Portland Timbers 1-0 Minnesota United FC: Say, That Was Lucky. And Ugly.

A metaphor (I couldn't find a better image to represent)

I feel like this was one of those nights where I saw every misplaced foot in defense, every stumble (remember, that one time, when Dario Zuparic almost fell on his ass watching Mender Garcia dance?), every over-hit pass, every touch that sent a ball flopping like a trout jumping for a mosquito, and more standing around and contemplating what some other player could do.

If anything went well during that first half, I either didn’t see it or failed to record it. And listening to the chatter from the broadcast booth was positively hallucinogenic. Felt like listening to goddamn propaganda half the damn time. And yet, I’m left wondering whether saw some darker, shadow-version of what everyone else saw tonight.

The one thing no one could miss: Dairon Asprilla power-glancing home a header from a Santiago Moreno free-kick. Yessir, that was the rock on which the Portland Timbers 1-0 win over Minnesota United FC was built...and then I rewatched said header and saw that Asprilla didn’t have to move at all to win it; Moreno casually dimed it onto his head while Minnesota’s near-side defender (looks like Luis Amarilla from the still I’m looking at right now; gonna savor the mystery) stepped out of the way. Think it’s Michael Boxall who’s asking the same question I am right now: what the fuck, man?

While it’s not 100% borne out by anything more concrete than the eye test and some parts of the box score, I’d call makeshift Minnesota the better team tonight. They moved the ball smarter, they teed up better chances (and a lot more of them) – I mean, I’m looking at the passing accuracy stat right now and suddenly wondering whether I even know how that’s calculated (and whether the Illuminati are involved) – and, all in all, believe a fair case could be made that, but for the Aljaz Ivacic/Claudio Bravo double save, like, five minutes into the game, this one would have slipped away from the Portland. Seriously, think of it: if either of those shots go in (or, for that matter, any of Minnesota’s five shots on goal, or any of their 21 shots), that’s the Timbers trying to breakdown an actually compacted Minnesota defense. And, based on what I saw out there tonight, I don’t think that’s a game Portland would have won...but instead this game wound up as a lesson in what happens when one team lets the other hang around for too long.

Honestly, if either Garcia or Kervin Arriaga could shoot; Arriaga’s wild swing to nowhere were a comic delight, but, this could have been Minnesota’s game at least half a dozen times over.

If my posts have had a theme over the past three games (going from memory here; didn’t check), it’s the direct relationship between the energy the Timbers put out and the success they have on the field. The bigger part of that came on the defensive side of the ball – i.e., defenders and midfielders stepping toward either the ball or the player receiving it – but it also showed in the attack with Timbers players throwing themselves into the defensive third like men going “over the top” in the War to End All Wars...only it paid off when the Timbers did it, and then only recently. Something else that got to me, and this goes back to the thing about the compactness of the Loons defense: it wasn’t, not really. While it didn’t amount to anything like a press, Minnesota went to the ball – tried to pin it, really – and that left gaps into which some enterprising Timber could wander. And yet that seemed vanishingly rare. I counted only a couple genuinely lively moments among Timbers in the attacking third; in my game thread for this one, I called a move in the 92nd minute the first good move they’d managed all night, and I regret nothing.

If anything about tonight threw me, that’s it: just about every Timbers player was passive through the entire first half; some of them never woke up – if you take away Bill Tuiloma’s contributions on the attacking side, every center-back in the line-up played like they tied on someone else’s shoes tonight – but a certain quantity of players did and, with Minnesota missing shots badly as they missed Emmanuel Reynoso and Franco Fragapane, that was enough.

To name those players: Ivacic belongs in the honor role, obviously, but Asprilla chased after scraps in the first half and I recall his energetic runs from deep right in the second half as the first uncomplicated good feeling of the game. Still, credit to Moreno for turning the game more than anyone else: when someone had to do anything to make Minnesota worry about the space behind them, he stepped up; he had at least three little loop-de-loos that bamboozled at least as many Minnesota defenders and, for my money, he became the driving force in the offense. Again. Numbers and reputations be damned, I’d argue Moreno has been the Timbers most dangerous attacking player over the second half of 2022 and I don’t think it’s close.

I think that’s it for broad commentary. In the event the timeline’s not clear (honestly, I’m still stinging from a time four years ago when someone read a post and told me it told them nothing about the game), a lazily cagey opening gave way to Minnesota running the game for about 30 minutes, and then Asprilla scored. The Timbers came out livelier in the second half, but that mostly amounted to making Minnesota stop themselves from doing much – and that’s only until Portland quietly became the better, or at least more comfortable team, a period I’d peg as starting around the 78th minute or thereabouts.

I think the saying goes, better good than lucky, but, tonight, I’m partying with lucky. The word “big win” gets throw around both too often and too early, but that five-point cushion looks both big and, after tonight, necessary. And, for now, I’m happy about the win. They can get the energy back next week.

Now, some talking points...

1) Only Noting Because I Happened to Catch It

Minnesota didn’t slow down so much in the second half, regardless of what’s above. They came into the second half with 13 shots, two on goal, and ended with 21 shots, five on goal; they more than doubled Portland’s xG – 2.4 to 1.1 – and the 78th minute above should be revised to the 85th. Again, this game could easily have gone the other way.

Eryk. C'mon, man.

2) We Need to Talk About Eryk

Careful readers will notice I haven’t yet typed the words “Sebastian” and “Blanco.” That has a lot to do with his present struggles to put his stamp on, more or less, any game lately, or arguably all season. Hence the title of this talking point.

Look, I see people calling Eryk Williamson lazy, and even think it now and again as I watch him, and in most games. Against that, I’d argue Eryk’s just about the only player on the roster right now who can pull something straight out of his ass. No disrespect to Asprilla, who manages his share of surprises/moments, but Eryk has the talent to just...do something to turn a game on his own, while Asprilla’s someone who does great and timely things, the majority of them with one touch rather than more (e.g., the first-half bike attempt, presaged the header). With that in mind, this is what I’d like to see Eryk do: make more aggressive moves to receive the ball, seek pockets more consciously, that kind of thing; be the kind of outlet that has to come back hard to receive the ball, but play that role in simple ball progression, if only to help the Timbers get the ball forward and, better still, centrally. Absent Felipe Mora and with Jaroslaw Niezgoda being the player he is, this team cries out for a player who can do that week after week. About that...

3) Yimmi, Yimmi, Yimmi...

His clear lack of sense of what he wants to do out there is hurting the team, he kills twice as many transition plays as he helps, if not more, the timing and quality of his shooting is enough to make you wonder if “DP” means something else, etc. The past four, five games have pushed me to a point where I can’t believe Yimmi’s the best this team can do in any number of positions. I’m fine leaving the question of whether he’s good enough open, but he’s not doing enough to justify a starting spot in the here and now.

3a) Can You Pull the Plug Now?

I mean that mostly in the sense of continuity. Can another player (e.g., Marvin Loria) hold things down generally, and find his way to a more useful role?

Apart from a bone-deep panic about the back three and mild concern about the defensive posture (was neither good nor confident), that’s it for this one. Until...gawd, who is next? Ooh, Columbus away...please make Caleb Porter cry. Please?