—by Chris Rifer

Okay, this is starting to get serious. The Timbers again fell on Saturday night, this time in heartbreaking fashion at the end of an entertaining, competitive match.

In many ways on Saturday night, the Timbers played some of the best soccer they have all year. The passing was at times exhilarating and the defense was dominant—at least until second half stoppage. And yet, at the final whistle the result only furthered a three-week stretch without a point.

The match started off in promising fashion for the Timbers. After some very early pressure by Colorado, the Timbers showed some creativity and passing flare that Portland hasn’t seen to date. Flipping Kalif Alhassan and Darlington Nagbe on the wings proved successful, as the combination of Jeremy Hall, Kalif, and Diego Chara had several clinical displays of sharp distribution and creativity. Meanwhile, on the left side Nagbe looked as dangerous as he has all year.

Throughout the match, the Timbers defense looked equally dominant. While Colorado was able to get some shots off—including a fair few on goal— those efforts were largely found from distance. While the Rapids showed some danger from outside the box, Troy Perkins was game.

Portland couldn’t seem to find frame with many of their efforts, however, and even when they did Colorado netminder Matt Pickens was up to the task— stopping dangerous looking efforts off the foot of Darlington Nagbe and the head of Kenny Cooper.

While the first half was played on relatively even terms, the second half seemed to turn decisively in the Timbers favor. While Portland didn’t quite have the passing flare that they showed in the first frame, in the second half the Timbers pinned possession in Colorado’s defending end for extended periods.

Every dangerous moment that came, however, was met with disappointment. Pickens parried Cooper’s pretty bouncing volley just wide. When Jorge Perlaza beat Pickens he couldn’t send a cross in cleanly and Cooper couldn’t turn the ball into the open net. Ryan Pore sent a header tragically wide, and in the waning moments Pore sent the potential miraculous equalizer over the bar.

Disappointment turned into heartbreak in stoppage time. After a soft foul set up a Rapid free kick on the left wing, Jamie Smith sent a ball in that was nodded down. Again, though, Troy Perkins was able to keep the ball out of net. A scrum ensued at the mouth of the goal. Another shot. Another Perkins save. Finally, after David Horst couldn’t clear the ball out of the box, Drew Moor delivered the fatal blow.

Despite a promising effort, the Timbers once again come away from Jeld-Wen Field empty handed. The loss is the Timbers’ third in a row—and puts Portland’s playoff chances firmly on the ropes.

Match Observations

• It was nice to see a good contingent from Colorado come out for the match. It was terrible to see them leave so happy, but they again showed their class in passionately supporting their side and then unfurling a large “Thank You, PDX” banner after the match. Jeff Larentowicz, on the other hand, is no longer welcome in the State of Oregon.
• You know, this season is starting to feel a bit like a game of Whack-A-Mole. Just as the Timbers solve one problem, another pops up. First the Timbers struggle with slow starts. They fix that, but then look shaky to finish matches. Then the defense goes MIA. That gets fixed, but all of a sudden they can’t score in the run of play. Just when that appears to be remedied, but then the Timbers can’t link up more than a pass or two at a time. Portland solves that, but then they can’t hit the target when they do create opportunities. I guess the glass-half-full supporter would see this as a positive—the Timbers still have a halfway decent record and really haven’t hit on all cylinders yet. One problem: How many glass-half-full supporters are out there right now?
• The summer transfer window is approaching, and the Timbers have some decisions to make. They have space on the payroll for another major signing, but the question is where to look to upgrade. The offense seems to need the most help right now, but who do you replace? I have no quarrel with how Jorge Perlaza has acquitted himself—and expect he will only get better as he gets more comfortable. While Cooper has been disappointing at times, he is still relatively young, the Timbers are paying him a lot of money, and Portland already has a bevy of forwards on the roster. Both Kalif Alhassan and Darlington Nagbe are very young, need pitch time, and have shown flashes of brilliance. My guess? I think we look for an outside back—probably on the right side. This is no knock on Jeremy Hall, but I think he fits better with this team as a super sub—a guy the Timbers can bring on either the right or left side of the defense or midfield. That said, how much would the addition of an outside back help this team? I’m really not sure.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 6.5 The guy is just a stud. His defense played better in front of him on Saturday, but Colorado still found ways to test him. Even on the run up to the goal he made two great saves.

Rodney Wallace, 5 Pretty nondescript outing from Rod. Had a few times when he got forward, and I liked that he fancied himself from distance, but otherwise was pretty quiet. Oh, and the hopeless long ball forward to nobody in particular is officially the Rod Wallace Special.

Futty, 5 Sounds like his shoulder is going to be alright. From the way they were holding his arm on the way off the pitch and the prognosis, it looks like a separation or dislocation. Usually not a big deal, although easy to reinjure.

Eric Brunner, 6 I’m on record as liking Brunner. The difference between the defense on Saturday and the defense against Chivas was, to say the least, substantial. Not a fan of the wispy beard, though.

Jeremy Hall, 5.5 A little bit of standing around on the heartbreaking goal, but when he, Kalif, and Diego got the ball moving on the right side it was downright electric.

Darlington Nagbe, 5.5 I like him on that left side. Right now he’s not a guy that plays off another player on the wing that well, so it makes sense to have him on the left side and Kalif on the right so he can play off of Hall.

Jack Jewsbury, 4.5 Sort of a disappointing night for Captain Jack. Had a mishit or two on set pieces and played with a little more anonymity in the midfield than I would like to see. He does get some credit, though, for an overall solid performance by the Timbers midfield.

Diego Chara, 6 Gets credit for stacking up well with the Larentowicz/Mastroeni combination in the midfield. His passing is outstanding. You can tell there are still just a couple communication and familiarity issues lingering, as there were a couple broken runs, but at this point I’m very pleased with his performance.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 After a wretched match against Chivas we saw a little bit of the old Kalif on Saturday. Looked comfortable on that left side, and I continue to like it when he gets cheeky and tries to chip the keeper. It would be nice if he put one on frame, though.

Kenny Cooper, 0.5 His play on the pitch earned him a 5.5. Saw a bit more work ethic out of Cooper than we saw against Chivas and had two great efforts snuffed out by Pickens. Cooper gets deducted 5 points, however, for having dinner with Drew Moor after the match. Old friends be damned. Coop can get his 5 points back if he can prove that he (a) ordered the most expensive thing on the menu; and (b) made Moor pay for it. I’m kidding. Mostly.

Jorge Perlaza, 5.5 See Ryan Pore’s grade for the explanation.

David Horst, 5.5 Had a nice outing in relief of the injured Futty. He may not be a feature central back, but he has proven himself to be a more than capable Robin to Brunner’s Batman. Hold on, Futty is Robin to Brunner’s Batman. Okay, then Horst is Alfred to Futty’s Robin to Brunner’s Batman. Got it?

Sal Zizzo, 5 This substitution was all about not wanting to push Darlington too hard too fast. Eventually the reins are going to come off Baby D. When that happens, it will be interesting to see what happens to Sallie.

Ryan Pore, 4 Okay, so this grade is partly for Pore and partly for John Spencer. Ryan needs to do better with his opportunities. He was served two golden opportunities and failed to put either on frame. Mostly, though, I thought this was a poor substitution. With Perlaza on the field, the Colorado defense had to respect his ability to make his signature runs. This made the Colorado backline sit back a bit more and opened up some space in the midfield for Chara, Kalif, and company to operate. When Pore came on for Perlaza, the midfield became substantially more congested—resulting in a final 10 minutes where the Timbers struggled to make a push for the winner.

Onward, Rose City!