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| My birthday came early this year! |
Did the Portland Timbers deserve their late, late equalizer? No, they did not. But that also feels like the wrong question for the moment. So, try this:
Was it funny? Yes, yes it was. I’d sit through a three-hour insurance seminar with an hour devoted to "team-building" and a bologna sandwich and Kool-Aid for a lunch if you told me I could see sad Caleb Porter at the end of it.
Still, smart shot by Santiago Moreno. And, oh, the whimsy of the assist coming off Bill Tuiloma’s head! As for Columbus Crew SC: I’d pity them under literally every other circumstance, but when your team needs a point (and FC Cincinnati needs someone to trip up there rival) you harden your heart and point and laugh....still, you gotta wonder which god Columbus pissed off...
As I said when I sat down to a frog in a tray way back in junior high, there’s so little to dissect here. Columbus played the better game, just slower than they needed to. Despite what the calendar says, the game as a whole had a mid-August vibe. With few exceptions – and those will be noted below – the Timbers played the first half as if they didn’t even want the points and they didn’t raise their game all that much in the second. A great feed to an increasingly anonymous Yimmi Chara and a flurry of corner kicks aside (all around the 58th minute), Portland rarely got close enough to see Columbus’ goal, never mind threaten it.
In their defense, Columbus didn’t do much better. They came within a stray shoulder of scoring an insurance goal, of course, and Cucho Hernandez got loose a couple times, but, apart from "that magic moment" when Kevin Molino put them ahead, I think the xG does a swell job of translating that sleeper of a game into numbers. Again, that felt like nothing so much as sitting through a long, pointless movie that slips in a great joke right before the credits rolled.
And, because I don’t think we learned much of anything today, let’s just do talking points and get on with our day.
Was it funny? Yes, yes it was. I’d sit through a three-hour insurance seminar with an hour devoted to "team-building" and a bologna sandwich and Kool-Aid for a lunch if you told me I could see sad Caleb Porter at the end of it.
Still, smart shot by Santiago Moreno. And, oh, the whimsy of the assist coming off Bill Tuiloma’s head! As for Columbus Crew SC: I’d pity them under literally every other circumstance, but when your team needs a point (and FC Cincinnati needs someone to trip up there rival) you harden your heart and point and laugh....still, you gotta wonder which god Columbus pissed off...
As I said when I sat down to a frog in a tray way back in junior high, there’s so little to dissect here. Columbus played the better game, just slower than they needed to. Despite what the calendar says, the game as a whole had a mid-August vibe. With few exceptions – and those will be noted below – the Timbers played the first half as if they didn’t even want the points and they didn’t raise their game all that much in the second. A great feed to an increasingly anonymous Yimmi Chara and a flurry of corner kicks aside (all around the 58th minute), Portland rarely got close enough to see Columbus’ goal, never mind threaten it.
In their defense, Columbus didn’t do much better. They came within a stray shoulder of scoring an insurance goal, of course, and Cucho Hernandez got loose a couple times, but, apart from "that magic moment" when Kevin Molino put them ahead, I think the xG does a swell job of translating that sleeper of a game into numbers. Again, that felt like nothing so much as sitting through a long, pointless movie that slips in a great joke right before the credits rolled.
And, because I don’t think we learned much of anything today, let’s just do talking points and get on with our day.
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| Trust me. This was the most tasteful image. |
When I saw Dairon Asprilla playing right back, I let it pass with a “what the hell?” Then, around the 20th minute, I scratched the following note onto the pad: “not a fan of D. Asprilla RB; who’s the target?” At this point, and with the fact it’ll be neither elegant nor sharp duly acknowledged, I can’t name a Timber better-suited to leading the proverbial line than Asprilla – not at least until the second coming of Felipe Mora. No one else has the energy or the strength/frame to play that role. Very much related...
1a) It Is Not Yimmi Chara...
This is a stupid idea, even on paper. It's closer to something you can only talk yourself into when you're out of ideas. While I’m not 100%-sure how to split the credit for the Timbers “coming into the game” between moving Asprilla up top and Columbus dropping deeper than they should have, Yimmi did absolutely nothing of note besides slamming that shot straight at Columbus’ Eloy Room. It gets harder to believe he’ll find a role on this team with every game.
