—by Chris Rifer

Think back to August 25, 2013.  The Portland Timbers, in the midst of a rough stretch of play, headed to Seattle without Diego Chara, Will Johnson, and Ben Zemanski—their entire starting central midfield and first off the bench—for a huge showdown with the Seattle Sounders.  Portland played well for stretches of that game, were frustrated by repeated fouls by the Seattle central midfield, and created a handful of good chances, but ultimately couldn’t find the goal Seattle did in a 1-0 loss.

The narrative was very much the same on Sunday, except the Timbers were the team that found the goal and Seattle the side left smarting at chances gone awry and perceived slights by the referees.

And, just as six weeks ago, people were wondering whether the Sounders could be stopped on their march to the Supporters Shield, the three points on Sunday put Portland into a position to make a strong bid for the regular season title with two more wins.

The Sounders opened the chances in the 13^th minute when a Mauro Rosales free kick from the left wing found Lamar Neagle in the center of the box, but his header to the back post was saved by Donovan Ricketts with a small assist from the woodwork.

Seattle came even closer on the ensuing corner.  After the Timbers failed to clear the initial ball, Adam Moffat tried to curl a ball to the back post where Clint Dempsey stepped in front and got head to Moffat’s shot, but his nod was turned away by the underside of the bar and cleared by Pa Modou Kah.

But just as they did a week ago, the Timbers quickly recovered from a little bit of a nervous start, and began to put their foot on the game.  Spurred by plenty of possession that largely kept Seattle pinned in their end, Darlington Nagbe created Portland’s first good chance in the 39^th minute after finding space on the right side.  Nagbe unleashed one of his signature cracks from range that appeared right at Marcus Hahnemann, but swerved at the last moment forcing a palmed save that Seattle had to nervously clear.

A minute later, Nagbe was on the run again.  After some brilliant play from Kalif Alhassan and Maxi Urruti set Nagbe on the break, he rode several Osvaldo Alonso challenges from behind before Hahnemann’s disturbed Nagbe enough to get the ball caught up in his spokes and allow Alonso to clear for a corner.

The Timbers found their deserved goal in the 45^th minute.  After a Jack Jewsbury entry ball forced some indecision by Hahnemann and was meekly cleared by DeAndre Yedlin, Kalif Alhassan gathered 15 yards from goal and drove it back inside Hahnemann’s abandoned near post.

The goal gave the Timbers a huge lift going into halftime, and Portland rode that wave coming out of the locker room searching for a second goal.

In the 48^th minute, Jose Valencia made a run down Seattle’s left side and played a looping combination with Urruti to spring the Colombian into the box, but Valencia’s effort from a tight angle sailed just over the bar.

For a moment in the 57^th minute, it looked like Will Johnson might just deliver the knockout blow.  After Diego Chara recovered a sloppy Sounders pass in midfield, he played to Nagbe 25 yards out who sprung Johnson through on goal with a clever backheel.  Johnson’s left-footed strike from the top of the box, however, sailed high and wide.

The Sounders’ first real chance of the half skirted by in the 62^nd minute, as Alex Caskey’s low corner nearly found a diving Jhon Kennedy Hurtado at the near post, but ultimately skipped harmlessly across the face of goal.  On the whole, however, the Sounders were finding themselves out of questions to ask of the Portland defense in an increasingly physical, disjointed game.

The physicality got the best of Alonso in the 72^nd minute.  After Ozzie took down Will Johnson with a hard sliding tackle just after the referee had blown the play dead for a Hurtado yellow card, Johnson got in Alonso’s face in protest of the challenge.  Alonso responded by throwing an elbow at Johnson’s face, resulting in a clear red card for the Cuban.  The Sounders confronted the referee and his assistant en masse, including Mauro Rosales coming off the bench to grab the assistant referee, but the call stood—as it unquestionably should have—and the Sounders went down a man.

Despite the man advantage, the Timbers had a hard time finishing the Sounders off. Ricketts came up big again in the 80^th minute when Neagle hit a low, hard shot through the Timbers defense, but Ricketts reacted just in time to palm it clear.

In the 82^nd minute, Maxi Urruti looked to have a chance to put the game away when he got loose on the right, but he dragged his finish across the face of goal with no supporting Timber to tap it in.

The real drama was saved for stoppage time, however.  After a hopeful Moffat entry ball was redirected to a wide-open Steve Zakuani in the box, the former Zip played[1] a seemingly goalbound shot that Pa Modou Kah deflected up and off the crossbar.  The rebound fell to Andy Rose at the back post, but his gentle finish was easily cleared away by Jack Jewsbury to preserve the scoreline.

Just as Seattle was after a less-than-dominant win in August, the Timbers come away from Sunday very confident following their third consecutive 1-0 home win over playoff opposition.  After a spring and summer of flashy football, Caleb Porter has transformed his Timbers team from the darlings of tactical aficionados to a group of grinders who have clawed their way to the top of the Western Conference table.

And if their recent form holds, the Timbers look poised to make a strong bid for the Supporters Shield and a long run in the playoffs.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 7 It’s no coincidence that Portland gets its best results when Ricketts is playing well.  His dominance over the last several weeks has coincided with the Timbers taking ten points out of twelve, including three shutouts.

Michael Harrington, 6.5 He’s progressed from shaky to start the season, to solid in the middle, to really solid in the late stages.  There’s nothing extraordinary about what Michael does, but he’s becoming one of the better defensive left backs in the league.

Pa Modou Kah, 6.5 The Timbers are still being exposed too much on set pieces, and the center backs have to take some responsibility for that, but when a team hasn’t conceded in three of its last four games, more is going right than wrong on the defensive end.

Futty, 6 See Kah’s explanation, except Kah gets a little bump for his game-saving block of Zakuani.

Jack Jewsbury, 7 Didn’t venture forward much on Sunday, but his crosses were very dangerous, including the ball that eventually found Alhassan’s foot for the winner.  Also enjoys the spoils of being part of a very good defensive performance that really limited Seattle’s chances in the run of play.

Will Johnson, 7 He and Diego Chara are primarily responsible for keeping Seattle very quiet from the run of play.  The Timbers’ central midfield dominated Seattle’s, frustrating Alonso and keeping the Sounders from building any spells of sustained pressure.

Diego Chara, 7 Yes, Chara probably should have gone in the book for one of his five fouls against Seattle, but it was a little bizarre for Sigi Schmid to make a meal of this postgame considering his team’s strategy against Darlington Nagbe and Alonso’s escapism six weeks ago.

Kalif Alhassan, 8 Kalif was the story postgame, and rightfully so.  Not only was his goal of the type he doesn’t score last year, but his comprehensive performance on both sides of the ball is a sign of significant development.  We’ve had “Kalif is really coming along” moments in the past, only to be disappointed, but his development in the non-jazz hands aspects of the game make this feel different.  With Diego Valeri reported to potentially miss the last two games of the regular season, Kalif may have more opportunities to show his worth.

Darlington Nagbe, 8 A co-Man of the Match with Alhassan, Nagbe was tremendous in running at—and being fouled by—the Sounders defense all day.  Schmid clearly feels his midfield and defense can’t handle Nagbe, as their strategy is simply to hack him to the ground.

