Timbers Win! Timbers Win! (Just Take It)

Marv Gomez, actually gets us.

While I didn’t intend to post anything about tonight’s game, I did manage to see all the goals, failures and indelible mysteries that made the Portland Timbers 4-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes end the way it did.

I had a handful of talking points, but they don’t matter. Some pointed to persistent issues, some flagged some new ones, but I doubt many of them will translate to the next opponent never mind the three, four after them. I won’t question anything (though I have some), discuss where luck met competence or when, or do the usual digging and nitpicking I usually do after a game..

In the here and now, the only thing that matters is that the Timbers won a must-win game. They had to win this one because, for all their strengths (and they have a few), San Jose is a shit road team with the worst defensive record in Major League Soccer. Portland did the job and as my personal savior, Marv Gomez, the Leatherman, once said: dancing, everything else is bullshit.

When things bounce your way, the smart thing to do is catch the ball and run with it.

That said, the one and only thing I want to point out is Portland’s second goal and, per a talking point posted in last week’s Portland Timbers Snapshot (branding!), note Jonathan Rodriguez’s role in it. To be clear, it wasn’t just him; all the things that led up to that goal - Kamal Miller playing a line-breaker, Evander making a run from the depths, etc. - are the sum of what the Timbers fail to do in the many times when they under-perform. As they have for most of 2024. Still, Rodriguez feels key to the equation because he's the guy who ultimately solves it.

Why this team needs halftime adjustments like visits to the chiropractor, I'll never know. Also, God bless the man and I love him, but never let Larrys Mabiala on the field again.

Till…I’m guessing some time in the middle of next week.