—by Chris Rifer

Oh, hey there. How’s it going? Yeah, long time no see.

Sorry for the absence last week, I was in the mountains of Idaho attending a buddy’s bachelor party and wedding. Accordingly, I wasn’t able to tune into the game, which hampered my ability to write about it. I should give a shout out to my buddy Mike, however, whose text updates kept me well informed of the progress of the match and off the dance floor for a period of the reception. Anyway, on to business.

Fire Observations

• My thinking on Troy Perkins has gone back and forth a little bit this season. There is no question that the trade to get him was a good deal. As much of a Cronin fan as I have been, Troy Perkins is a definite upgrade at keeper. Saturday night he was absolutely fantastic. Not only was he well-deserving of his second Save of the Week award in a row, but he logged his best complete effort of the season, earning the Timbers their win on the road. The challenge for the Timbers is that when he isn’t out-of-his-head good, the defense hasn’t been stout enough to pick up the slack. Even on Saturday, he bailed out a fair few defensive mistakes. You can’t expect you keeper to save your bacon every week, and the fear here is that matches like Saturday in Chicago are more the exception than the rule.
• Jorge Perlaza looks much more comfortable up front as – effectively – a lone striker. Between the Seattle and Chicago matches, he has been as effective up front as he has during any other two week stretch of the season. He still needs to put more of his efforts on goal, as he only has seven shots on frame, but notably four of those have hit the net.
• I’ve heard a couple people sort of question Jack Jewsbury’s inclusion on the All-Star team because a lot of his statistical production comes off of set pieces. I only have two words to respond to that: David Beckham. Without Beckham’s prowess on set pieces he never would have been the global icon that he was in the early part of the decade. Sure, he still would have been a starter on the English national team, and probably even one of their better players. But what made him special was his free kick magic. Now, Jewsbury is no David Beckham, but the point remains. Free kicks are part of the game, and an important part of the game at that. Without Jack the Timbers likely don’t tie New England, Seattle or New York, nor do they beat FC Dallas, Philadelphia or Columbus. If somebody can show me another player in the league that is responsible for that many points and not on the All-Star team, I will stand corrected. Hint: It's not gonna happen.

West Brom Observations

• I agree with John Spencer’s assessment of Darlington Nagbe’s play. He was fantastic. One major difference – he was roaming the central part of the field a lot more. I think that suits his ability to break opponents down on the dribble – to steal a basketball term – a bit more and find seams between the central mids and backs. I have liked what I have seen from the 4-5-1, but if things don’t work out I would be interested to see the team go to a 4-4-1-1 with Zizzo coming on at right wing, Kalif on the left, Perlaza up top, and Darlington withdrawn.
• I’m pretty sure Jonas Olsson is the reincarnation of Ichabod Crane.
• Boy, Eric Brunner is important to the Timbers defense. Portland’s defense was pretty good in the first half, with Brunner as its anchor. Once he left, well, we all saw what happened.
• For the first hour or so Freddie Braun showed me again why I stubbornly think he has an MLS future. It may not be this year, but I think the kid has the talent to contribute at this level. After about the hour mark, though, it was clear that he was not used to playing at that pace. I’m not sure I recall ever having seen many players as tired as he was at the end of 90 minutes.
• I had a similar reaction to the play of Chris Taylor. He hasn’t been as interesting in his few appearances as Braun, but I thought he had a respectable showing in the first hour or so of the match. If I had to choose between the two I would go with Braun, but I think Taylor may be worth the roster spot for another year to see if he can develop a bit more.

Personnel Observations

• In case you haven’t heard, on Thursday the Timbers sent Adam Moffat and a rumored $150,000 in allocation money to Houston Dynamo in exchange for defensive players Lovel Palmer and former Timber Mike Chabala. Palmer seems slated to step in fairly quickly at right back, while Chabala will probably back up, and potentially challenge, Rod Wallace at left back.
• The long and short of the deal is that it seems to be a slam dunk. Palmer will likely be better than anything that the Timbers have put at right back to date, and Chabala provides depth at the Timbers’ thinnest position. Considering Merritt and Gavin have said that another major international signing this year is unlikely, losing the allocation money is of marginal immediate significance. Adam Moffat, in spite of being an all around good guy and a decent player, had essentially fallen to fourth on the depth chart at center mid behind Chara, Jack, and Marcelin. So, the Timbers got a likely starting right back and a backup left back for their #4 center mid and change. Yes, please.
• Merritt has suggested that perhaps the dealmaking isn’t done yet. By filling needs with this early deal, I think the Timbers have given themselves a lot of options going forward. The biggest trade piece, even if some insist he isn’t on the block, is obviously Kenny Cooper. The Timbers do have a couple other pieces that they can dangle as well, however. With the addition of Palmer, it seems that either Steve Purdy or Jeremy Hall are expendable – perhaps Hall more so because of Purdy’s ability to shift to the left or the center in a pinch.
• The priorities at this point have to be finding more attacking talent and perhaps another piece to plug in at center back. To be honest, though, I’m not desperate for either. I’m kind of curious to see how Perlaza can do up front by himself, and I’m not in love with the Timbers’ ability to find something that will improve the Brunner-Futty combo in back on the trade market. If somebody like the Revs or Fire offered me a first round SuperDraft pick or a hefty sum of allocation for Coop, I would have to think long and hard about that.
• Props to Chicago Dan for alerting me to this, but one of the first people to break the trade news on Wednesday night was Ian Joy. I heart him.
• Oh, and to Adam Moffat, thanks for your service as a Timber. Hopefully one day we’ll meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Or maybe October 14^th when you are on the ticket for the Timbers-Dynamo match. Awkward.