Jose Valencia, 4.5 Had some opportunities to break players down one-on-one, and lost more than he won.  When Valencia looked to Jewsbury in support, he typically found more space for himself and created more problems for the Sounders.  Still, it’s clear Valencia is more comfortable up top than on the wing.  It will be interesting to see how the Timbers handle the Urruti-Valencia competition in the next few years.

Maxi Urruti, 5 Floated in and out of the game more than I’m sure Porter would like.  Had his usual work rate, but tends to disappear in the offense for extended periods.  With a reportedly injured hamstring, we may see Ryan Johnson back in the lineup for the time being.

Ben Zemanski, 5.5 Deployed in an atypical role as a Timber on the right side of midfield, Zemanski did a nice job of managing the last quarter of the game.

Frederic Piquionne, 5 Made his return from injury in a long six-minute spell at the end.  Clearly had some moments where he wanted to push for a second goal, but that wasn’t the direction the team was going at the time.

Sal Zizzo, INC.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 2, Sounders 0.  Valeri, Ryan Johnson.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Sounders 0.  Alhassan.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

In one very important way, Sunday’s match against Vancouver was a dress rehearsal for the second leg of a playoff series.  Portland has proven over the past several weeks that they can go toe to toe with playoff-quality opposition and come away with the result they need.

What this Timbers team hadn’t faced, however, was an opponent with its back against the wall, desperate to prolong its season.  Against a Vancouver Whitecaps team in desperate need of three points, the Timbers confronted just such a test.  And while they didn’t fail, the Timbers showed they have work to do to close out the frantic onslaughts of a desperate foe.

As was to be expected, the Whitecaps came out firing on Sunday, dominating the ball and creating their fair share of chances at the opening whistle.  In the 14^th minute, Nigel Reo-Coker found Darren Mattocks on a perfectly weighted through ball, but Pa Modou Kah tackled the ball away just before the Jamaican put foot to his finish.

Two minutes later, the Whitecaps—who sat deep a lot in the first half and looked to get out on the break—found another chance going toward Portland’s goal with a head of steam.  After Reo-Coker got free on the right wing, he sent a dangerous cross in toward Camilo Sanvezzo, but Donovan Ricketts was off his line just quick enough to gather.

As the half went along, however, the opportunities Vancouver had on the break dried up; as the Timbers put their foot on the ball and refused to give the Caps any breathing room.  In the 17^th minute, after a very nice spell of patient buildup play from the Timbers, Jack Jewsbury got loose on the right wing and sent a low cross in for Maxi Urruti, but the youngster couldn’t pull his finish on frame.

For the most part, however, the Timbers didn’t create genuine chances in spades despite their substantial possession advantage.  Fortunately for Portland, however, Darlington Nagbe doesn’t need chances in spades.  Given a diamond of space twenty-five yards from goal, Darlington Nagbe blessed Vancouver’s hearts for their generosity and clubbed the ball inside David Ousted’s post for the opener.

A very different Vancouver team emerged from the half than the one the Timbers dominated for the last half hour of the opening stanza.  The Caps stated their intent early on, as in the 48^th minute, Mattocks worked the ball to the byline before cutting it back through the box, where it eventually found its way to the foot of Matt Watson, whose promising effort deflected just wide.

Just after the hour, Vancouver came even closer.  After the Timbers struggled to clear a corner, a low Camilo reentry ball danced in front of an open net, but Portland somehow managed to get it clear.

The Timbers really began to push their luck in the 75^th minute.  After Portland turned the ball over in midfield as they were trying to relieve pressure, Ricketts saved Kekuta Manneh’s close range shot from the face of goal.  The rebound deflected to Camilo just beyond the near post, and Ricketts heroically recovered from his first dive to stone the Brazilian’s putback effort.

A minute later, Portland’s fortunes finally turned.  After a foul 30 yards from goal that Caleb Porter questioned after the match, Camilo’s free kick looked to be heading straight for Ricketts before taking a glancing deflection off of Rodney Wallace’s head and nestling in Ricketts’ goal for the equalizer.

Off the ensuing kickoff, however, the Timbers got it right back.  After Darlington Nagbe worked the ball all-too-easily to the byline and shook two Caps defenders, he cut a pass back to Will Johnson making a late run to the top of the box.  Johnson struck a low shot that took a deflection off of Carlyle Mitchell and put Portland back on top.

That, too, wouldn’t last.  Just a minute later, after a Mattocks cross from the byline for nobody in particular came all the way through to Y.P. Lee, the veteran right back volleyed the ball to the top of the eighteen where Camilo stunningly scissored it into the net to equalize once again.  It was, quite simply, the best goal I’ve ever seen in person.

Having given up two leads in just over two minutes, the Timbers very easily could have folded under pressure.  Vancouver, sensing the three points they were desperate for were within reach, kept throwing numbers forward in hopes of finding the winner.

And Vancouver generated some chances.  In the 92^nd minute, after Portland showed some very antsy midfield defending, Y.P. Lee gathered on the right looking bottled up by two Timbers defenders.  His Tim Hardaway-like crossover, however, sent both green shirts flying beyond the play, and the black shirt of Donovan Ricketts jumping to athletically save the resultant shot.

Just a minute later, the Timbers needed Ricketts again.  After a corner was only cleared as far as Manneh 20 yards from goal, the 18-year-old Gambian speedster measured a volley and cracked it near post, only to have Ricketts seemingly come out of nowhere to palm it outside the frame.

The match, despite weathering dueling dives in the final minute, thus ended in a just draw.  While Vancouver enjoyed one-way traffic for much of the second half, the Timbers were ultimately only beaten by two extraordinary goals, neither of which were really the result of a beaten defense.

But the reality is if things go well for Portland in these last few weeks and into the playoffs, Vancouver won’t be the last team fighting for their collective lives the Timbers will face.  Rather, anytime Portland has an advantage in a playoff series, their opponent will show the same reckless abandon the Caps played with in the second half on Sunday.

So while it would be inaccurate and unfair to say the Timbers failed this major playoff test, the truth of the matter is to have success in the playoffs they’re going to have to handle desperation better than they did on Sunday.  If the Timbers have their way, next time it won’t be Vancouver frantically flying forward for a season-saving goal.  It will be L.A. Galaxy, or Real Salt Lake, or the Seattle Sounders.  And if the Timbers don’t handle it better than they did in Vancouver, it may well lead to the bitter end of Portland’s season.

Justice for Will Johnson

You may have noticed I didn’t discuss one notable play in the match narrative; to wit, Kekuta Manneh’s claimed penalty in second half stoppage time.  The reason it didn’t make the match report is the same reason Jose Valencia’s didn’t; they were dives.  If a referee is going to give either of those penalties, he’s going to give a half dozen per game.

But the more interesting story that nobody is writing relates to the fracas after Manneh mowed the turf.

In the first picture at right, we see Manneh has beaten Will Johnson and is within steps of going down easy.  Look closely above Will Johnson’s left eyebrow.  While it is a little hard to see, you’ll notice his forehead is unremarkable.

In the second photo, below right, you can see Will Johnson heading in Manneh’s direction to remind him that there’s no lifeguard on duty, and diving is accordingly prohibited.

Within tenths-of-seconds thereafter, the camera on the Vancouver feed available on MLSLive cuts away from the action to show Martin Rennie’s reaction.  As such, we don't see exactly what happens when Johnson gives Manneh his talking to.

