—by Chris Rifer

The Portland Timbers’ “simple goal is to win and advance” in the U.S. Open Cup, as Caleb Porter put it after Wednesday night’s game.  And that is exactly what Portland did in their U.S. Open Cup fourth round fixture against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The Timbers took control early and never looked seriously in danger of losing their grasp on Wednesday night, as they cruised to a drama-free 2-0 win to set up a quarterfinal matchup at Dallas in two weeks.

Just as they did in their third round fixture against the Wilmington Hammerheads, Portland put themselves on top early on Wednesday.  In the 9^th minute, a Jose Valencia pass was deflected in the attacking third, and Michael Nanchoff let the ball bounce at the top left corner of the box before volleying it first time past Tampa Bay keeper Diego Restrepo and into the far side netting to open the scoring.

After a somewhat anemic start, Nanchoff’s goal pulled the Timbers into the game.  Over the course of the next 20 minutes, the Timbers put the kybosh on any upset ambitions that Tampa Bay harbored, and grabbed a hold on the game they wouldn’t relinquish.

Tampa Bay’s best chance of the first half came via a 26^th minute corner that fell for Raphael Cox at the left corner of the box, but the Tacoma native’s open shot went well high—never seriously threatening Milos Kocic’s goal.

Portland nearly found the soresheet again five minutes later, when Kalif Alhassan nodded a Diego Valeri pass into the path of Frederic Piquionne, but the Timbers’ recent revelation’s shot was saved by Restrepo.

No matter how dominant a team is, however, it only takes a moment to erase a 1-0 lead.  Coming out of halftime, Tampa Bay pushed hard to move back on their front foot and search for that tying goal.

But halftime substitute Jack Jewsbury was having none of it.  After Nanchoff sent a beautiful 55^th minute free kick into the box, Piquionne nodded down into Jewsbury’s path in front of goal, where the club captain finished routinely to put the game out of reach.

The Timbers weren’t finished attacking, however.  In the 68^th minute, recent entrant Darlington Nagbe received a clever backheel on the touchline from Alhassan and fed Jose Valencia in the box, but Trencito’s low, hard shot from the right side was saved nicely by Restrepo.

The young Colombian was at it again three minutes later when he made one of his signature solo runs into the box and unleashed another goalward low strike, but Restrepo was up to the task yet again.

As the minutes ticked down, however, the Timbers became increasingly content to see the match through.  That isn’t to say the Rowdies wouldn’t make some noise.

After Tampa Bay forced an awkward clearance from the Timbers backline, they earned a 78^th minute free kick in the middle of the field 25 yards from goal that Luke Mulholland bent over the wall and off the crossbar.

The Rowdies, however, would never get that close again, as Portland professionally polished off another U.S. Open Cup victory.  Just as they did two weeks ago against Wilmington Hammerheads, the Timbers faced an overmatched opponent at home and never gave them hope.  And the result was a win and the right to advance.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

Throughout 2013, the Portland Timbers have repeatedly found ways to earn a result on the road.  Multiple times—at Seattle, Colorado, and Vancouver—the Timbers found a way to earn a point from a game in which they easily could have come out empty handed.  Recently, however, the Timbers had increasingly shown their ability to dominate on the road, with a comfortable 2-0 result at D.C. marking the least stressful road fixture in Portland’s MLS history.

And so it was in the early going on Saturday.  In the first minute Frederic Piquionne got free in the box at the near post and cracked a seemingly goalward shot, but Sean Johnson got foot to it and deflected the ball just enough to send it off the crossbar.  Diego Valeri gathered on the far post, however, and rolled the ball back into the box for Diego Chara, whose finish also met its demise on the woodwork.

Three minutes later, the post got into the action.  After Michael Harrington found space on the left he sent a cross toward Will Johnson.  Johnson couldn’t quite get a solid head to the ball, but his looping header caught the Sean Johnson by surprise and floated toward the goal, only to be denied by the back post.

As dominant as the first ten minutes were, however, Portland couldn’t come away with the opening goal—or two—that would have put Chicago on their back foot.  In the tenth minute, the Timbers were the ones fortunate to stay level.  After the Timbers’ defense flattened out, Patrick Nyarko found Chris Rolfe free at the top of the box.  Rolfe’s shot, however, sailed high, aided to some extent by the fingertips of Milos Kocic.

