Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 Portland Timbers: The Good, the Bad, That Pet You Lost When You Were 10

R.I.P.

I’m choosing to read last night’s 2-3 loss at the Los Angeles Galaxy through a very particular lens. The Portland Timbers’ performance was…let’s go with fell short of stirring. A lot of I had to do with energy or just vibes, generally - i.e., if had one 100 random soccer fans sit through that game, none of them knowing which team had played the Wednesday before, and asked at the end who did, I’m guessing north of 70 would have pointed to the Timbers. Moreover, the fact the Galaxy started all the same forward players (i.e., the front six) for nearly the whole game makes that mythical tally looks 50% worse.

So, yeah, a front six on half-a-week’s rest put three goals past James Pantemis and, stats be damned, repeatedly got goal side of Portland’s defenders and midfielders. That they strayed offside about half the time saved the Timbers from a runaway. Or did it? The game ended with xG at 1.9 for LA and 1.7 for the Timbers, after all…I’m still deciding how much that tracks. [UPDATE: those numbers have been updated (or I read 'em wrong/tipsy): LA remains on 1.9, but Portland ended with 2.0.] Moving on…

A Summary
Portland came out looking fully prepared to go toe-to-toe at the Galaxy – and, for the first 20 minutes, that worked(!). Both teams fired warning shots over the first ten minutes, but, as the clocked ticked upward, the heavier fire came from LA’s direction. The Timbers snatched chances here and there – e.g., Santiago Moreno with a smart scoop from range at the 30th, Evander crashing the near post ~sixteen minutes later (did both make the highlights?) – but the Galaxy got a hold of the passing lanes starting around the 25th minute and the questions got heavier for the Timbers defense from there, particularly through Riqui Puig, Mark Delgado and Gabriel Pec prowling up the right.

Not coincidentally, and yet controversially, LA’s breakthrough came up the same side when Joseph Paintsil slipped behind a Timbers’ high line that wantonly flirted with danger and, together, he and Pec outran the Timbers backline for the depressingly easy goal that put the Galaxy up 1-0. If you mosey over to the Timbers subreddit, you’ll find a couple threads seething about Paintsil being offside and, having reviewed the video, I dissent (and, no, you won’t change my mind, not without really impressive graphics). More to the point, much like your gerbil/goldish/hermit crab, etc. that died when you were 10, maybe even under mysterious circumstances, that goal isn’t coming back. The pertinent question was how the Timbers would respond.

We can rebuild her, we have the technology.

The answer: letting Paintsil stretch Juan David Mosquera’s side (equal opportunity!), seeing him play a ball into a wide-open Puig, who slotted home LA’s second goal between two Timbers midfielders (Eryk Williamson and Diego Chara) who provided the assist by getting in each other’s way. It wasn’t that egregious, in all honesty, because Puig still had three Timbers defenders to fire through. Still, staring up from the bottom of a deeper hole…was not ideal.

On the silver lining side of the ledger, the Timbers responded…all right to going down two goals. They pulled one back mere minutes after Puig’s alleged insurance goal when Evander (finally) got free on the other side of the clogged passing lanes and fed Jonathan Rodriguez for a first-time shot through Yamane’s feet to the back post. Of most note for the feel-better vibes, LA would have stuffed that play too, but for Santiago Moreno’s smart handling of the bouncing back-pass from Felipe Mora; his cool head and quick feet fed the breakaway that kept the play alive. And keep the players who bookended that sequence in your mind for future reference.

The Timbers scored their second goal and a barely-believable “yes, and” run by Moreno; the Galaxy kept opening room for him and he took all of it until he sent the ball home. That goal came too late, sadly, with the Galaxy posting their third goal, through (sensing a theme) Paintsil, who took all of two touches on a leading pass to give Timbers fans flashbacks to early April’s defending. This result happened for all kinds of reasons – e.g., the Galaxy genuinely flustered Portland’s midfield defending, a problem the Timbers exacerbated by opening up too much vertical space between a (gently) pressing front line and a somewhat deep back line. My big fear going into this game was that the Galaxy might “get going” in midfield. They did and, with Pec and Paintsil able to run against the back of any block they set, players like Puig and Delgado were able to find the killer passes that killed Portland dream of a point or three. Now, for anyone who wants to feel better...

Talking Points
1) Portland Played 40/60 Ball, And Yet
It wasn’t a good performance, but it also wasn’t a terrible one. I’d argue that only Rodriguez and Moreno had great games – and Moreno gets my nod for (Manly!) Man of the Match – and the rest of the team ranged from good (enough? e.g., Miguel Araujo, Pantemis) to more competent than competitive. A collective let-down, in other words, and that’s not the best way to go into (is it?) a month’s break from regular season play…but they still had a realistic chance at equalizing. Not bad for an off-night, basically, but that’s not even the real question.

Timbuk 3. Yeah.

2) Do I Need My Shades, or…
As any Timbers fans will remind you, maybe unprompted, maybe even in the middle of conversation about something completely different, Portland had won five of their past six games going into the loss at LA – and, again, that’s the loss at LA, i.e., a loss on the road against the, still, best team in the Western Conference. A couple soft spots and the collective wattage burning a little low notwithstanding, Portland roused themselves enough to spook the Galaxy throughout the 96 or so minutes. All in all, nothing I saw last night translated as a worrisome issue, never mind a fatal flaw. Putting some thought into how easily LA played through them, and why, feels like a worthwhile exercise (even if few other teams have their unique set of particular skills), but I plan on keeping my sunglasses handy, because Portland’s future looks pretty bright…………c’mon. Do me a favor and tell me I got a song stuck in your head. Please?

3) Just…Eryk
I started the game thinking, “man, I’m glad that guy’s still here, what with David Ayala being out.” Several half-thought hero-ball passes gone wrong, a couple times coughing up possession in risqué places, and a five-alarm give-away later wore that happy thought down to, “am I?” Eryk Williamson played a stinker and, per the Timbers subreddit, I know I’m not the only one who thinks so. He tried too hard in the attack and not hard enough in defense, and what can you call that but underwhelming for a player on the outside of the preferred starting eleven looking in? Like most fans, I want to see every player in every position playing so well that the idea of replacing them never comes up. Williamson, regrettably, kept that thought front of mind.

That’s everything for this game, not to mention the regular season, for a while. It’s all Leagues Cup until then. Would a livelier performance left me feel better, even with no points to the Timbers? Sure, but, again, that gerbil/goldfish/hermit crab ain’t coming back. The only solution is to clean up and sharpen up for the next regular season game...and to get one of those hamsters they sell online, the ones they promise have eternal life, backed with a money-back guarantee.

As for the Leagues Cup, I’m looking forward to it, even if I’m not sure how I’ll consume it. And I’m happy I get to see one game live (versus the Rapids). I’ll continue regular coverage through it, maybe even kick around some notes on the rest of the games. The main thing is, they set all this up for my viewing pleasure and I don’t hate the idea, so…why not embrace it, see if it hugs me back?

The All-Star Game, on the other hand, can fuck straight off. This is the one and only time I’ll mention it. Till the next game…