When the camera returns to the action, we see what can only be described as the Great Group-Hug of Gambia, as seen below.  Johnson and Manneh the Mangler have already been separated at this point.

Moments later, after showing replays, the broadcast returns to referee Silviu Petrescu having a conversation with Johnson and his assailant.

Just after this conference breaks up, we get our first good shot of Johnson’s face post-dustup, seen in the final picture.  If you look over Johnson’s left eyebrow in the picture below at right, you’ll see that he’s now bleeding from his once-pristine forehead.  Petrescu’s powers of observation or deduction failed him fantastically, however, as Manneh gets off free of sanction despite the very plain evidence that Will Johnson took some sort of extracurricular shot to the head with no viable suspect other than Mr. Manneh. 

The goose egg and cut on Johnson’s forehead was fairly substantial after the game, and when asked about the injury, Johnson coyly answered, “that was the play at the end there.”  And after a little pause, the Timbers captain added, “um . . . that’s how it goes.”

While Johnson responded with restraint,[1] the postgame grapevine confirmed what is clear from the above; Manneh headbutted the Captain when Johnson confronted him about the putative penalty.

This is surely the sort of thing that merits a suspension, perhaps even a multi-game ban.  Recall June 15, 2013, and the one-game suspension handed to Jair Benitez by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for an attempted headbutt on Frederic Piquionne.  The contact Benitez made—if any—was nominal, despite the veteran striker’s dramatic flop.  Nonetheless, the Disciplinary Committee adjudged it aggressive enough to merit a single-game ban.

Unlike Benitez, however, Manneh made contact and did pretty significant damage.  A one-game suspension would be a charmed result for Kekuta, and ban that would keep him out of the Whitecaps’ lineup for the rest of the season isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

But here’s where this gets weird.  The Disciplinary Committee might not have any idea this happened.  The D.C. has plays referred to it in two ways.  First, the league watches every game, so presumably they refer incidents for the Committee’s consideration.  Second, the teams can also refer plays to the Disciplinary Committee for review.

As for MLS review, one of the people that watches every game is the PRO referee evaluator.  The PRO evaluator sits in the press box during the game, and observes the referee live while watching an MLSLive-like television feed of the game.  I know this because the PRO evaluator pilfered my seat in the Jeld-Wen Field press box a week ago at the Timbers-L.A. Galaxy match.  Embittered, I seized the opportunity to observe how he did his work.

Note, however, that the PRO evaluator uses the television feed—the same feed that cut away from the Manneh incident to show Rennie’s reaction to the unawarded penalty.  If the PRO evaluator is using the television feed, it’s reasonable to assume other league officials use the same footage in their review.  It’s entirely conceivable, especially considering the play had the added controversy of the penalty shout, that the league evaluators would miss Manneh’s mania entirely.

As to the teams’ review, obviously the Whitecaps aren’t going to turn their own player in.  Typically in this situation, however, the heatbuttee’s team would alert the league to the headbuttor’s guilt and refer the video to the Disciplinary Committee.  As we’ve seen from time to time in Simon Borg’s “Instant Replay” segment, the league has access to raw footage shot by all of the cameras shooting the game, even those that didn’t make it onto the live broadcast.  Surely, considering the headbutt was right in the middle of the action, it was caught by some of the many cameras in B.C. Place.

But the Timbers, who obviously know about the incident, are probably covering it up.  Why?  Simple.  The Timbers don’t play Vancouver again this year, and they would like to have Manneh available for the Whitecaps when they face Seattle on Wednesday.  Manneh’s availability is especially important considering Kenny Miller is injured and Darren Mattocks has been called out on international duty.  For the Whitecaps, it’s either Tommy Heinemann or Kekuta Manneh up top alongside Camilo on Wednesday.  And, well, that’s not a hard choice.

So, to recap, Kekuta Manneh split Will Johnson’s forehead open with a headbutt, but the league may well miss it, the Whitecaps are more than happy to harbor Manneh, and the Timbers have an interest in keeping this under wraps.

But we know.  And here’s hoping there is some justice out there for Will Johnson.

Now if you’ll excuse me, these tinfoil hats won’t make themselves.

Preseason Prediction: Whitecaps 2, Timbers 0.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Whitecaps 2.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

As summer turned to fall, Caleb Porter began to talk more and more about grinding out results in tight games.  Throughout much of August, however, the Timbers showed a knack for leaving points on the table—passing the eyeball test, but failing on the scoreboard.

In two weeks, however, Portland has fulfilled their coach’s wish twice, once against a very hot team, and the other against a very good team; transforming the Timbers from a side hoping to hang on in the playoff race to the darkhorse in the quest for the Supporters Shield.

On Sunday, the Timbers beat the L.A. Galaxy 1-0 in a tight, but sloppy game that featured dominant defense and a paucity of chances.

The Timbers came out of the gates strong, as in their first foray forward, Rodney Wallace nearly found Maxi Urruti in the box, but the Galaxy recovered to clear.  The Timbers couldn’t string together a spell of pressure, however, and while Portland saw plenty of the ball, the Galaxy were the more threatening team in the first half hour.

In the 6^th minute, a bad turnover in midfield by Darlington Nagbe allowed Gyasi Zardes to run into the teeth of the Timbers defense and fire a low, hard shot from distance, but Donovan Ricketts was there to block and prevent any rebound.

One of the Timbers’ few early offensive bright spots came from an unusual, albeit familiar place.  While Portland struggled to make anything serious of their buildup, Jack Jawsbury found space on the Galaxy’s left flank more than once in part because Nagbe was playing wider than normal, often occupying Todd Dunivant.  Jewsbury made something of this opportunity, including a great 24^th minute cross to Urruti at the near post that was cleared away by a heroically recovering Kofi Opare.

The best chance of the half belonged to Marcelo Sarvas, however.  After a very nice spell of buildup by the Galaxy, Sarvas took a 27^th minute lay off from Landon Donovan and fired from just inside 25 yards only to see his strike streak just wide.

Six minutes later, the Zardes found his second opportunity from distance after crossing up Will Johnson, but Ricketts saved falling to his right and Jewsbury cleaned up the spilled rebound.

As the half wore on, however, the Timbers offense began to look more dangerous.  After two consecutive spells of solid work in the attacking third, Diego Valeri zigzagged through the Galaxy defense and found a foot of space at the top of the box, but left the club face open on his finish looking for the top near corner.

There would be no missing on the Timbers’ first chance coming out of the half.  After the Timbers earned their first corner of the match in the 52^nd minute, Will Johnson found Maxi Urruti just shy of the near post.  The Argentine that was somewhat maligned in this space a week ago flashed a foot toward the ball and redirected it beautifully inside the near post.

And Urruti wasn’t done.  Emboldened by his tally, Urruti chipped Wallace through on goal in the 57^th minute, where the Timbers’ left midfield revelation unleashed a hard high shot that was unbelievably saved by Galaxy keeper Jaime Penedo.

Another chance for the sealer presented itself in the 71^st minute, when Wallace intercepted an Omar Gonzalez pass and played a quick, but long give-and-go with Valeri, who sprung Wallace through on goal.  Rodney, however, had the ball on his disfavored right foot, and Penedo stretched to deny him again.

As the clocked ticked its way toward ninety, the Timbers increasingly looked to try to ride out the 1-0 scoreline.  For extended stretches, the Galaxy looked out of ideas, as their transition from midfield to the final third was thwarted by a stalwart Portland defense time and again, feeding a sense that if L.A. were to break through it would likely be on a set piece.

