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| Night, night, gram-gram. |
Because this game wasn’t that complicated, and because I’m about to check out until the end of September, I’ll keep the game summary for the Portland Timbers comfy-cozy 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC short.
It opened with a long, barren period – see the xG graph because it gets things mostly right – which left the game open for one of those pivotal moments. LAFC’s ‘keeper, John McCarthy, delivered with a swing and a miss at an Evander corner. His bobble bounced in front of the goal until Larry Mabiala did the simple thing of running toward it and heading it into the goal. Gods only knew what would happen from there, but it looked like a long stretch of nothing at that point.
I saw some chatter about LAFC getting back into the game during the latter half of the first one, but the only evidence I saw was an intermittently effective press and a couple smart shots from the left channel to the right post. All that didn’t amount to much – and I’m not the only one to think that; the on-screen halftime stats had the Timbers up 1.6 to 0.09 on xG (no typo on that zero behind the decimal).
The game ended according to everything but the final whistle fairly early in the first half. Portland scored an insurance goal so nice they insured it twice (seriously, watch it again for Santiago Moreno’s tulle-soft back-heel to Claudio Bravo alone) and LAFC only got worse from there. The Timbers had at least two more chances to dig them a deeper hole – and that’s on top of three more where a team that needed to make something happen would have pushed harder to make it so – and the game just kind of petered out from there. I mean that in the best way, honestly: there are few things I appreciate more in soccer than watching a team kill off a game softly, and the Timbers did that tonight. On a physical level, it didn’t take much more than a soap opera villain seeing that ill-gotten inheritance by leaning a little harder into the pillow smothering grandma’s face.
To the extent this game/wictory (no typo) requires sincere reflection, it follows from one simple question: how good is LAFC in 2023, really? I recognize enough of that starting eleven to feel like they sent enough of their finest....and said finest did not deliver. On any level. LAFC played and looked like a strugglig team.
Is it possible the Timbers made them bad? Maybe. Going the other way, I’d point to the dogpile of giveaways they stacked between the 60th and 80th minutes as their bigger problem. 84.5% passing accuracy, my ass. LAFC spent most of the second half asking themselves...why were they punching themselves? (Was it worth it? That much bad syntax to hold onto that joke?)
All in all, yeah, this was a good and big win. With the San Jose Earthquakes sputtering, and both FC Dallas and Austin FC within arm’s reach (if with two and one game in-hand, respectively), Portland is in the proverbial mix. Their season-ending stretch of games - @ ATX, v SJ, v COL, @ LAG, @ MTL, v HOU – gives them a shot 18 total points, enough of them in/on favorable enough venues/terms to make me think they have a decent shot at post-season life. And a respectable shot at going in with a little spring in their step...say, 11 points from those lost 18 on offer? Anyone think that’s possible?
The next game I'll see and comment on will be the road game at the Los Angeles Galaxy. My sense of how they’ll do in that one will follow from starkly simple math – i.e., if the Timbers don’t get five points or more through September 20, I’ll officially give up on the season. To offer an opinion: based on what I’ve seen over the past three games, I like their chances at six points. The trouble is, I think Portland will need them. It’ll take some squeezing to get points out of those last three games.
And that’s it, for the game and the big picture. With an eye to the layoff, I wanted to close with notes on all the players involved tonight (and recently). Going from front to back.
David Bingham/Aljaz Ivacic
Couldn’t care less. Also, I’m pathologically agnostic when it comes to goalkeepers. The difference has to be glaring as a desert sun coming off a Camaro painted metallic purple.
Centerbacks...
I prefer Dario Zuparic paired with Zac McGraw, but I was delighted to see Larry Mabiala play a strong one. And, despite the early returns on the project, I see the outlines of real and valuable utility in Eric Miller.
...Related
I’m a pretty firm three-at-the-back guy, if with less of a damn about how the Timbers get there – especially with the way Portland continues to play their fullbacks. I say keep Miller back there and play Bravo and Juan David Mosquera wide and as high up the field as circumstances allow them to go. I expect that to take more tinkering, but I hope readers grok the outlines of the argument.
It opened with a long, barren period – see the xG graph because it gets things mostly right – which left the game open for one of those pivotal moments. LAFC’s ‘keeper, John McCarthy, delivered with a swing and a miss at an Evander corner. His bobble bounced in front of the goal until Larry Mabiala did the simple thing of running toward it and heading it into the goal. Gods only knew what would happen from there, but it looked like a long stretch of nothing at that point.
I saw some chatter about LAFC getting back into the game during the latter half of the first one, but the only evidence I saw was an intermittently effective press and a couple smart shots from the left channel to the right post. All that didn’t amount to much – and I’m not the only one to think that; the on-screen halftime stats had the Timbers up 1.6 to 0.09 on xG (no typo on that zero behind the decimal).
