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| We all need a hero... |
Red Bull New York has yet to win at home in the 2022 season. that’s the cheeriest thought I have to pass on about the Portland Timbers’ trip to Harrison, New Jersey this weekend.
The buzz from Yimmi Chara’s back-to-back bicycle-kick goals wore off weeks ago, leaving Portland’s fans sipping stale coffee in the hopes that, if nothing else, they can stay awake until the Timbers do. The Timbers’ goals-for number stalled just over three games ago (is it possible for that number to go down?) - think the exact number is 282 minutes plus stoppage time - and I’m imagineering like a motherfucker, but still can’t picture how that changes against a Red Bulls team that, assuming they play as they normally do, will press every passer for large stretches of this game. On the plus side, Josecarlos Van Rankin is suspended for this one.
He's the most draining culprit, of course, but not many Timbers have looked like a realist’s picture of composure for several weeks. I can see any number of Portland players making a loose pass or failing to control the same, and turnovers like that will put the Red Bulls between two and five passes from scoring. The Red Bulls have scored reliably this season - they’ve only been kept off the board twice so far (again, both games at home). Just one more note on this: as with their pressing, you don’t see the goal coming until they ball has already gone in. That’s to say, unless I’m very wrong about how this game will play out, Portland’s Aljaz Ivacic will need to come alert and limber for this one.
The only break I really see Portland catching: the theoretical possibility that they’ll be able to transition against the Red Bulls gegen-press (against v gegen?). The Red Bulls do throw numbers into their press, something that should help the Timbers get vertical; going the other way, their press has looked super well-organized in all the investigative safaris I’ve undertaken - and I’ve got a second on that perception from the broadcast both more than once. Add a couple steady backstops (e.g., Aaron Long and Sean Nealis), a pair of herding-dog maniacs in front of them (e.g., Christian Casseres, Jr. and Frank Amaya, most of the time), and you’re left waiting for Carlos Coronel to bail you out with something stupid. Bottom line, Red Bull has been for any team to play through - they’ve given up just seven goals so far (average = 0.78 goals per game) - and that doesn’t pair so good with…you know.
I think most people know that Red Bulls forward Patrick Klimala has been effective, but inaccurate; I've seen the phrase, "all the goals came from midfield," more than once. I don't see that as terribly relevant given how their system elevates collective frenzy over individual talent, but there was one player I watched last week who bears noting: Lucas Lima Luharnes, aka, Luquinhas. This was just one of several moments where that guy overcame a water-logged field and a collective game-plan to do something special. Assuming he plays, that's someone else to keep an eye on.
On the narrowest of plus sides, it looks like the latest availability report (among the least reliable things on an internet full of 'em) is a bit behind, as more recent intelligence shows both Diego Chara and Sebastian Blanco as “questionable” - and Blanco traveled (I saw pictures!). Still, how “there” both players are begs a couple questions - e.g., how effective can they be? is it wiser to let that hip and thigh (respectively) fully heal instead of rushing both back for an away game in May? I get the urgency and frustration about the slow start, and both Seba and Chara generally refine and carry (respectively) Portland’s brighter attacking moments…and yet I can offer buts all day. Butt, butt, butt, butt.
Assuming neither player starts, I’m expecting a line-up that rhymes with the one that did so very little against the Colorado Rapids last weekend. Maybe Santiago Moreno starts over Marvin Loria (which I read as wash), or maybe David Ayala gets more time - I mean, why not try him with Cristhian Paredes and Eryk Williamson in three-man midfield, because what do you have to lose but another game? - maybe Gio starts, say, Dario Zuparic or Zac McGraw over Larrys Mabiala or Bill Tuiloma, but I’m not seeing anything transformative among the available players. Savarese will have to MacGyver the bejesus out of whatever he starts - something he has yet to do in 2022 - and the players will have to execute on watches synchronized to the nano-second, if they want to pull this off.
All in all, I don’t know how to be optimistic about this game. At this point, I see a timer clicking down and MacGyver’s still trying figure out how the paper clip and hair spray fit into his plan. I’m not even sure how to convince myself I’ll enjoy it…but is it fandom if you don’t suffer for it?