And in the 92^nd minute, that suspicion very nearly became reality.  After the Galaxy earned a free kick 25 yards from goal just outside the corner of the box, Landon Donovan curled the ball near post where Robbie Keane got head to it and nodded it into the net.  The Irishman had been offside since well before the kick, however, and the referee’s assistant spotted it.  Keane can’t complain too much, as his offside positioning from start to finish on the free kick kept his mark loose from start to finish and contributed to his ability to get a clear head to the ball.

The win was reminiscent of the hallmark of the Timbers’ 15-game unbeaten streak.  While everybody remembers the eye candy wins over Houston and Sporting Kansas City, the streak was really marked by hard-earned results that didn’t always have the same aesthetic quality.  These were the 1-0 results over San Jose and Dallas and the road draws at Seattle, Colorado, Vancouver, and Los Angeles.

Ultimately, a team that is difficult to beat on the road and tough to draw at home is certainly a Supporters Shield contender, and even more formidable in a two-leg series in the playoffs.  The Timbers have proven over the past few weeks that they’re the latter.  Now the question is whether they can return to their prior form in the former respect.

If they do, trophies are a real possibility.

Notes & Observations

• Even with the win, however, the Timbers are far from the inside track to the Supporters Shield.  Though they have a game in hand on both, Portland sits three points behind New York and two behind Real Salt Lake.  Perhaps even more daunting, the Timbers sit two behind Seattle with the Sounders holding a game on Portland.  The good news, however, is that the Timbers control their own destiny to some extent.  Both RSL and Seattle still have to travel to Portland, meaning the Timbers can to varying extents negate their disadvantage to both of those teams.  I’m not sure Portland has to be perfect from here on out to win the Shield, but pretty darn close to it.
• The win also puts Portland four points up on L.A. and Colorado for the fourth and fifth spots, which have to play a play-in game to determine who meets the one-seed in the conference semifinals.  Don’t lose track of the Galaxy, however, as their run-in is among the softest in the league with a three-game homestand against Chivas USA, the mercurial Impact of Montreal, and San Jose Earthquakes before finishing with what could be a huge final round fixture at Seattle.  If the Timbers stumble in any of their next three games—a distinct possibility considering none of them are easy by any stretch of the imagination—they could find that the space they earned on Sunday disappears in a hurry.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 5.5 Really didn’t have that much to do, as the Galaxy only put two legal shots on target, both strikes from distance by Zardes.  Conditions in the first half were brutal for a goalkeeper, though, so he really doesn’t get graded down for his one spill.

Michael Harrington, 6 The Galaxy didn’t want to run at him, and he didn’t feel much like running at them.  When Portland pushed forward with the fullbacks on Sunday, the normally did so with Jewsbury leading the way and Harrington laying back.  All told, a very steady defensive performance from Mikey.

Futty, 5.5 A very good defensive game when he didn’t have the ball at his feet shows that his defensive instincts are as sharp as ever coming off his broken foot.  A second game in a row in which he’s misplayed a few balls, however, suggests there may be some rust with he footwork.

Pa Modou Kah, 6.5 I can’t disagree with Porter’s assessment that this was Kah’s best performance of the season for the Timbers.  With the exception of the body slam of Marcelo that led to his yellow card, Kah was dominant and disciplined on Sunday.

Jack Jewsbury, 7 With one exception, Jewsbury had one of his best defensive games on Sunday since moving to right back in 2012, largely keeping the wide areas shut down despite L.A.’s notorious effectiveness on the wings.  Provided some of the Timbers’ most effective offensive play in the first half, as well.  Captain Jack has shown why he’s the easy pick at right back down the stretch.

Will Johnson, 6.5 When the solid flank defending forced the Galaxy to work through the middle, they were repeatedly thwarted by Will and Diego Chara winning tackles and intercepting passes.  Johnson got into the mix a little bit more on Sunday than he had since he returned from his shoulder injury, suggesting he may be close to returning to form.

Diego Chara, 6 Much the same as Will Johnson, except that Chara gets a slight downgrade for being a little bit uncharacteristically loose with touches and passes.

Rodney Wallace, 6 Unlucky not to score, as Penedo came up with two good saves on him.  The first, especially, was criminal, as Wallace deserved the goal and Urruti deserved the assist.

Diego Valeri, 5.5 A little quieter day from Valeri, as he was forced to deal with Juninho and Marcelo all afternoon.  Had a few of his typical moments of brilliance, but nothing came of it on Sunday.

Darlington Nagbe, 5 Had a little bit of a rough go of things, as he never found positional comfort in an effort to avoid running into the teeth of the Galaxy midfield.  He wasn’t poor by any means, but just wasn’t as effective as we’ve seen him.

Maxi Urruti, 7 Great goal, but more than that looked much more purposeful in his movement than against Colorado.  The result was better timing—though sometimes still not quite there—on his runs, and more instances of effective pressure on the Galaxy backline.  He justified his coach’s faith in him and dispelled my doubts about whether he is a viable choice in the Starting XI.  If the learning curve continues at this rate, he could be a major contributor in the final weeks.

Ryan Johnson, 5.5 Came on for Urruti as he began to tire, and put in a lot of the same work Maxi did for the first 73 minutes.  Nothing special, but effective.

Kali Alhassan, 5.5 As usual, Kalif replace Valeri, who apparently isn’t quite ready to go a full ninety yet, and saw the game out capably.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 1, Galaxy 1.  Valencia.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Galaxy 0.  Urruti.

Onward, Rose City!

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Duane Graf was tragically killed in an auto accident on Saturday.

Duane was a long-time Timbers Army member, Row N Infantry comrade, home-brewer, and all-around fantastic guy who was a great friend to many. His sense of humor, warmth and smile were ever-present. He will be missed by all of us who knew him. Please keep his family in your thoughts.

Steve Kuenzi was injured in the accident as well. He is recovering and resting. Please keep him in your thoughts as well.

There will be a Memorial Service at 4pm Thursday, October 3 at Wilhelm's Portland Memorial Funeral Home in Sellwood http://www.wilhelmportlandmemorial.com/ .

There will be a gathering afterwards at Occidental Brewery in St. John's. People should start arriving from the memorial at approximately 5:30pm.

Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/332963433512144/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular will be the first place more details are announced.

The family has directed in lieu of flowers that donations could be made to 107ist to support OPI's Bless Field project. You can donate via the Paypal link below. Donations will be directed to OPI's Bless Field in memory of Duane.

—by Chris Rifer

Barring a catastrophic collapse from the Timbers, Caleb Porter should and will be MLS Coach of the Year.  Jason Kreis is the only other coach whose name reasonably should be on the ballot, but considering the Timbers’ cupboard was almost entirely bare a year ago, Porter is the clear choice.

So it goes without saying that Caleb Porter has done a tremendous job as manager for the Portland Timbers in 2013.  But he hasn’t been perfect – most especially lately.

As the Timbers have made their up-and-down stretch run, Porter has made some tactical decisions that have come back to bite the boys in green.  And in almost every case, it was about overthinking the tactical matchups.

Three examples bear this out.  First, as was thoroughly discussed at the time, Porter’s short-lived experiment with a 3-4-3 in Salt Lake went south quickly.  Second, against Chivas USA a little more than a week ago, Porter built the functional right side of the Timbers formation out of Kalif Alhassan and Sal Zizzo, making that side a vulnerability that the Goats exploited to some success.

