—by Chris Rifer

The Portland Timbers’ lack of confidence did them in again on Saturday night. On an evening where Portland played 75 minutes of solid soccer, the Timbers were beaten by conceding two early goals in the other 15.

The first came in the 15^th minute, as C.J. Sapong shook off an uneasy tackle attempt by Eric Brunner, turned, and struck a modestly-paced low ball. Troy Perkins, the Timbers’ netminder who at times this season has been a savior for the Timbers, was surprised by the shot and let what should have been a routine save pass him by.

The Timbers were shell-shocked and paid the price just four minutes later, as a Kansas City long throw bounced in the middle of the box before finding the head of Sporting KC center back Aurellien Collin, who nodded it past a stagnant Timbers defense to deepen Portland’s grave.

Over the next 25 minutes Portland played like a team trying not to get blown out of their own building. While it wasn’t all bad, the Timbers proceeded largely without life or dynamism. Harmless possession and hopeless balls forward by Rodney Wallace became the meat and potatoes of the offense, as the outcome already seemed assured.

A shot of life, though, would come in the 45^th minute, as Darlington Nagbe scored the best goal of the year by a Timber. After Sporting keeper Jimmy Nielsen punched out a Jack Jewsbury free kick, Darlington Nagbe juggled the ball and volleyed it beautifully from the corner of the box into the far upper corner of the net.

The Timbers came out with a bit more inspiration in the second half, but couldn’t quite find the equalizer. Jorge Perlaza made several nice runs, once sending a ball from 20 yards out just over the bar, and another time having a hard shot saved at the near post by Nielsen.

The equalizer wouldn’t come, however, and as one last Jack Jewsbury effort from distance went tantalizingly wide, it was clear that Portland was destined to drop three more points at home. The loss puts Portland in the unenviable position of heading into a rivalry match completely devoid of belief. Then again, what better way to break out of a funk then to beat your hated rival at home?

Match Observations

• I don’t think lineup changes are necessarily the cure to what ails the Timbers right now. I think this is just something that they have to play through. The problem is that this team has lost its swagger. It is evident not only in how they have responded to goals—which recently has been to go into a shell—but also in how they respond to smaller bits of adversity through the match. There were a number of times in the match on Saturday where it felt that the Timbers had an opportunity to pin the Wiz in their own end and really shell the defense, but each time Portland would lose possession and seemingly immediately retreat into the midfield. There was very little “Screw that, I’m winning this ball back or picking up a card trying!” It’s not as much a problem of personnel, with one notable exception, but a problem of mentality. Obviously things are really bad right now, but I think a good week of practice and a speech a little bit like this may be what is needed to prepare the boys to beat the Flounders next Sunday.
• Over the course of the season Captain Jack has probably been the Timbers best player thus far, but the lack of on-field leadership was striking after the first goal. Jack hasn’t been that rock of a leader that he was in the beginning of the season, and the other guys that you would typically look to on this team to provide that leadership—namely Troy Perkins and Kenny Cooper—haven’t stepped up either. Perkins was better after the second goal, when he brought the team together, but at that point the hole was too deep. Right now this team is mentally weak, and until they recover the confidence to play through some adversity this kind of a result is inevitable.
• Finally, a word about the Army. One of the coolest things about the season opener in Denver was the reaction of the travelling Army to adversity on the pitch. With every goal there was a moment of shock, then the Army would just sing louder. I think we’ve lost that a little bit. Maybe my perspective was polluted by the high schoolers in front of me who spent much of the match making out, but at times we seemed to mirror the play on the field rather than affect it. We have the responsibility of helping to pick our boys off of the mat sometimes, and our ability to do that in the past has been part of what makes the Army the best group of sports fans I have ever been around. Let’s get back to that next week and will our boys to a huge victory.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 4.5 Played a pretty game second half, coming up with a few nice saves to keep the Timbers in the match, but he takes the majority of the culpability for the first goal. Simply should have been saved.

Rodney Wallace, 4 Like Perkins, was better in the second half, and didn’t have any major defensive gaffes like he has in the past couple matches, but was catastrophic coming forward in the first half. How many needless giveaways did he have? His quality on long balls is poor, and yet he is undeterred. Jeremy Hall was just okay on the right, but if I’m John Spencer I’m trying to figure out if either Hall or Steve Purdy are viable options on the left, because Rod isn’t right now.

Futty, 5 Futty was fine. Almost got his head on a couple set pieces, and was quiet in back—and I mean that as a compliment.

Eric Brunner, 4 What responsibility Perkins doesn’t have for the first goal belongs to Brunner, who whiffed on the tackle that allowed Sapong to turn. Otherwise wasn’t bad, but conceding that first goal was huge.

Steve Purdy, 5.5 Purdy had a decent outing. Did well getting forward at times, and was pretty reliable in back. I thought it was harsh to take him out of the lineup a few weeks back, and I think on Saturday he showed why he deserves to be an everyday starter.

Kalif Alhassan, 4.5 Needs to improve defensively, as he was again exposed on a couple occasions. Otherwise struggled a bit, although I’m starting to think when you have to pair with Rod Wallace for extended periods, it may be tough not to struggle.

Diego Chara, 5 Was again active in the midfield without having much to show for it. It seems that sometimes he is getting a bit frustrated with the lack of movement, as the typical Chara pose is looking upfield with his palms to the sky in bewilderment.

Jack Jewsbury, 4.5 Had a decent second half, and was less than a foot from equalizing late, but he was troublingly flat footed on the second goal, which was one of the softest goals the Timbers have conceded this season.

Darlington Nagbe, 6 How fantastic was that goal? Was nice to see Nagbe open up his account so brilliantly, and I loved his reaction of trying to rally the boys afterward. Something tells me that if the Timbers can right the ship, Little D may play a starring role.

Jorge Perlaza, 5.5 Frankly, was unlucky not to score. His strike in the second half that was saved near post was destined for the net before Nielsen came up huge. His movement was again good, as he looked to be the Timbers most threatening player for much of the match.

Eddie Johnson, 4.5 Was better in his second half stint than he was in the first half. Kenny Cooper detractors won’t like hearing this, but Cooper has to be the starter. Johnson just doesn’t create much of a target up front.

Kenny Cooper, 5.5 I thought it was actually a pretty nice outing in relief from Kenny. His movement was good, and seeing him come in for Johnson reminded me that he plays the ball well to other players at times, primarily to his strike partner. Having another big target in the box also changed the offense for the better.

Sal Zizzo, 5 This move was fine. Kalif really hadn’t contributed a ton, and Zizzo had a couple nice runs into the interior. Remember how dynamic the partnership between he and Purdy was in the Cascadia Summit? That might be worth exploring again in some form.

James Marcelin, 4.5 Marcelin really didn’t have much of an impact, and I thought in replacing Nagbe with Marcelin the Timbers lost a lot of dynamism. I understand that Spencer is trying to change the shape a little with that substitution, but ultimately this was a defensive substitution at a time when the Timbers needed offense.

Onward, Rose City!