The game ended according to everything but the final whistle fairly early in the first half. Portland scored an insurance goal so nice they insured it twice (seriously, watch it again for Santiago Moreno’s tulle-soft back-heel to Claudio Bravo alone) and LAFC only got worse from there. The Timbers had at least two more chances to dig them a deeper hole – and that’s on top of three more where a team that needed to make something happen would have pushed harder to make it so – and the game just kind of petered out from there. I mean that in the best way, honestly: there are few things I appreciate more in soccer than watching a team kill off a game softly, and the Timbers did that tonight. On a physical level, it didn’t take much more than a soap opera villain seeing that ill-gotten inheritance by leaning a little harder into the pillow smothering grandma’s face.
To the extent this game/wictory (no typo) requires sincere reflection, it follows from one simple question: how good is LAFC in 2023, really? I recognize enough of that starting eleven to feel like they sent enough of their finest....and said finest did not deliver. On any level. LAFC played and looked like a strugglig team.
Is it possible the Timbers made them bad? Maybe. Going the other way, I’d point to the dogpile of giveaways they stacked between the 60th and 80th minutes as their bigger problem. 84.5% passing accuracy, my ass. LAFC spent most of the second half asking themselves...why were they punching themselves? (Was it worth it? That much bad syntax to hold onto that joke?)
All in all, yeah, this was a good and big win. With the San Jose Earthquakes sputtering, and both FC Dallas and Austin FC within arm’s reach (if with two and one game in-hand, respectively), Portland is in the proverbial mix. Their season-ending stretch of games - @ ATX, v SJ, v COL, @ LAG, @ MTL, v HOU – gives them a shot 18 total points, enough of them in/on favorable enough venues/terms to make me think they have a decent shot at post-season life. And a respectable shot at going in with a little spring in their step...say, 11 points from those lost 18 on offer? Anyone think that’s possible?
The next game I'll see and comment on will be the road game at the Los Angeles Galaxy. My sense of how they’ll do in that one will follow from starkly simple math – i.e., if the Timbers don’t get five points or more through September 20, I’ll officially give up on the season. To offer an opinion: based on what I’ve seen over the past three games, I like their chances at six points. The trouble is, I think Portland will need them. It’ll take some squeezing to get points out of those last three games.
And that’s it, for the game and the big picture. With an eye to the layoff, I wanted to close with notes on all the players involved tonight (and recently). Going from front to back.
David Bingham/Aljaz Ivacic
Couldn’t care less. Also, I’m pathologically agnostic when it comes to goalkeepers. The difference has to be glaring as a desert sun coming off a Camaro painted metallic purple.
Centerbacks...
I prefer Dario Zuparic paired with Zac McGraw, but I was delighted to see Larry Mabiala play a strong one. And, despite the early returns on the project, I see the outlines of real and valuable utility in Eric Miller.
...Related
I’m a pretty firm three-at-the-back guy, if with less of a damn about how the Timbers get there – especially with the way Portland continues to play their fullbacks. I say keep Miller back there and play Bravo and Juan David Mosquera wide and as high up the field as circumstances allow them to go. I expect that to take more tinkering, but I hope readers grok the outlines of the argument.
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| Murillo's only a little smaller... |
I Hope The Official Line-Up Is Accurate
I’m talking about the official line about a 4-2-3-1, with Cristhian Paredes and Diego Chara at the 2. Just to note it, Chara made a fucking incredible, open-field play around the 87th minute, when he moved to choke off the lane to wide open weak side and capped off the moment of brilliance with a hard, clean tackle to win the ball. That’s one man killing LAFC’s last, best chance all on his lonesome. The man still has a lot of it.
Going the other way, particularly in a game where several players had their best nights all season, Paredes’ limitations showed tonight. That’s not to crap on the guy – he has been Mr. Ready-N-Reliable all season – but he still reads as a better-than-average 8 in MLS terms, and one with the strengths leaning toward the defensive side of the game. Fortunately...
My MVPs (Plural, Because Why Limit Yourself?)
I thought Yimmi Chara, Evander, McGraw and Bravo had some of their best games of 2023 tonight; hell, pull McGraw out of the equation and I’m open to the argument that those players had their best games of this season. That went a long way tonight. Think of how far it could go week in, week out...
Evander = Ilie
I think they’re similar players. And Ilie provides a template form within MLS, whether Portland takes the career advice or not. Setting that aside, I’d call this Evander’s best, global performance of the season. He kicked off a handful of dangerous counters in the Timbers’ better moments by providing a reliable outlet, whether wide right or straight up the gut. Sure, the guy barely defends – aka, the root of his “complexity”- but he can ride a challenge like a guy rocking the North Shore and he showed how first-step quick he can be tonight. Think the way he demolished Jesus Murillo up the left channel at the 73rd minute.