Finally, and this one merits some discussion, Porter tapped Maxi Urruti to start at striker over Ryan Johnson and Jose Valencia against Colorado.  While I have no reason not to agree with Porter that Urruti is a promising young striker, his lack of aerial prowess and holdup ability caused significant problems for the Timbers in breaking down Colorado’s pressure and holding the ball in attacking areas.

In the 30 minutes after Ryan Johnson came on, the Timbers held 51.5% of the ball despite the Rapids becoming increasingly desperate for an equalizer.  In the 60 minutes during which Urruti was on the field, Portland only held the ball 47.2% of the time.  In his hour-long stint, Urruti completed three passes in the attacking third.  In half the time, Johnson had five.  Despite having several passes come his way aerially via Route One, Urruti only won one header in his hour, whereas Johnson won six in half-an-hour.

The result of Urruti struggling to win long balls and hold up play was that the Timbers had a hard time formulating much in the way of sustained offense.  Portland had to send long balls forward because Colorado were being very aggressive in pressing high.  There were spaces, then, for the Timbers to exploit, but only if they had a target man who could win the ball and hold it until the midfielders who were sucked into defense and trying to beat the high pressure could release.  Urruti couldn’t buy them the ball or that amount of time, however, so Portland’s long balls often turned into glorified clearances.

Simply put, Porter put the wrong personnel on the field to play the direct game Colorado was begging the Timbers to play.  The selection of Urruti, then, was another unexpected wrinkle that backfired.

Now, it’s possible Porter was surprised by Colorado’s high pressure, and was caught needing to play a direct game with a tiki-taka oriented team.  Either way, however, he’s outthought himself again.  After all, he’s seen this tactic from Colorado before.

Rewind three months to June 23, 2013.  Everybody remembers that Portland won that game 3-0.  Indeed, Colorado came to Portland as a reeling team, so the result wasn’t all that surprising.  But rather than lie down and get whooped, as I expected, the Rapids actually came out firing, pressing the Timbers high and forcing them to play direct.  Yeah, basically the same general strategy the Rapids employed on Friday.

In that game, however, the Timbers were set up for it, with a backline of four guys who naturally stay at home – Jack Jewsbury and Ryan Miller at fullback – and Frederic Piquionne at striker.  So when Colorado forced the Timbers to bypass the midfield to some extent, they played right into the Timbers’ hands.  Piquionne was a beast, winning nine headers in 60 minutes, effectively holding the ball up, completing a gaggle of passes in attacking areas, and notching his first – and, to date, only – MLS goal.

The Timbers won 3-0 despite a stat sheet that was shockingly to the September rematch.  In June, Colorado outshot Portland 18-6 (!), had 19 open play crosses to the Timbers’ 11, earned five corners to Portland’s two, and held 47.3% of the ball, which at the time was the highest Portland had allowed at Jeld-Wen Field.  In September, Colorado outshot Portland 13-9, won open play crosses 18-10, earned 9 corners to the Timbers’ three, and held 50.9% of possession.

The decision to put Urruti up front on Friday, then, yielded considerably poorer results against a Colorado team that essentially doubled down on the general strategy that the Timbers easily handled three months earlier.

Three times in recent weeks, then, Porter has made moves for games that haven’t quite come off, and while he got away with it against Colorado, the same can’t be said for the road trips to Chivas and RSL.

Now, to be sure, the Chivas and RSL moves were at least in part motivated by injuries that limited Porter’s options.  Given a full roster, he never plays a 3-4-3 against RSL or Zizzo at right back – or Alhassan at right mid, for that matter – against Chivas.

But in both games, he opted for counterintuitive selections, injuries notwithstanding.  Against RSL, conventional wisdom was that Portland would play their 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 with Zemanski at right back.  Against Chivas, Porter could have either put Zemanski at right back – a position at which he has considerable experience from season’s past and a few capable appearances early in 2013 – or moved Nagbe to the right (where he normally plays) and put Alhassan in the center (where he normally appears in relief) which would have given Zizzo the additional cover of Nagbe’s superior wing defense.

What we’ve seen from Porter recently, then, is a tendency to get too fancy with the wrinkles he introduces into the game plan.

As we saw in the last half hour on Friday, and as we’ve seen over and over this year, when the Timbers set up relatively conventionally, they’re usually very good.  The system Porter has installed and the footballing habits he’s instilled in this team can take them a long way.

But recently, when Caleb overthinks the game plans and his selections, he’s gotten himself in trouble and has put the team in precarious positions.  Instead, Porter just needs to ride the horse that brought him.

If he does that, you can count on Caleb winning Coach of the Year, and the Timbers making a lot of noise in the playoffs.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

The Timbers have earned a lot of style points in 2013.  Throughout much of the season, they’ve looked to the naked eye like one of the best teams in MLS.  And yet, coming into Friday’s match against Colorado, Portland sat in fifth place in the West with playoff qualification hanging in the balance.

So, if you’d been told a team lost on Friday despite holding a small majority of the ball, a 13-9 advantage in shots, a 9-3 advantage in corners, and an 18-12 advantage in open play crosses, it would have been understandable if you started questioning whether Portland could make the playoffs.

But the script was flipped at Jeld-Wen on Friday, and in the light of Saturday, the Timbers sit an enviable third in the conference with five points separating them and the red line.  In as ugly a win as the Timbers have logged in 2013, Portland rode a beautiful Diego Valeri chip to a 1-0 win over the playoff rival Colorado Rapids.

Valeri’s quality showed itself early to provide the final margin.  After Maxi Urruti forced a somewhat-harried Drew Moor 13^th minute clearance, Rodney Wallace got head to the driven ball and redirected it to the feet of Valeri.  Under pressure from Moor, Valeri needed only one touch to chip over a caught-out Clint Irwin and fill the net.

Colorado held a lot of the ball early, and earned more than their fair share of attacking set pieces, but ultimately couldn’t create anything meaningful.  Portland, on the other hand, sat back under Colorado’s pressure and nearly found a second in the 29^th minute.

After Diego Valeri won a rare second ball, he magnificently played to Darlington Nagbe near the centerline just in front of Colorado’s high backline.  Nagbe showed his quality to touch Urruti through onto the break, but Irwin came out to make a great save.

In the 38^th minute, Portland’s defense made a major mistake that they nearly paid the price for.  After Marvell Wynne played a hopeful cross into the box, Futty came out to routinely clear, but misplayed the ball straight to Buddle in the box.  With only Donovan Ricketts standing between he and an open net, Buddle bungled the ball into the far post before being controversially—but arguably correctly[1]—flagged offside.

The halftime stat sheet was ugly for Portland, but the scoreline wasn’t unjust.  Despite Colorado having a slew of set piece chances and crosses into the box, they really weren’t terribly dangerous.  And when they were, the finish was usually Buddled.

Slowly but surely, the Timbers put their foot on the game in the second half.  In the 54^th minute, after Michael Harrington and Wallace earned a little bit of space off of a throw in from the Timbers left side, Harrington whipped a tremendous cross into the box to Urruti, but the young striker couldn’t get solid head to it.