There was no question who the better team was in the first half, however, as the Timbers moved through, around, and over the Fire midfield.  Portland reaped their first reward in the 33^rd minute.  After Milos Kocic found Frederic Piquionne with a long ball, the striker flicked on to Diego Valeri running between Jalil Anibaba and Bakary Soumare.  Valeri used some fancy footwork in the box to earn a foot of space, and put his boot through a ball that once again bounced off the near post, but this time nestled into the far side netting.

With the quality of the Timbers’ chances, going into halftime only up 1-0 was in many ways a disappointment.  As Will Johnson put it in the postgame locker room, “one-nothing at halftime really flattered [the Fire].  We should have easily been up multiple goals at halftime and put the game away.”

The Timbers had the opportunity to do just that in the 57^th minute, when the Timbers carved up the Fire on the counter once again.  Darlington Nagbe sprinted up the left side and laid the ball back for Diego Valeri 25 yards out, but his well-struck ball was saved by a diving Sean Johnson.

There would be no saving the next strike from that distance, however.  After Valeri set Piquionne free on the right wing, the Martinique international took the ball to the byline and cut back to find space to feed Ben Zemanski back into the center 20 yards from goal.  The Akron alumnus took Piquionne’s 58^th minute pass and smashed it passed the Fire defense and into the net in front of more than 150 travelling Timbers Army.  To everybody in the stadium, the rout appeared to be on.

Perhaps sensing the game was under control, Caleb Porter replaced Valeri—who had been fantastic both in the attack and in keeping the ball moving through the midfield—with Sal Zizzo in the 67^th minute.

Porter would come to regret that a minute later, when the Timbers control was fumbled away.  After a turnover in the midfield, Mike Magee slipped behind the Portland defense with only Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Milos Kocic to beat.  Jean-Baptiste appeared to have Magee shielded off from the ball, and Kocic came out to collect, but the keeper fumbled the ball after a collision with the young defender, and Magee tapped into an open net.[1]

From there, the game would look absolutely nothing like it did for the first hour.  Chicago threw numbers forward and the Timbers struggled to relieve the pressure.  The Fire struggled to create genuine chances, however, as their attack from the run of play sputtered in the face of a generally well-organized Timbers defense.

The Fire were successful in one important respect, however, as they earned set piece after set piece in the attacking third.  And ultimately that’s how they found the equalizer.

After an 82^nd minute foul twenty-five yards out that Caleb Porter called “questionable,” Daniel Paladini bent a beautiful free kick over the Timbers’ wall and into the near side netting where Kocic had no chance.

In twenty-five minutes the Timbers had gone from a presumptive rout to facing the real possibility of coming away empty handed.  Portland responded well, however, as the leveled score forced Chicago to pull some of its numbers back.

In the 88^th minute, Darlington Nagbe found the space Portland had been exploiting all day in front of the Fire backline and let loose a shot from his right foot 20 yards out, but the worm burner dragged wide of the near post.

A minute later Patrick Nyarko put a scare into Portland after he collected a nice through ball past Pa Modou Kah and looked to send a dangerous low cross in front of goal, but Kocic stuck it at the near post to preserve the draw.

Under most circumstances, earning a road point while missing three of their most effective players should be nothing the Timbers would shake a stick at.  But after running Chicago off the field for more than an hour and building a two-goal lead, the draw is, as Porter put it postgame, “a bit of a bitter pill.”

Quotes & Observations

• After the game, Porter once again found a positive morsel to take out of the result.  “You know, we’re disappointed.  It’s a bit of a bitter pill, but, you know, I think we’ll learn from it, we’ll be better from it, and we didn’t lose the game.  We still got a point.  We’re still unbeaten on the road.  In 14 games, there has still been only one team that’s beaten us.  So I think it’s a great thing that we’re still getting points, but we’re a little bit ticked off leaving this game feeling like we let two points slip away.”  Porter returned to the topic of learning lessons while earning points, “Again, the fact that we can learn a lesson without losing the game I think is a positive thing.  It will make us a better team . . . A lot of teams have to take losses to learn lessons, and we’ve learned lessons while getting points.”
• Don’t let the disappointment of the result completely overshadow some of the positives, especially in the first half.  As Porter pointed out, “some of the best stuff I’ve seen out of this team happened in this game.  In that first half there was a period of about twenty minutes that was electric.”
• I thought, however, that taking off Valeri so early was a mistake.  He had been Portland’s most effective player through the midfield on Saturday.  Although Chicago were always going to try to push numbers forward, they could do so with a little bit more impunity with Portland’s primary playmaker off the field, as Valeri’s absence muted the Timbers’ remarkable ability to transition from defense to attack.

