—by Chris Rifer
Sometimes preseason performance is indicative of early regular season performance. Just as the Timbers dominated the ball, controlled much of the game, and came away disappointed against San Jose and Vancouver, Portland failed to earn a result despite an on-paper advantage and dominating possession against the Philadelphia Union.
Like Vancouver, Philadelphia put on a performance at Providence Park that surprised many. Rebuilt with Austin Berry in defense, Maurice Edu in defensive central midfield, Vincent Noguiera in a central attacking role, and Cristian Maidana on the wing, the Union side that walked into Portland on Saturday bore no resemblance whatsoever to the listlessly direct side the Timbers battled to a stalemate last year. And for much of the game, the Timbers looked surprised by what their opponents presented.
Things could have been very different for the Timbers, however, if Pa Modou Kah knew he was allowed to use his feet. After Will Johnson flicked a header off a Gaston Fernadnez corner kick across the box in the 4th minute, Kah dropped to his knees at the back stick to inexplicably try to head a ball one foot off the ground.[1] Not surprisingly, it didn’t work.
In many ways Kah’s blooper reel attempt at a submarine header was typical of the Timbers’ day in the box, as time and again Portland was foiled by last minute Union defending or their own clumsiness.
Like Vancouver a week before, Union came to press, but the Timbers’ ball movement forced them to drop off. That, however, didn’t make Philadelphia any less dangerous.
After a 20th minute ball pinged around in the Timbers’ defending box off a hopeful cross from Edu, Maidana picked it up at the top with his back to goal, turned Diego Chara, and fired a low shot toward goal, but Ricketts reacted well to parry away.
Fifteen minutes and another spell of Timbers possession later, Jack McInerney found his way onto a long chipped pass on the left side and turned on the byline under little defensive pressure. He chipped the ball over a stranded Ricketts, but Norberto Paparatto cleared off the line at the far post.
The end of the half belonged to the Timbers, however. In the 39th minute it was the ball bouncing around the Union box where Nagbe controlled and fed Maxi Urruti twelve yards out on the right side of goal, but Amobi Okugo made the first of a number of saving interventions on the day to deflect Urruti’s goalbound shot away.
Four minutes later, the Timbers got out on the break after a timely Diego Chara interception where Gaston Fernandez fed Valeri thirty-five yards from goal. Valeri took two touches and whipped a hard shot toward the near corner that had Zac MacMath at full stretch, but the shot buzzed just wide of the near post.
All told, the game at halftime looked a lot like San Jose two weeks before. The Timbers had a lot of the ball but the poorer of the chances, as Portland repeatedly showed reluctance to pull the trigger in the final third. And when possession isn’t turned into goals, games that should be filed into the win column can slip away in a hurry.
After dodging a bullet a moment before as Ricketts picked up a Noguiera shot late and could only push behind for a corner, the Timbers got their just desserts. In the 65th minute, Maurice Edu caught the Timbers flat footed in attacking the ensuing corner and nodded to the back post where McInerney was waiting for the finish.
The Timbers came right back, though. Off the ensuing kickoff, Nagbe drove to the byline and put Urruti in goalscoring shape inside the box, but MacMath was quick off his line to get his body in front of Maxi’s finish.
Over the course of the next 20 minutes, the Timbers looked like they might be starting to figure it out. Whereas they had previously been unable to generate anything genuine in the final third, the Timbers started to play teammates into promising positions. But every time they did, the Timbers would always find a foot between them and the goal, even if sometimes one of their own.
But as the game progressed into stoppage time, the Timbers looked out of gas. But oh the value of one last gasp.
After a dangerous Steve Zakuani shot was deflected out for a corner well into the third minute of stoppage, Will Johnson’s quick corner deflected off Brian Carroll’s foot and straight to the head of Fernandez at the far post where he nodded into the open net.
On one hand lucky and on another deserved, the Timbers had their equalizer. On Saturday night the Timbers showed some of the flaws that caused hands to wring in preseason as well as some flashes that perhaps suggest light at the end of the tunnel.
Just how quickly those flashes turn to flames, however, will go a long way to determining the Timbers success in 2014.
Match Observations
While it’s easy to look at finishing as the problem for the Timbers—and indeed, on Saturday it was contributory—Portland’s offense has not done a good job of keeping pace in the transition from middle to final third. In many respects, the middle of the field has looked as good early on as it did in 2013. While Will Johnson and Diego Chara each had a little bit of an off day on Saturday, recent experience suggests that was more fluke than trend.