The buzz from Yimmi Chara’s back-to-back bicycle-kick goals wore off weeks ago, leaving Portland’s fans sipping stale coffee in the hopes that, if nothing else, they can stay awake until the Timbers do. The Timbers’ goals-for number stalled just over three games ago (is it possible for that number to go down?) - think the exact number is 282 minutes plus stoppage time - and I’m imagineering like a motherfucker, but still can’t picture how that changes against a Red Bulls team that, assuming they play as they normally do, will press every passer for large stretches of this game. On the plus side, Josecarlos Van Rankin is suspended for this one.
He's the most draining culprit, of course, but not many Timbers have looked like a realist’s picture of composure for several weeks. I can see any number of Portland players making a loose pass or failing to control the same, and turnovers like that will put the Red Bulls between two and five passes from scoring. The Red Bulls have scored reliably this season - they’ve only been kept off the board twice so far (again, both games at home). Just one more note on this: as with their pressing, you don’t see the goal coming until they ball has already gone in. That’s to say, unless I’m very wrong about how this game will play out, Portland’s Aljaz Ivacic will need to come alert and limber for this one.
The only break I really see Portland catching: the theoretical possibility that they’ll be able to transition against the Red Bulls gegen-press (against v gegen?). The Red Bulls do throw numbers into their press, something that should help the Timbers get vertical; going the other way, their press has looked super well-organized in all the investigative safaris I’ve undertaken - and I’ve got a second on that perception from the broadcast both more than once. Add a couple steady backstops (e.g., Aaron Long and Sean Nealis), a pair of herding-dog maniacs in front of them (e.g., Christian Casseres, Jr. and Frank Amaya, most of the time), and you’re left waiting for Carlos Coronel to bail you out with something stupid. Bottom line, Red Bull has been for any team to play through - they’ve given up just seven goals so far (average = 0.78 goals per game) - and that doesn’t pair so good with…you know.
I think most people know that Red Bulls forward Patrick Klimala has been effective, but inaccurate; I've seen the phrase, "all the goals came from midfield," more than once. I don't see that as terribly relevant given how their system elevates collective frenzy over individual talent, but there was one player I watched last week who bears noting: Lucas Lima Luharnes, aka, Luquinhas. This was just one of several moments where that guy overcame a water-logged field and a collective game-plan to do something special. Assuming he plays, that's someone else to keep an eye on.
On the narrowest of plus sides, it looks like the latest availability report (among the least reliable things on an internet full of 'em) is a bit behind, as more recent intelligence shows both Diego Chara and Sebastian Blanco as “questionable” - and Blanco traveled (I saw pictures!). Still, how “there” both players are begs a couple questions - e.g., how effective can they be? is it wiser to let that hip and thigh (respectively) fully heal instead of rushing both back for an away game in May? I get the urgency and frustration about the slow start, and both Seba and Chara generally refine and carry (respectively) Portland’s brighter attacking moments…and yet I can offer buts all day. Butt, butt, butt, butt.
Assuming neither player starts, I’m expecting a line-up that rhymes with the one that did so very little against the Colorado Rapids last weekend. Maybe Santiago Moreno starts over Marvin Loria (which I read as wash), or maybe David Ayala gets more time - I mean, why not try him with Cristhian Paredes and Eryk Williamson in three-man midfield, because what do you have to lose but another game? - maybe Gio starts, say, Dario Zuparic or Zac McGraw over Larrys Mabiala or Bill Tuiloma, but I’m not seeing anything transformative among the available players. Savarese will have to MacGyver the bejesus out of whatever he starts - something he has yet to do in 2022 - and the players will have to execute on watches synchronized to the nano-second, if they want to pull this off.
All in all, I don’t know how to be optimistic about this game. At this point, I see a timer clicking down and MacGyver’s still trying figure out how the paper clip and hair spray fit into his plan. I’m not even sure how to convince myself I’ll enjoy it…but is it fandom if you don’t suffer for it?
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