Timbers Grades

Milos Kocic, 5.5 He probably should have held onto the ball that led to the first concession, but that wasn’t entirely on him.  Otherwise, Kocic’s positioning was fantastic.  Chicago had a handful of dangerous-looking shots go right at Milos because the keeper put himself in the perfect spot.

Michael Harrington, 7 – By far his best game as a Timber.  Solid defensively, but much more involved on the offensive end than he’s been thus far.  As Porter pointed out, “Darlington and [Harrington] have a pretty good partnership.  Because Darlington was warranting a lot of attention coming inside and playing in that little pocket tucked in, I think that opened up space for Mikey.”  He made the most of that space, sending several dangerous crosses across the box.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 4.5 Shares responsibility for the first goal, as it was his failure to stay in front of Magee that started the whole play, and ultimately it was him colliding with Kocic that knocked the ball loose.  Otherwise a decent game under difficult circumstances in the final 25 minutes, with the Fire committing everybody forward.

Pa Modou Kah, 5.5 Despite a couple loose passes, Kah’s defense—especially in the first half—was solid.  His only bad habit thus far is he has a tendency to stray a little bit too much from his central position.

Jack Jewsbury, 5 A pretty standard game from Jack.  The Fire didn’t create a whole lot in and around him.  As was part of the game plan, Jack got forward a little bit more than usual, but didn’t create nearly as much of it as Harrington.

Diego Chara, 6 He was the biggest reason why the Timbers crushed the Fire’s midfield in the first half.  His nine recoveries led all players, and Chicago couldn’t handle the speed with which he launched into the attack.  Had a harder time late in the game, as the Fire’s shelling of the Timbers’ backline took him out of his game.  Also probably should have finished his first minute chance, but there’s no real surprise there.

Ben Zemanski, 6.5 Doesn’t have Chara’s positional know-how, but looked better in a central midfield role than he has in the past.  His beautifully struck goal is really what sends his grade soaring.

Will Johnson, 5.5 Was more involved in the attack than usual, but really wasn’t the most threatening creative force.  Nonetheless, a more than adequate game from Will.

Darlington Nagbe, 6 I agree with Porter’s sentiment about Nagbe’s work creating space on the left side.  Although Nagbe didn’t get on the scoresheet, he freed up a lot of real estate that the Timbers exploited over and over on Saturday.

Diego Valeri, 8 The best player on the field by a bit of a margin.  Connected on 22 of his 24 passes, had a very well taken goal, and sprung Piquionne to eventually set up Zemanski’s goal.  His late absence was conspicuous.[2]

Frederic Piquionne, 7 After four goals in the Open Cup opener and two assists on Saturday, Caleb Porter will have decisions to make in the next couple weeks.  It’s going to be hard to keep Piquionne off the field.

Sal Zizzo, 5 In limited opportunities, Sal did what he does—fly down the right wing.  He was fairly effective in doing so, as he created a couple half chances for the Timbers on the right.  Ultimately, however, he couldn’t help relieve the Fire’s pressure.

Jose Valencia, INC. Probably came on too late to make a whole lot of a difference.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 2, Fire 1.  Ryan Johnson, Nagbe.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Fire 2.  Valeri, Zemanski.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

One year ago today the Portland Timbers hit rock bottom.  While there were more embarrassments to come in 2012, five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes ago the Portland Timbers lost to Cal FC.  Given where the Timbers stand today, second in the West on 22 points, coming off a 5-1 U.S. Open Cup 3^rd Round victory, how can we measure the year since Cal FC?

The feeling standing in the North End on the evening of May 30, 2012 was one of numb disbelief.  What we’d just seen was impossible.  The Timbers, a team with once-reasonable playoff ambitions, had unleashed 37 shots – 15 on frame – on Cal FC, a U.S. Adult Soccer Association side, and come up empty in a mind boggling 1-0 extra time defeat.  Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  And then some.

Merritt Paulson tweeted an embarrassed apology and the dreaded vote of confidence in John Spencer.  To that point the results had been poor, but not disastrous.  But after the stunning loss to Cal FC, the Timbers’ season went from disappointing to disastrous.  Six weeks later Spencer was gone.  And the rebirth of the club began in earnest.

Looking back, the firing of Spencer was at once unfair, bold, and brilliant.