Colorado’s only serous chance of the half came in the 63^rd minute.  After the Timbers struggled to clear another set piece—something that plagued them all day and, to some extent, has all season—Buddle found space to turn and shoot at the top of the box, but, not surprisingly, failed to put it on frame.

Seven minutes later, Rodney Wallace went close twice.  In the 70^th minute, Valeri drove a free kick from the right wing into the box, where Wallace attacked it on the near side, but his header flashed wide.  A minute later, Valeri, Nagbe, and Ryan Johnson combined to buy Wallace a foot of space on the left, but he hit his left footed strike just outside the near post under considerable pressure from Wynne.

As the second half wore on, the Timbers looked increasingly poised to ride out their one-goal advantage.  With Johnson providing some valuable holdup play, Portland held the ball much better than in the first half, and the Colorado half-chances became fewer and farther between.

Sure, there was a Gabriel Torres crack from distance here, and a Timbers scuffed clearance there, but the Rapids—as they’d been all evening—were poor.  Their one shot on frame is inexplicable considering the multitude of attacking set pieces Colorado earned.  But while Colorado were more offensively promiscuous, the Timbers were far and away more dangerous.

In that respect, then, the three points were just for the Timbers.  As the Timbers have found out too many times this season, soccer ultimately isn’t a game about possession or crosses.  It’s about goals.  The Timbers had one, and Colorado had zero.  And, viewing the game as a whole, that’s not all that surprising.  Portland will gladly take real points over style.

Match Observations

• Portland’s defense deserves some credit for Colorado’s failure to put anything dangerous on frame despite loads of possession and set plays. But Portland has to be better at relieving pressure. The Rapids were simply wasteful, and you can bet L.A. Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, and the Sounders won’t be quite so generous.  If the Timbers can’t get dangerous balls clear and get out from under their own goalposts, they’re going to have a rough time in the final month of the season.
• Colorado deserves credit for their game plan. Their midfield played very high, applying pressure to the Timbers the second they got their foot on the ball. As a result, the Timbers were forced to play very direct early on, which the Timbers really weren’t set up to do up top. But for their ineptitude in the final third, Colorado’s strategy may well have paid off.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 5 It’s not that he was poor, just that he didn’t have anything major to do.  Would like to see him put two hands on a few more of those crosses, though.

Michael Harrington, 6 Defended well and hit his best cross of the season.  Pretty unlucky not to come away with an assist.

Futty, 5.5 Had an overall solid day, but it was his gaffe that gave Colorado their best (read: only real) chance of the day.

Pa Modou Kah, 6 Had a good day on the whole, but he’s developed a bad habit of coming well forward to challenge for a ball, then losing it.  If Kah is going to come up like that, he must win the ball.  The Timbers weren’t punished for that on Friday, but if he keeps it up, they will be.

Jack Jewsbury, 6 Caleb Porter wanted to introduce a little bit more experience and steadiness to the Timbers backline.  That’s exactly what Jewsbury gave him.  Assuming he stays healthy, expect Jewsbury to be the regular right back from here on out.

Will Johnson, 5 Another quiet night for Johnson, as Chara was the most industrious of the defensive central midfielders.  Colorado showed him a good amount of respect, however, insofar as they generally steered away from Will.  Had a number of squirrely clearances, however, which is a little bit uncharacteristic.

Diego Chara, 7 One of the few Timbers that didn’t look put off by Colorado’s pressure.  Chara was his typical sidling self.  Also, apparently does a solid gymnastics floor routine.

Rodney Wallace, 7 His header to redirect Moor’s clearance to the feet of Valeri was tremendous, if perhaps a little bit lucky.  Still, Rodney had a good night on both sides of the ball, even if his finishing touch was a little bit off.

Diego Valeri, 8 Okay, so he didn’t get that many chances to make his case for MVP, but the one he did get was decisive.

Darlington Nagbe, 6.5 There weren’t a ton of chances for Nagbe to strut his now-hyped stuff, but when he did get a chance, he showed it nicely.  His pass to Urruti to set the Argentine free was outstanding, but a play later in the first half in which he found two consecutive Rapids’ five-holes was transcendent.

Maxi Urruti, 3 Colorado forced the Timbers to go direct, and Urruti was wholly unprepared to contribute in that way.  Despite a number of balls thumped his way, Urruti won one header, which is particularly eye-popping in light of Ryan Johnson’s six in half the time.  Contributed to the goal with a little bit of pressure, but that’s really to be expected of him.

Ryan Johnson, 7 If you’re result-oriented in how you judge your striker play, you hate this grade.  But the Rapids were pressing just as high—if not higher—when Johnson was in the game, yet the Timbers were able to manage it and get their foot on the ball much more.  Why?  Because Ryan Johnson won balls and held up the play to let the Timbers press their lines up.  That, in that situation, was as valuable as a goal.

Kalif Alhassan, 4 Was smart to pull the ball back a couple times late in the game rather than go at goal, but ultimately needs to be better defensively if he wants to get on the field in close games once Valeri is back to full fitness.

Ben Zemanski, INC.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 0, Rapids 0.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Rapids 0.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

The StubHub Center continues to be a hullabaloo for the Portland Timbers.  Winless in seven tries at the house shared by Chivas USA and L.A. Galaxy, the Portland Timbers disappointingly drew the Goats in a disjointed Saturday evening affair.

The Timbers were out of synch from the gun on Saturday, as eight minutes in an inexplicable pass by Pa Modou Kah was easily intercepted by Carlos Alvarez to put the rookie through on goal, but Donovan Ricketts was quick off his line to deflect the finish away.

In the 15^th minute, it was Jose Valencia’s turn to make goats out of Chivas’s defense.  After picking the ball up near midfield, the young Colombian weaved through the rojiblanco traffic cones only to pull his shot wide from the top of the box.

The Timbers shaky early form, however, made a concession an eventually that arrived in the 23^rd minute.  After Kalif Alhassan was in position to easily intercept a Chivas switch, the young midfielder acted only as a turnstile on the ball’s way to Edgar Mejia.  Alhassan then failed to either close down Mejia or track Carlos Borja’s overlapping run, freeing Borja to send a beautiful free cross from the left side into the box for Bryan de la Fuente, where the American youth international rose to nod it home off the inside of the far post.

The concession seemed to wake the Timbers up.  The boys in green controlled much of the play for the remainder of the half, but couldn’t find any legitimate chances.  Rodney Wallace found himself in space on the left side of the box after Darlington Nagbe ran into acres of space in the Chivas midfield, but sent his shot soaring well over the bar.  Kah got head to a Will Johnson corner, but could only meekly bounce it straight at Dan Kennedy.

For the second game in a row, however, the introduction of Diego Valeri—this time at the half—changed the course of the match.  Four minutes after coming on, Valeri found space and started a sequence that led to Valencia on the ball in the box with his back to goal.  Holding off three Goats, Valencia laid it off for Valeri on the right side of the box, where the talisman laced it inside the far post for the equalizer.

Valeri popped up again in the 54^th minute when he gathered the remnants of a great Diego Chara through ball that deflected off of Valencia’s heel and fired toward Kennedy’s goal, but the strike skipped just wide.

Five minutes later, Valeri should have been responsible for creating a second goal.  After the ball bounced around the box—and Valencia again caused problems for Chivas in the area—Valeri picked out Rodney Wallace at the near stick, but Wallace’s open tap dribbled wide.