Resolving Mora v Boli, and The Bigger Picture
Felipe Mora’s post-up play tonight sold me on him as the regular starter. Hell, the man dipped all the way to edge of Portland’s defensive third to receive a ball and keep it moving. I admire and respect Franck Boli, but, because he’s more apt to turn and run at goal, he doesn’t bring the midfield into the attack the same way Mora does. And that connectivity goes a long fucking way with the Timbers, even (or especially) in transition.
My personal preference aside, I’m just fucking thrilled that Miles Joseph has, not just that option, but a handful more on the attacking side.
As this long, struggling season arrives at its defining moment, few things comfort me more than seeing (say) Dairon Asprilla come on for Moreno, Sebastian Blanco come on for Yimmi, and, yes, Boli come on for Mora. Let Boli run their dicks off and make them panic. That’s a good way to keep a team honest while the rest of the team kills off the game.
Right. My apologies if the player-by-player read a little shambolic, but I’m riffing tonight. Looking forward to catching up after I get back. Till then..
I’m talking about the official line about a 4-2-3-1, with Cristhian Paredes and Diego Chara at the 2. Just to note it, Chara made a fucking incredible, open-field play around the 87th minute, when he moved to choke off the lane to wide open weak side and capped off the moment of brilliance with a hard, clean tackle to win the ball. That’s one man killing LAFC’s last, best chance all on his lonesome. The man still has a lot of it.
Going the other way, particularly in a game where several players had their best nights all season, Paredes’ limitations showed tonight. That’s not to crap on the guy – he has been Mr. Ready-N-Reliable all season – but he still reads as a better-than-average 8 in MLS terms, and one with the strengths leaning toward the defensive side of the game. Fortunately...
My MVPs (Plural, Because Why Limit Yourself?)
I thought Yimmi Chara, Evander, McGraw and Bravo had some of their best games of 2023 tonight; hell, pull McGraw out of the equation and I’m open to the argument that those players had their best games of this season. That went a long way tonight. Think of how far it could go week in, week out...
Evander = Ilie
I think they’re similar players. And Ilie provides a template form within MLS, whether Portland takes the career advice or not. Setting that aside, I’d call this Evander’s best, global performance of the season. He kicked off a handful of dangerous counters in the Timbers’ better moments by providing a reliable outlet, whether wide right or straight up the gut. Sure, the guy barely defends – aka, the root of his “complexity”- but he can ride a challenge like a guy rocking the North Shore and he showed how first-step quick he can be tonight. Think the way he demolished Jesus Murillo up the left channel at the 73rd minute.
Resolving Mora v Boli, and The Bigger Picture
Felipe Mora’s post-up play tonight sold me on him as the regular starter. Hell, the man dipped all the way to edge of Portland’s defensive third to receive a ball and keep it moving. I admire and respect Franck Boli, but, because he’s more apt to turn and run at goal, he doesn’t bring the midfield into the attack the same way Mora does. And that connectivity goes a long fucking way with the Timbers, even (or especially) in transition.
My personal preference aside, I’m just fucking thrilled that Miles Joseph has, not just that option, but a handful more on the attacking side.
As this long, struggling season arrives at its defining moment, few things comfort me more than seeing (say) Dairon Asprilla come on for Moreno, Sebastian Blanco come on for Yimmi, and, yes, Boli come on for Mora. Let Boli run their dicks off and make them panic. That’s a good way to keep a team honest while the rest of the team kills off the game.
Right. My apologies if the player-by-player read a little shambolic, but I’m riffing tonight. Looking forward to catching up after I get back. Till then..
Lots of good stuff here, Jeff - Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm wondering how good LAFC actually is... Aside from the missing Denis Bouanga, the quality of everybody else new I saw Saturday didn't measure up to the group I saw play at PP the last couple of years. Moreover, Vela is clearly older, slower and ever-more inclined to complain to the refs about being touched roughly or at all.
Most telling was Cherundulo's late-match sideline reactions - watching his face as every one of his subs made his team actually play worse; and finally, leaving the sideline to just sit down in obvious disgust at seeing his group just pack it in early.
Waay too early for me to be speculating like this after a couple games- but maybe what the team wasn't getting from Coach Gio was 1) a focused tactical organization of the defense including serious run-thru's on how to defend best on set pieces. 2) A substitution scheme that is based on logical assessment rather than a mystical belief that favorite players don't run out of gas or have off-days. 3) A recognition that players have a sweet spot of positional ability and if they're played out of that area, frustration ensues.
ReplyDeleteI'm ignoring the biggest factor that as a player with a new coach, you can get a do-over chance where, before, your role on the team was hardened in place.
Too optimistic?
Nedwell, I'm with you 100% on the first point about defensive organization.
DeleteFrom observing the defense on the field since the coaching change and what players have said, it's obvious Ridgy has stepped in to coach defense - and he's brought a more detailed tactical approach plus an emphasis on player accountability.
From the look of the team Saturday it's paying dividends all the way up the field, too.