Appointed on August 10, 2010, Spencer had been at the helm of the club for a day less than 23 months when he was let go on July 9, 2012.  He had managed exactly a season and a half of regular season football.  By any definition, the hook that yanked him from the sidelines was quick.  So quick, in fact, that Spencer didn’t truly have time to fully develop his vision for the club.

Paulson must have known that the criticism for firing Spencer would be intense.  As it turned out, it came from every direction.  Any number of pundits objected to the swiftness of Spencer’s firing.  Supporters chafed at the promotion of Gavin Wilkinson to interim manager.  Kris Boyd, the offseason’s splashy multimillion dollar signing, could barely contain his disappointment, and faded from stardom to irrelevance.

It was not the string of poor results that was the proximate cause of Spencer’s undoing.  Viewing his year-and-a-half as a whole, Spencer’s results were mediocre, but not disastrous.  In 2011, the Timbers finished just four points out of the playoff picture, having preserved their postseason hopes until the second to last round of fixtures.  At the time of his firing, the Timbers sat, again, four points off the playoff pace with a big home match against the as-yet underwhelming L.A. Galaxy.

But, as the Cal FC embarrassment showed, the Timbers were afloat.  They had decent talent, but no guiding philosophy.  The system was ambiguous, at best.  The tactics were lacking.  The coach was a good motivator of players, but what, exactly, was he motivating them to do?

Ultimately that’s led to Spencer’s dismissal.  And that is also what required immediate attention from the front office.

Seven weeks later Caleb Porter was hired, even if he wouldn’t formally join the club in Portland until December.  Moves were made, even if not all popular.  Experiments were run, permitting the reemergence of Bright Dike.  And slowly results started to improve, culminating in the return of the Cascadia Cup when the Timbers captured their first away win of 2012 – in their last away fixture – by shocking the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0.

As we stand here a year later, the decision to relieve Spencer of his duties was brilliant.   It would have been easy to ride out the rest of 2012 with Spencer at the helm, endure some disappointing results, and part ways during the offseason when there would be any number of ready and willing candidates.  Given two full seasons at the helm, one that fell well short of expectations, and an abysmal road record, there would have been fewer cries of a quick hook from Spencer supporters.

But the rebuilding needed to begin immediately.  And beginning that process in June paid considerable dividends in December.

On December 3^rd, just two days after the MLS Cup Final and on the day the MLS transfer window opened, the Timbers made what may wind up as the most consequential move in their MLS history by bringing Will Johnson in from Real Salt Lake.  The same day Michael Harrington was acquired from Sporting Kansas City, and a week later Ryan Johnson from Toronto FC.  When, on January 10^th, the Timbers brought Diego Valeri in on loan from Lanus, the Timbers had already assembled most of the key pieces of a major overhaul.

This swift movement gave the Timbers the vast majority of camp to get acquainted with each other, their new coach, and the new system.  While the road wasn’t always smooth – especially with respect to the defense, which was still very much a work in progress on opening day – by the time Houston came to town on April 6^th, the Timbers were in a form that was unimaginable on that ill-fated May evening a year ago.

It’s likely very little of this would have happened if the Timbers had spent the months of November and December resolving their coaching situation.  Rather than joining the Will Johnson Sweepstakes,[1] or plotting to turn Joe Bendik and the 3^rd pick in the SuperDraft into Ryan Johnson and Milos Kocic, the Timbers would have been largely in a holding pattern while they looked to fill the downstairs office.

While there are any number of moments that precipitated the radical changes the club began in the summer of 2012, the loss to Cal FC was the first time it was clear the wheels had fallen off the wagon.

After Cal FC, the club went into the tailspin that would eventually lead the Timbers to where they are today.

Perhaps nothing symbolizes the progress the club has made in a year than Wednesday’s dominant win over the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL Pro.  What the Spencer-led 2012 Timbers couldn’t do in 120 minutes, the Porter-coached Timbers did in two.  And seventeen.  And thirty-four.  And forty-five.  And seventy-three.

While the Timbers still have work to do to reach the top of North American soccer, standing in the North End five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes ago, it was impossible to envision the Timbers being where they are right now.  However you measure a year, this one has been a year of immense change and growth for the Timbers.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

The 2013 U.S. Open Cup opener for the Portland Timbers couldn’t have been more different from 2012’s humiliating loss to Cal FC.

The Timbers scored early and often on Wednesday night, as Portland cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL Pro.