As the half went along, however, the Goats started to get their foot on the ball a little bit more and created a couple chances of their own.  In the 67^th minute, Erick Torres found himself through on goal after the Timbers backline fell asleep on a ball coming up Route One.  Cubo gathered and tried to chip over a challenge from Ricketts, but the ball got away from Torres and Andrew Jean-Baptiste cleared.  The Goats yelled for a penalty, but the two steps Torres took after his glancing collision with Ricketts exposed Cubo’s soap-quality theatrics.

Despite some positive spells of play as the second half went along, Chivas couldn’t find the winner, and, but for a fantastic sliding tackle from Bobby Burling, Portland may well have.  After Valeri—who else—set Valencia through on the left side with another precisely weighted ball in the 79^th minute, Trencito looked set to slot home the winner, but Burling’s last second intervention took the ball off Valencia’s foot and sent it behind for a corner.

There was one last gasp left in the game, but it belonged to Chivas.  After Carlo Chueco gathered a partially cleared entry ball on the left wing, he sent it back into the box for Matthew Fondy.  The cross was well too high for the mop-coifed forward, but ended up falling enticingly to late substitute Tristan Bowen.  The Los Angelesian striker had a clear look at goal, but cracked a poor shot well over the bar with the last meaningful kick of the game.

While this Chivas team is much improved from the incoherent one that visited Portland in May, Portland nonetheless let themselves down by coming away with only a point.  That’s a feeling that is all too familiar for the Timbers this season, and it’s a feeling that, should it stick around the Rose City over the next six weeks, could come back to haunt the Timbers come playoff time.

Notes & Observations

• While the result was disappointing, and it was clear the Timbers had three points for the taking, it’s worth noting that Chivas is on a decent run of form right now.  At 2-2-3 in their last seven, this is a far cry from the team that went on a 14-game winless streak earlier this year.
• Lining up Kalif Alhassan and Sal Zizzo on the same side of the field was a bold choice by Caleb Porter. While Alhassan’s defense has improved this season, he is still quite a ways from being a legitimate defending midfielder, and was far from good in that respect on Saturday.  Similarly, I’m not sure why Porter looked to Sal Zizzo at right back over Ben Zemanski, a player Porter has seemingly rated higher overall and has much more experience at the position.  Nonetheless, the combination of Alhassan and Zizzo on the right side of the Timbers set up allowed Chivas to find quite a lot of joy on their left wing.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 7 Remember those games early in the season when Ricketts would make two or three big time saves to keep the Timbers in the game?  Well, he did it again Saturday.  Oh, and Torres dove (more than once, really).

Michael Harrington, 4.5 Didn’t have his best game offensively.  Was his usual competent self defensively, but because of the Timbers set up, Harrington was often left unaccounted for in the attacking half.  Despite finding himself in a position to do something on numerous occasions, he accomplished very little.

Pa Modou Kah, 4.5 I’m not sure what he was thinking on his early pass straight to Alvarez, but he was fortunate not to concede a goal.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 5 The central defense had a bit of a shaky day altogether on Saturday, with numerous nervous moments.  Despite the midfield largely controlling the game, the defense did a poor job of keeping Chivas in check on the relative handful of times they were able to break out.

Sal Zizzo, 3.5 Miscast at right back, Zizzo still looks a little bit confused about his positioning, which compounds the problems created by his below-average one-on-one defending.

Diego Chara, 7 The best player on the field for an extended period on Saturday, Chara added more to the attack than we’ve seen recently, carving up Chivas’s midfield and repeatedly sending well-placed passes forward for Valencia and company.

Will Johnson, 5 A little bit of a quieter day for Will, though mostly because Chara’s extra offensive aggression left the captain in defense more often than we usually see.

Rodney Wallace, 4 Got himself in the right spots, but was uncharacteristically poor at the finish.

Darlington Nagbe, 3.5 Was nothing short of wretched in the first half, shanking passes all over the field and letting his touch get away from him on multiple occasions.

Kalif Alhassan, 3 His defense, or lack thereof, killed the team, including being caught with his fingerprints all over the concession.  Kalif has come along in many way in many respects this year, but his performance on the road has not been one of them.

Jose Valencia, 6 Had a couple looks that he could have done better with, but his holdup play was tremendous in the second half.  Still learning the off-ball aspects—as you’d expect at this point of his career— but Valencia has molded himself into a very viable option up top.

Diego Valeri, 8 Portland needs him on the field fulltime.  If he isn’t full-go soon, it’s hard to see the Timbers doing anything more than squeaking into the playoffs and making a very early exit.

Maxi Urruti, 4 Had a rough go in his first outing as a Timber, though, in his defense, this is a difficult point of the season to come into a team and make an immediate impact.  The jury will have to remain out on Urruti until 2014.

Ryan Johnson, 4 Ryan isn’t an 80^th minute substitute kind of guy.  He gets a lot of flak, but the team’s most successful stretches have been with Johnson as the first choice striker.  At this point, he is the best fit systemically, even if Valencia is a bit more electric.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 1, Chivas 1.  Valeri.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Chivas 1.  Valeri.  In the words of Tom Petty, even the losers get lucky sometimes.

Onward, Rose City.

—by Chris Rifer

In August of 2012, the Timbers' cupboard looked bare.  John Spencer had been fired, the club was mired in the midst of a horrible run of play, and any young talent the Timbers once had was showing little sign of developing into anything but unfulfilled potential.  Then, against Dallas on August 5^th, Bright Dike came back from a loan to the L.A. Blues and entered into the game in the 61^st minute.  Two weeks later, he notched his first goal of the year in a heartbreaking loss at New York, and starting a torrid finishing stretch in which Dike found the net fives times in eleven appearances.

More important than Dike’s five goals in eleven largely meaningless games, however, was the hope he injected into the Timbers’ future.  If nothing else, the cupboard now held a bull-in-a-china-closet striker who might just be the answer to the Timbers’ chronic goal-scoring problems.

It came as a shock, then, when an early Monday morning tweet from Bright Dike revealed that he was being shipped out of town.  His reputation built by an endearing personality, sterling hard work, and significant contributions to the first team, Dike had made himself one of the most popular Timbers to grace the Rose City in the last four years.

So it’s understandable that the first reaction to Dike’s departure was disappointment and confusion.  More shocking that Bright’s departure, however, was what the Timbers garnered in return.

Later in the morning, it was leaked that the Timbers received Maxi Urruti, a highly rated 22-year-old Argentine forward signed by Toronto FC less than a month ago for Dike, a 2015 draft pick, and allocation money.

The promising Argentine youngster’s arrival shines a light on the most positive development in Portland’s roster structure – the abundance of already-good but high-upside young talent on a roster loaded with still-in-their-prime veteran leadership.  And it also provides yet another checkpoint on the Timbers’ yearlong journey from borderline hopelessness to undeniable promise.

Alvas Powell, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Kalif Alhassan, Darlington Nagbe, Jose Valencia, Maxi Urruti.  Those six men have two things in common.  One, they presently – or, in Urruti’s case, are expected to presently – contribute meaningfully to a contending MLS team.  Two, they’re all 23-years-old or younger.[1]

Looking around MLS, there isn’t anther club with the Timbers’ volume of young players showing considerable present value.

But more important than Portland’s upside, is the club’s capacity to develop it.  All the talent in the footballing world doesn’t make any difference if a club isn’t set up to make it flower on the field.  And over the course of the last year, the Timbers have assembled a formidable structure to develop their young talent.