But Nagbe, Fernandez, Valeri, and Urruti have been wonderful…until they get 30 yards from goal. They’ve been effective at moving the ball quickly through the midfield, cutting defenders out of the play and finding the spaces the defense gives them to put them in prime position to attack the box. But then, for some reason, the Timbers have shown a tendency to slow down.
Once the Timbers have launched into their midfield run, opponents have learned to back into a tactical retreat to their own box; giving Portland plenty of room outside, but nothing inside. Slowing down, then, often undoes the advantage gained by stellar work through the midfield, as cut out defenders recover and pack the final 15 yards—leaving the Timbers, already without a genuine direct threat, looking for an inch of space to pass their way into a decent shot. Even when that space is found, however, more often than not somebody like Okugo is there to make sure it never gets anywhere near goal.
There really isn’t any remedy to this problem short of improving the transition from middle to final third. The good news is fixing this problem is probably just a matter of time—once Urruti, Valeri, Nagbe, and Fernandez all get on the same page, they should be able to markedly improve their transitional efficiency. But the bad news is it’s probably a matter of time. Time, now that the regular season has begun, comes at a cost.
Timbers Grades
Donovan Ricketts, 6 After the game, a funny story started spinning around the press corps about Ricketts once again being a hero. While, yes, his first save was good, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for a good goalkeeper like Donovan. Of the Union’s other five shots on goal, only one troubled Ricketts, and that was because he picked a ball up late. In the end, it was a solid, but far from heroic outing for Ricketts.[2]
Michael Harrington, 4.5 Harrington was quite good for the first sixty or sixty-five minutes, but struggled in the late stages. Mikey fluffed a couple crosses he normally whips and even had a couple defensive lapses that—while ultimately not costing the team—were uncharacteristic.
Pa Modou Kah, 4 Decent defensively, but making a mess of the finish on the corner in the 4th minute was a big missed opportunity.
Norberto Paparatto, 4 Had the clearance off the line, but that was partially precipitated by a lack of communication between he and Jewsbury in handling a 2-on-2 situation. Also shares some culpability for the concession, as he let Edu come across him.
Jack Jewsbury, 5 Made the mistake in letting McInerney go down the left on what ended up the clearance off the line, but otherwise had a passable game defensively and contributed nicely on the offensive end after Alhassan came on to give the Timbers more of a threat down that right side.
Will Johnson, 5.5 Was in some respects the Timbers’ biggest offensive threat for much of the day, as his late runs were one of the few things the Timbers did that required emergency defending from the Union. Joined his midfield companions in having a couple loose passes out there.
Diego Chara, 4 It’s been a long time since I’ve seen somebody get the better of Diego like Noguiera and Maidana did.
Gaston Fernandez, 5 Rescues his grade—and the team—with the finish at the death, but otherwise was a step or two slow in offensive movement for much of the day and had a number of loose touches and passes.
Diego Valeri, 4.5 Had a frustrating night, as his touch betrayed him and seemed perpetually out of synch with the attack. Probably mostly a matter of getting in rhythm, but the Timbers would really like to see Valeri back in form soon.
Darlington Nagbe, 6 The only guy that really asked questions of Philly all night. Led the team in key passes and kept up his stellar completion rate in attacking areas. Also have to admire his lack of bellyaching after suffering another five fouls.
Maxi Urruti, 4.5 Had moments where he was presenting himself nicely in the box, but with a bunch of self-proclaimed passers around him, Urruti needs to be the guy providing the direct threat or pulling defenders out of position to give his teammates no choice but to take the space he creates. He’s done neither consistently since Tucson.
Futty, 5.5 Spelled Kah nicely after coming on in the first half. Classic Futty performance; solid defending, a couple sprayed passes.
Kalif Alhassan, 6.5 Brought a new dimension to the Timbers attack when he came on, as the right side opened up a lot more than it had been. Won more than his fair share of corners, too.
Steve Zakuani, 5 Took a few minutes to settle into his Timbers debut, but did nicely to pop up in a nice spot on the shot that led to the equalizing corner.
Preseason Prediction: Timbers 3, Union 1. Johnson, Urruti, and Nagbe.
Actual Result: Timbers 1, Union 1. Fernandez.
Onward, Rose City!
[1] I would make a substantial donation to Stand Together to be in the video session when they go over this.
[2] Caleb Porter, for his part, seemed a little bemused by the story. Asked about Ricketts’s play, Porter shrugged “Yeah, I mean, that’s his job. The goalkeeper’s job is to make saves and he did that a couple times today. So I think that’s what the goalkeeper’s there for—right—to keep the ball out of the net.”