The party started in earnest in the second minute, when Will Johnson’s corner found Frederic Piquionne all alone at the far post for an easy finish.  What the Timbers couldn’t do in 120 minutes in 2012, they did in two in 2013.

Fifteen minutes later, the Frenchman was at it again.  This time it was Michael Harrington who picked Piquionne out at the mouth of goal, where the veteran nodded clinically past Tony Hernandez, Wilmington’s helpless keeper.

The Hammerheads weren’t without chances, though.  In the 27^th minute Daniel Steres gathered a ball 25 yards out in the center of the field and unleashed a wicked volley that flew just wide of the far post.

Piquionne would ensure this one never got close, however, as in the 34^th minute he capped his hat trick when Kalif Alhassan put him though on goal with a chipped return pass, and Frederic hit a bouncing ball first time that beat Hernandez and nestled into the side netting.

Three minutes later, however, Wilmington twice came close to pulling one back.  In the 38^th minute, Kyle Greig—who tormented the Timbers’ backline all night—got head to a corner at the mouth of goal.  The ball slipped under Milos Kocic’s feet, but the stand-in keeper sat on the ball to keep it from crossing the line.

Greig nearly found the net again seconds later, when the Benedictine College alumnus got a diving head to a cross coming from deep on the right wing, but Kocic was there once again to push wide.

There was once again nothing Hernandez could do to keep Piquionne out in first half stoppage, however.  After Will Johnson whipped yet another set piece into the box, Piquionne got a driving head to the ball and buried his fourth in the far corner.  Forty-five minutes, five shots, four goals.[1]

From there, the match played out as casually as the 2012 version was desperate.

Wilmington got their goal in the 61^st minute when Paul Nicholson juggled an uncleared corner and hit a magnificent overhead volley past Kocic and into the net.  But the match was long gone for the game Hammerheads, and nothing they could do at that point could dampen spirits at Jeld-Wen Field.

On a night that symbolized a reversal of fortunes for the Timbers, it is only appropriate that the longest-serving Portland man would get himself on the scoresheet.  And perhaps even more appropriate that it was assisted by the most influential of the new generation of Timbers.

In the 73^rd minute, Will Johnson sent another perfect delivery to the far post where Futty nodded it down, past two confused Hammerheads defenders, and into the North End goal.

Oh, what a difference a year makes.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

The only measure of quality that matters in soccer is that relative to a team’s opponent on game day.  On Saturday, the Portland Timbers were vastly superior to D.C. United, even if that conclusion was less about the Timbers than it is about Ben Olsen’s incoherent side.

Sequestered at the bottom of the table, D.C. came into Saturday’s match with a glimmer of hope coming off a draw against Sporting Kansas City.  And it was United that created the first chance serious chance of the game in the 12^th minute after a classy run through the middle from Chris Pontius[1] set Carlos Ruiz into all sorts of space on the left side of the box, but the Guatemalan’s backpost curler was no trouble for a well-positioned Donovan Ricketts.

For the next fifteen minutes, however, it was all Portland.  In the 17^th minute Darlington Nagbe ran into a vacant midfield and unleashed a shot from 30 yards that looked to catch Bill Hamid off his line, but the young goalkeeper leaped to nervously tip over the bar.

Space was once again the name of the game four minutes later, when Frederic Piquionne took a throw toward the center of the field where the D.C. United defense collapsed in on itself.  Piquionne found Rodney Wallace all by himself on the left side of the box where Wallace’s feet seemingly had enough time to roshambo for the right to strike the forthcoming shot.  As usual, his left came up scissors and sliced the ball into back of the net.

United continued to find itself in positive positions, but over and over again made a laughingstock of their chances. In the 26^th minute D.C. moved the ball easily through the Timbers’ defense, but Kyle Porter sent his shot from the left side of the box over the bar.

No Black-and-Red chance went as begging, however, as the one that presented itself in the 42^nd minute. After Ruiz again found himself in space on the right side of the box, he rolled a dangerous cross across the face of goal where no Timber could play it for fear of putting it into their net.  United’s attackers, however, were nonchalant in pouncing on the loose ball, and the cross that needed only a routine touch to level the score dribbled pathetically away.

The start to the second half brought more of the same. Perhaps attempting to see how far off the gas they could take their foot while retaining control, the Timbers came out flat.  But a pair of promisingly positioned headers from Perry Kitchen and Kyle Porter were wasted, cementing the feeling that a D.C. United score was impossible on account of their own foibles.

