Portland Timbers 0-1 Minnesota United FC: Turns Out I Need More than 280 Characters...

Dreamin'...

Yeah, yeah. Twitter threads didn’t work - e.g., I couldn’t complete a thought on the racist taunt thing involving Diego Chara - so I’m back in this space. I’m keeping the concept, though: five thoughts and not much more than a page. Here goes.

Overall
The Portland Timbers lost a sweaty fucker 0-1 to Minnesota United FC. I watched the game live (can human sweat be repurposed to create renewable energy, if so…), but tucked low in a corner away from the Army. I didn’t have a great view, in other words. Minnesota looked the better from that angle - they created clearer openings, defenders in the right place, etc. - but the highlights gave me a better look at Portland’s chances. (No condensed game, dammit.) Based on what I saw and what’s in front of me, the game could have ended in a draw as easily as a 2-0 win for Minnesota. A Timbers win is the only thing I can’t pencil out of it. It was not a good week for the Timbers…

Five Thoughts
1) Racist Taunts and Getting Around a “He-Said/He-Said” Logjam
If I were running MLS’s investigation into the racist taunt at Diego Chara, I’d start from the fact that Chara has never made such a claim before (in my memory) and he’s been in MLS for nearly a decade. If any other player heard it, the onus for dismissing the claim would fall on Minnesota in my mind. My first question: why would he make this up now? Crime ‘n’ punishment-wise, you take the offending player’s denial into account - i.e., you can’t prove it one way or the other - and dish a punishment that, 1) makes it clear the league will punish that shit, and 2) don’t go as far as you would to punish a provable offense.

2) A Beer for Steve Clark, on the Defense
The Timbers defense got caught in rehearsal mode on the game’s deciding goal, but the Loons created two more wide-open looks that I would have forgiven Clark for missing. In those moments, he stood on his head to give the offense - no, the entire team - a chance to salvage a point or turn around the game. They did not. So, let’s look at that…

3) Options Needed
One of my favorite grumpy Timbers fans posted some tweets this morning about how Gio Savarese should rearrange/reorient the attack - e.g., more shooting from range and pairing Jeremy Ebobisse and Dairon Asprilla up top with Diego Valeri underneath. He’s not wrong (and I offer those as food for thought), but I’m more struck by how limited Portland’s attack becomes with the selection of available players last night. Take away two great moments by Eryk Williamson (and how/why did he miss that first one?), and the Timbers attack was stalled at its frustrating worst. If Portland can only field Ebobisse and Valeri as primary attacking threats, and with only Asprilla coming off the bench, they’re just not gonna win that many. And asking Valeri to lead a charge from inside Portland's half with no one in front of him? That's just silly at this point.

4) Jet-Pack Fullbacks, Revised
I used that phrase earlier in the season after coming away particularly impressed with Claudio Bravo Josecarlos Van Rankin (think it was the first Houston game). After a couple stumbles, Bravo has continued to make strides (look, shooting from range), but the excitement for Van Rankin has fizzled to embers and they’re about to go out. I’m standing by the “jet-pack fullback” phrasing in that it contains two thoughts: 1) everyone has seen one (Bravo), but they’ve always fallen short of what was promised (Van Rankin). Related…

5) I Get the 5-3-2 and I Don’t
That formation - which I assume “flexes” into ~3-5-2 for attacking purposes - might be the best formation given the players available, but I’m looking at what Portland fielded last night and don’t see that carrying the team any further than they got in 2020.

All done.