2) And Yet There Is a Need
I think everyone roots for Asprilla, but I doubt even his most fervid fans would call him a league-elite attacking player. And, as high as Moreno’s stock has climbed over this season, he and Asprilla can only do so much between them. As such, if this Timbers team is going to go anywhere beyond the first round of the post-season – and, to speak directly to the subtext, yes, I feel safe calling Portlamd playoff-bound – both they and the team needs someone else to step up. And that thought can’t help but beg the question(s): what’s up with Eryk Williamson and what’s up with Sebastian Blanco? As much as it pains me to say it, I suspect the latter has reached the end of top-end service...and that returns the focus to Eryk. He’s had some moments in the second half of this season – including a game or two when he made the Timbers offense do something besides close to nothing – but he (or someone, very much including Seba) needs to make that a weekly thing and whoever it is has only three games to get that going, so....
3) Getting Antsy About the Midfield
This is the second game in a row where the Timbers defensive midfield looked second best and I don’t think that’s something that can be ignored. I’d go so far as to call this my greatest area of concern (though, as a midfield-obsessive, this is never far from my mind). In the same vein as my comments re the attack, Diego Chara needs some help out there.
4) Did Anything Make Me Happy...Besides Sad Caleb?
I thought Claudio Bravo was energetic and enterprising today, and I’d love to get a round of applause for Larrys Mabiala going because he handled a lot of the pressure Columbus brought to bear and in an unfamiliar position. And I remain a fan of the back-three arrangement. Bill Tuiloma had a nice morning/afternoon (depending on time-zone) and Dario Zuparic put out some fires, which was nice. So, yeah, all that, Moreno and the decision to move Asprilla back up top, and I think that’s about it.
Here's to hoping the Timbers find a little more collective inspiration for the next two games. And beyond.
This is a stupid idea, even on paper. It's closer to something you can only talk yourself into when you're out of ideas. While I’m not 100%-sure how to split the credit for the Timbers “coming into the game” between moving Asprilla up top and Columbus dropping deeper than they should have, Yimmi did absolutely nothing of note besides slamming that shot straight at Columbus’ Eloy Room. It gets harder to believe he’ll find a role on this team with every game.
2) And Yet There Is a Need
I think everyone roots for Asprilla, but I doubt even his most fervid fans would call him a league-elite attacking player. And, as high as Moreno’s stock has climbed over this season, he and Asprilla can only do so much between them. As such, if this Timbers team is going to go anywhere beyond the first round of the post-season – and, to speak directly to the subtext, yes, I feel safe calling Portlamd playoff-bound – both they and the team needs someone else to step up. And that thought can’t help but beg the question(s): what’s up with Eryk Williamson and what’s up with Sebastian Blanco? As much as it pains me to say it, I suspect the latter has reached the end of top-end service...and that returns the focus to Eryk. He’s had some moments in the second half of this season – including a game or two when he made the Timbers offense do something besides close to nothing – but he (or someone, very much including Seba) needs to make that a weekly thing and whoever it is has only three games to get that going, so....
3) Getting Antsy About the Midfield
This is the second game in a row where the Timbers defensive midfield looked second best and I don’t think that’s something that can be ignored. I’d go so far as to call this my greatest area of concern (though, as a midfield-obsessive, this is never far from my mind). In the same vein as my comments re the attack, Diego Chara needs some help out there.
4) Did Anything Make Me Happy...Besides Sad Caleb?
I thought Claudio Bravo was energetic and enterprising today, and I’d love to get a round of applause for Larrys Mabiala going because he handled a lot of the pressure Columbus brought to bear and in an unfamiliar position. And I remain a fan of the back-three arrangement. Bill Tuiloma had a nice morning/afternoon (depending on time-zone) and Dario Zuparic put out some fires, which was nice. So, yeah, all that, Moreno and the decision to move Asprilla back up top, and I think that’s about it.
Here's to hoping the Timbers find a little more collective inspiration for the next two games. And beyond.
Fully subscribe to Talking Points #2 &3, Jeff, and really I'm convinced they are one and the same.
ReplyDeleteBlanco's 'malaise' is actually his new normal... the first step, top gear and snap shot we all loved and grew to expect are not coming back. His passing has suffered likewise, and the clutch defensive moments are now just plain MIA. The want-to spirit and commitment to shithousery is all he's got left.
Last week against MINN it almost killed off Bravo when Gio paired Seba and Eryk on Bravo's side and they were AWOL the whole first half. This week he split them up with DC in between - and even though Williamson was better, CBL dominated almost the same.
All that just screams an obvious conclusion - at least one of these guys needs to take a seat - in favor of some serious defensive chops named Paredes.
Caleb Porter, long-time captain of the good ship Truculence. A man who believes to a fault in his own assessment skills. So when a reasonable Porter plan gets a pie in the face - nothing more delicious. He rails at unfair fate like few others can do.
ReplyDeleteMy philosophical question for 2022- when does a team held together with ad-hoc solutions to core shortcomings come a cropper? So far, the Timbers' answer is a happy shrug and smile.