One guy who had no problem making the most of his chances on Saturday was Darlington Nagbe, who looked like the best player on the field for much of the match.  After a more familiar piece of buildup play found Nagbe in space in the midfield, he played back to Ryan Johnson and ran into the box.  Johnson, apparently trying to one-up Will Johnson from the week before, popped a pass over the top of the defense into the box, where Nagbe expertly used his body to get on the ball, earn space, and fire between Hamid’s wickets and into the net.

With the result settled and the highlight reel sealed, D.C. United set out to add a couple more bloopers to their weekly film session.

In the 65^th minute Kyle Porter sent a dangerous ball across the top of the box that had three Timbers too timid to play it.  Pescado played back to Pontius at the corner of the six, but the United captain’s effort sailed absurdly high.

Speaking of absurdly high, Lionard Pajoy joined the party after collecting a beautiful Dwayne Do Rosario long ball forward and stranding Donovan Ricketts off his line, but the Colombian sailed his shot from the top of the box.

Perhaps the most positive sign for the Timbers on Saturday was the ugliness of the win.  For one, it was a convincing win on the road when the Timbers weren’t playing anything close to their best soccer.  That, by itself, is a significant improvement over the last two years.  Additionally, Saturday showed that the Timbers aren’t just a system team.  Sure, the system is a big part of Portland success, but they proved they can still score goals and win games when Plan A isn’t available.  Well, at least against a vastly inferior opponent.

Notes & Observations

• Give Caleb Porter a healthy share of the credit for Saturday’s win.  Many coaches that have installed a system as successful as his will stick to it stubbornly, regardless of the personnel available or the opponent’s strengths.  Rather than dogmatically stick to his tactical guns, Porter pragmatically changed the Timbers’ shape and approach to fit the circumstances.  Faced with the loss of Diego Valeri, Porter recognized that the quick passing-based offensive system wasn’t going to be as effective.  So he set the team up to play much more direct.  Rather than replace Valeri with Kalif Alhassan, as he has done in the past to modest success, Porter brought on a second forward in Frederic Piquionne and shifted into a very traditional looking 4-4-2.  As a result, D.C. United’s backline couldn’t handle the Timbers’ front four.  And that alone was sufficient to carry Portland to an ugly win.
• That said, I’m not sure there’s another team in MLS that Portland beats on the road on Saturday, and probably a good number that they lose to.  In that respect, we saw how important Diego Valeri is to this Timbers team.  Without him, Portland misses a key attacking component to keep their offense firing on all cylinders.  Valeri’s injury doesn’t sound all that serious, but I would be shocked if he played in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 6.5 Another solid game from Ricketts, whose positioning was solid all night.  United didn’t test him often, but credit the big keeper for being in the right spots and making finishes difficult for D.C.

Michael Harrington, 5.5 Struggled a little bit in the first half hour, but put in one of his better performances over the last sixty minutes.  Even got into the attack on an occasion in which Nagbe and Piquionne set him up beautifully at the top of the box.  Never mind that Harrington’s strike was poor.

Pa Modou Kah, 5.5 A decent first outing.  Got caught upfield once or twice, but overall his backline improved as the game went along.  Very early returns indicate he’s yet another solid signing for Caleb Porter.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 4.5 On the whole a decent night for AJB, but he should have been whistled for a penalty as a result of his second half handball.  He got away with it on Saturday, but he needs to keep working to eliminate his weekly major mistake.

Jack Jewsbury, 4 A rough game for Jack at right back, as his positioning and one-on-one defending were a little bit looser than usual, especially in the first half.

Rodney Wallace, 6.5 Predictably a little bit quieter in this system, but his opener was very well taken and Rod contributed nicely on the defensive end on numerous occasions.

Will Johnson, 4.5 The central midfield just had a little bit of an off day.  Nothing too bad from Will Johnson or Diego Chara, but passes didn’t quite find their marks on many occasions and a few more missed tackles than we’re used to seeing from these guys.

Diego Chara, 4.5 See Will Johnson.  This is probably a rating relative to their usual stellar production, though.

Darlington Nagbe, 7.5 An easy man of the match selection for me. Nagbe was good wherever Caleb Porter put him, be it outside on the right wing where he started, or the more central areas he moved into as the match went along.