From Will Johnson, to Diego Valeri, to Diego Chara, to Jack Jewsbury, to Futty, to Mikael Silvestre, to Frederic Piquionne, to David Horst, to Pa Modou Kah, to Ryan Johnson, the Timbers have veterans leading the way across the field, giving the Rose City youngsters a gaggle of role models to incubate their development.  Moreover, the most prominent of these veterans are near the beginning of their prime, with the Diegos and Will Johnson all 27 years or younger.

In addition to the leadership on the field, the Timbers’ recent coaching hires have added considerable young player development experience, with Sean McCauley previously running the academy at Sheffield Wednesday and Caleb Porter leading the most successful men’s collegiate soccer program in America.

The Timbers’ structure – much of which has been built in the past twelve months – is constructed according to a master plan that not only permits winning in the short term, but also sets the table to continue to be successful down the road by investing heavily in youthful players loaded with potential.

And over the course of 2013, we’ve seen a lot of this potential turn into product on the field.  Andrew Jean-Baptiste has gone from an emergency option at center back at the beginning of 2012 to a guy whose name gets bandied about as a future option for the National Team.  In 2013, Jose Valencia has transformed from a reluctant passer looking lost in the Timbers’ system to a player capable of putting in one of the best outings of any Timbers forward this year, as he registered against Toronto FC.  Darlington Nagbe has evolved from a player who looks like he could terrorize opposing midfields into an attacker who does terrorize opposing midfields.  Even Kalif Alhassan has emerged from the edge of being a lost cause under John Spencer to a much more intelligent, versatile midfielder who shows signs of being a capable finisher.[2]

The Timbers’ stockpile of young talent, then, is already paying dividends and looks to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  Dike’s trade, while emotional in light of the loss of a good player and person, is indicative of the success the Timbers have had in the past year of turning Dike’s glimmer of 2012 hope into a roster structured to shine for years to come.

Onward, Rose City.

As of 10:00AM September 7th the kits are sold out!

Volunteers from each of the three Cascadia supporters group have come together to produce a limited-edition Cascadia kit. Here is some information from Kelly Dews on how to get yours:

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The kits will are being produced by Looptworks from Portland using upcycled material. They will sell for $60 each. 100 kits will be going to each market (Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland). The final price of production is yet to be determined but approximately $20 from each kit sold will go to help fund the Cascadia Association Football Federation in their mission to field a Cascadia National Team in the coming year. These will be the kits worn by the team when they take the field.

We have a volunteers in each market to handle sales and distribution. Please purchase from your representative. We will primarily be using Paypal to collect funds. Please select "I'm sending money to family or friends" to avoid Paypal fees. In the comments section state the size you would like (sizing information is below). We will need to know the number of each size needed before placing the order. YOU WILL NOT BE ON THE RESERVED LIST UNTIL FUNDS ARE RECIEVED. Updates on production, sales, and distribution will be posted on the Cascadia Trifecta Facebook Page.

For Portland the point man is Kelly Dews

His Paypal account is Kdsparky@hotmail.com

Note: you can also use this email to ask any questions

Timeline:

We are\currently awaiting a test kit to verify size and fit. That should happen in the next few weeks. Once that is approved it may take up to 60 days to receive the shipment once the order is placed. Like I said we will need a complete list of sizes required before we place the order. It is vital that we complete the pre-sale by then to avoid any further delays. I'm aware that this likely puts us out of the regular season but it is what it is. If the process can be sped up I will seak to do so.

I'd like to thank the Cascadia Association Football Federation and Looptworks for their work in making this happen. Please "Like" their Facebook.

I'd also like to thank all the Cascadia football supporters no matter your club or supporters group. It was discussion between all of us on the Cascadia Trifecta Page that led to the first kit and helped inspire the creation of the CAFF. If it wasn't for all of you this would not be taking place.

In summary: Kits cost $60 and you can PayPal funds (using Friends and Family not Goods and Services) to Kdsparky@hotmail.com. Please put your size information in the PayPal 'comments' field. You are NOT on the 'reserved' list until your payment is received.

—by Chris Rifer

It was easy on Friday night to watch the Timbers get crushed in Salt Lake and conclude that the sky may be falling on a 2013 campaign that once harbored so much promise.  Indeed, the Timbers haven’t put in a performance that flat, that disorganized, and that utterly inferior since August of 2012.

But consider that Real Salt Lake are the unquestioned best team in MLS right now.  And further consider that the Timbers were playing without a slew of first choice players, including Captain Will Johnson, utility man and first mate Jack Jewsbury, most of their center backs, and Frederic Piquionne – a player who was valuable not just for his attacking prowess, but also his set piece defending.  And finally consider that the Timbers lost Jewsbury’s utility understudy, Ben Zemanski, to a flukey-for-him red card just before halftime.

Banged up.  On the road.  A man down.  Against the best team in MLS.  In the grand scheme, 4-2 isn’t that surprising.

And consider even further that in the disastrous opening fifteen minutes the Timbers were employing a defensive strategy foreign to them outside the final moments of a match in which the team needs a goal and is throwing caution to the proverbial wind.  Now, the failed 3-4-3 experiment Porter ran on Friday, at least with the team he put on the field, is unlikely to recur.  Caleb Porter is a smart guy.  What you, I, and the rest of the viewing public saw from the Timbers defense to open the game on Friday is also utterly obvious to Porter.  Don’t expect to see that again soon.

So, while Friday felt awful in the moment, a number of one-off conditions in that game substantially limit its contagion.

The next cause for concern extends beyond the struggles in Sandy and into the Timbers’ general form over the last several games.  But taking a step back and examining the last four reveals that – while not ideal – the Timbers four points in four games is eminently understandable.

The Timbers beat FC Dallas in a game in which both teams played pretty well.  Portland drew RSL at home in a strange outing marred by a referee who wanted to compete with the teams on the field for the right to determine the outcome of the match.  Next, the Timbers lost a close game to a hot Seattle team despite being on the road and facing an absurd selection crisis in the most important position on the field.  Finally, as discussed above, the Timbers fell to Salt Lake under less-than-ideal conditions.

While Portland probably feels like they left points on the table at home against RSL, it’s hard to call four points through those four games an unacceptable result.  Imperfect?  You bet.  Disastrous?  No way.

Even after all that, the Timbers still sit tied for fourth, with three winnable games on the horizon against Toronto FC, at Chivas USA, and home again to Colorado.  If Portland can win all three of those – a possibility that is certainly realistic, if perhaps not necessarily probable – it’s hard to see the Timbers any lower than third in the West with a growing gap between them and the red line.

Thereafter, the Timbers get to face each of the other three prime candidates for the coveted top-three conference spots at home in the season’s final five weeks, giving the club the opportunity to control its own destiny from the friendly confines of Jeld-Wen Field.

In that way, the Timbers’ remaining eight games are close to perfectly set up.  Winnable matches on the road and Western Conference rivals at home, where Portland still hasn’t lost since March 9^th.

So, while Portland would prefer to be sitting more comfortably in the table at the moment, their present position and finishing stretch of games sets them up nicely to bring playoff soccer back to Portland.

Yes, what happened in Salt Lake was frustrating, but in no way is it a sign of an imminent apocalypse.

Onward, Rose City!