle thicket - and really did look the team most likely to get three points from the game. And then…well, it just unraveled.
Like that cliché about the weather, if you stick around long enough, Portland’s defense is gonna screw up. This time, Dairon Asprilla played a looper from Dario Zuparic a little too casually, after which he allowed Cristian Roldan to bull past him and cough a ball toward Ruidiaz. His stab at the ball, lead to a 1/4 shot, lead to a bobble, lead to a penalty kick. Ruidiaz stepped to the spot and made what Valeri - again, that’s VALERI, the guy you trust to keep your kids safe, your car running, and your table rich with bounty - failed to do twice look easy. (I find penalty kicks boring as goals, so I don't link to them much, but here's the video panel, go nuts).
For what it’s worth, I think something broke in that moment. Portland had one of those games where they did most things right and, on the rare times they did anything wrong, they got away with it. It felt like a win from the 25th minute to around the 60th - and one I wouldn’t have expected going in - only to have the whole thing fly off the rails, and continue to fly further from for the rest of the game. And the subs…don’t get me started on the subs. Something about, never have so many striven so hard to contribute so little.
The rest played out from there. Fredy Montero scored a second for Seattle not long after the first. It wasn’t pretty either, unlike Bill Tuiloma’s too-little, too-late beauty of a free-kick, a goal that absolutely deserves a better setting and happier circumstances, maybe a rout on the return leg, and who do I have to write to make this happen?
There was enough about this game that I’m happy about - and I’ll close on that below - but, between more fucking injuries and a fatal mistake (or two), this game had an unwelcome whiff of non-Orlando 2020 about it. The main thing taking away the sting of it right now is the fact I’d written off the three points going in. Between Seattle’s unusually strong early form and a Timbers team on short rest, I got more than I expected out of this one. Now, for some other positives…
- Hold on, one thing: did this game look unusually slow to anyone/everyone else? Ok, now the positives…
- I’d call this Marvin Loria’s best game since 2019, so that’s nice. I didn’t see him get caught in possession often as I sometimes do and he generally better and faster decisions. And, unlike too many Timbers tonight, Loria hesitated less when it came to taking a shot. Say, that rolls nicely into this…
- Despite getting thrown into this one unexpectedly and earlier than he had any way of knowing, Bill Tuiloma played a dynamite game. There was the goal, obviously, but bis work to keep the Timbers in possession in Seattle’s defensive third lead to Loria’s second (and better) shot. He snuffed things out all over, did overall well and, generally shined like a little bright spot out there tonight. The better the depth looks, the better I’ll feel about the games ahead - especially when the schedule stacks up later. Related to that…
- How good did it feel to see Felipe Mora come off the bench? Before you answer that (and lighten up, fer crissakes), take a step back from whatever specific thoughts you have about Mora and rephrase the question as, how much better do you feel knowing that Portland has someone to call from the bench who has an actual chance to change the game? That’s, 1) Mora, and 2) something Timbers’ fans haven’t been able to say since late summer/early fall last year. And it should get better…which doesn’t mean it’s not sensible to fret about the goalkeeper situation. I’ve got furniture twice as old as that Sulte kid.
Because it doesn’t feel right to end on a high after the Soccer Gods giveth and taketh so rudely today, I’m going to close on a down. The most disturbing thing about today for me was the response after Seattle went ahead - and I mean from that point to the end of the game. Opinions about who had control over what notwithstanding - and I’m fine agreeing to disagree on that - but Portland actually looked defeated for the first time after that happened. The verve evaporated at that point, the simple stupid belief that playing that ball there, to that one spot, dried up and never fully returned.
It’s not the bare thought of a loss that hurt/has me wondering today. Again, I’d braced myself for that. It was those little intangibles…well, that and seeing nothing between Portland and the bottom of the Western Conference table besides an absolutely shambolic Minnesota United FC. The bottom half the West is kind of fascinating right now…seriously.
Till the next one…
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