Frederic Piquionne, 6 A very nice outing for Piquionne, who deserved his assist.  Held the ball up nicely on Saturday and distributed well once his colleagues joined in the attack.

Ryan Johnson, 6 Subtle again from Johnson, but a nicely played ball through to Nagbe earned him an assist.  Ryan’s movement was malleable on Saturday, as well, bending a very flexible United defense out of shape on multiple occasions.

Ben Zemanski, INC Although he played 17 minutes, D.C. had long since given up when he came on, limiting his opportunity to make his mark.

Jose Valencia, 5.5 You can tell Trencito likes scoring goals, regardless of the situation.  He didn’t get one on Saturday, but wasn’t far off.

Kalif Alhassan, INC.

Preseason Prediction: United 2, Timbers 0.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, United 0. Whoops.

Onward, Rose City!

Reactions to the display have been overwhelming. One photo set on Tumblr has been reblogged over 20,000 times. Additionally, we've received hundreds of comments in various online forums commending us on the display. And, as one would expect, there have been a few emails as well.

One of those emails came from Pride Northwest. Pride NW is a non-profit that works to promote equality and understanding around LGBTQ issues. They're also the group that puts together the annual pride parade in downtown Portland.

They have invited the Timbers Army to be a featured group in this year's parade, and we're inviting you to join us. This is an incredible opportunity to show all of Portland how much equality means to the Timbers Army.

If you want to participate, here's what you need to know:

The parade takes place on June 16th (yes, that's Father's day), and participants will need to be staged up by 10:30 a.m. downtown. They expect that we'll be done marching by around 12:30 p.m. - so that gives you plenty of time to make it back up to Jeld-Wen if you are planning on attending the Thorns match that afternoon.

—by Mike Coleman

—by Mike Coleman

Note: you can click on any graphic to make it larger and more readable

Welcome back to the latest installment of the power rankings. Each week I look at a bunch of power rankings, and amalgamate the results here. Typically I look at six reports, but this week its only 5 (ESPN, Bleacher Report, Sporting News, MLS, and The Oregonian), as Soccer By Ives hasn't yet published any rankings for week 12 (which is understandable with all the news coming out yesterday about Manchester Yankees City Football Club).

When I look at the rankings I take an average to see how teams stack up overall, and then also look at points in the past 5 games as another measure of form. Additionally I look at the average movement in the rankings week over week for each team. Finally I use standard deviation (which is a way of looking at the variation in a set of numbers) to see how much agreement there is between 'the experts' (a low standard deviation indicates a high level of agreement, a higher standard deviation could indicate a high level of disagreement).

Here are this weeks raw numbers:

So, as you can see we have a new number one. The surging New York Red Bulls have benefitted from a very nice run of form plus some late game heroics from Tim Cahill that took down the the Galaxy to move past FC Dallas (who were torn asunder by Fishing Village FC this week). The Timbers fell a spot (from 2nd to a tie for 3rd), but there is a wide variety of opinions on where they should be ranked (more on that in a few paragraphs).  And while some things have changed at the top, things at the bottom are pretty much the same as they ever were - with D.C. United bringing up the rear once again.

If you look at points through the past 5 games (PP5G), it's pretty consistent. Most teams are with in 4 spots in the rankings of where they can be found in the PP5G. The relationship between ranking and PP5G is much less volatile than it has been in the past few weeks (I've only been doing these rankings since Week 9)

In terms of winners and losers - this week's big winner (again) are Fishing Village FC (you do remember this is being hosted on ta Timbers Army website right). After scoring 4 goals for a 2nd week in a row, and taking down the consensus best team in the league they jump an average of 3.8 spots (adding to the 5.3 spots from last week). In other news, New York picked up a respectable 2.4 spots. This week's big loser was the Dynamo. They dropped a whopping 3.6 spots after dropping 3 points at home in convincing fashion to New England.

As far as standar deviation goes, this is the first week were there was no team that we ranked the same across the board (in previous weeks DC United and FC Dallas were ranked the consensus worst and best respectively). In terms of both rankings and movement Portland is the team the 'experts' least agree on. If you look at their individual rankings 3 of the 5 'experts' have them at #2 but the other two have them at #5 and #6 - that's a pretty huge disparity. Additionally in movement one 'expert' kept them at #2, two others moved them from #3 to #2, and the other two experts dropped them from #4 to #6 (MLS) and #3 to #5 (Bleacher Report). FC Dallas is in a similar boat as Portland - being the 2nd most debated team in both movement and rankings. In their case they rank anywhere from #1 (MLS) to #5 (Oregon Live) (they also have two rankings at #3 and one at #2). Clearly folks didn't know how much to read into what happened up north.

For folks who want to see trends over time, here are the average rankings for each team form Week 1 - Week 12 and a graph that is painful to look at and virtually worthless

Well that's it for this week, if you have question, comments or concerns - let me know.

 

 

—by Chris Rifer

Now it’s a home and home.  Obviously thinking of the team’s effort to retain the Cascadia Cup, that was the sentiment from Caleb Porter in the postgame press conference.  Any number of times on Saturday, however, the Timbers could have found themselves chasing the race for the Cascadia Cup.  As they have done over and over this season, however, Portland found a way to secure a result and come out of BC Place with a point.

Despite the Timbers’ exertion of control over much of the first ten minutes, Vancouver came away with the first legitimate chance on goal.  After Futty blocked a pair of Caps chances in the tenth minute, Gershon Koffie found himself in space 20 yards out, but sent his shot well high.

Portland would turn its possession into a golden opportunity three minutes later, when a Diego Valeri shot from a tight angle on the right escaped Brad Knighton’s grasp and bounced tantalizingly in front of goal, but Rodney Wallace couldn’t find a way to push it across the goalline before Vancouver cleared it behind for a corner.

Six minutes later Ryan Johnson got loose on the left side, but his dangerous low cross evaded a Timber’s finishing touch and skipped harmlessly across the face of goal.

There would be no evading a brilliant set piece from Camilo three minutes later.  After Will Johnson got suckered into a soft foul on Camilo just outside the box on the right, the Brazilian hammered the ball inside the near post to give the Caps their first goal against Portland in this building.

As they have all year, however, the Timbers reacted calmly to the concession and came right back.  In the 30^th minute Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe combined on the weaker left side of Vancouver’s defense to give Valeri a little bit of space.  The Argentine fired a cross to the top of the six where Rodney Wallace got head to it, but Knighton made a deceptively difficult save above his head to preserve the lead.

After controlling almost 70% of the ball in the first half, there was a feeling at halftime that there was a goal out there for the Timbers.  That goal came in the 52^nd minute after Andy O’Brien clearly handled a Will Johnson shot in the box, prompting the referee to blow for a penalty.[1]  The Captain coolly stepped to the spot and buried the penalty.

As good as the Timbers’ response to their concession was, their reaction to equalizing was equally bad.  Two minutes later, the Timbers’ defense, Will Johnson prominently included, needlessly flattened at the top of the box after a Whitecaps attacking throw.  Koffie—who was the best player on the field for much of the match—took full advantage of the space and curled a beautiful shot into the net.

The ensuing minutes were among the nerviest of 2013 for Portland.  While Vancouver had a hard time getting into gear to put the game away, the Timbers struggled to find the midfield dynamism they have showed so often this year.  For much of the next twenty minutes it looked like the Timbers’ nine-match unbeaten streak was fated to come to an end in Vancouver.

That fate was seemingly sealed in the 81^st minute, when Futty gave a little tug to Camilo in a footrace for a Nigel Reo-Coker long ball.  The Brazilian cast a line in the water by tumbling to the ground, and the referee took it hook, line, and sinker, giving the Gambian a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Certainly the Timbers couldn’t find their way back a goal and a man down.  The Caps would discover, however, that it’s hard to stop a runaway Trencito.

After Will Johnson picked up a loose 84^th minute header in the center of the field, he lobbed a long ball forward into the path of Jose Valencia.  Trencito handled the ball on the way down, but both the center referee and the linesman’s views were obstructed, and after a deft cut back shed his defenders, the youngster slotted past Knighton like he’d been there a million times.  For a player who doesn’t have many moments on the field, the young Colombian sure seems to make them count.

Despite being up a man, Vancouver couldn’t seriously threaten to pull ahead once again.

The result is huge for Portland.  Not only does it run the unbeaten streak to ten games, it also levels the Cascadian playing field, as the Timbers have erased their two-match away disadvantage by earning draws at Seattle and Vancouver.

Game on.

Notes & Observations

• Sort of a strange performance from the Timbers.  While they were often sloppy in their passing, Portland still managed 63% possession and a respectable 79% pass completion percentage. The Timbers shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions, including both concessions, but battled back.
• This team’s pluck is uncanny. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team that can rally as consistently and as often as the Timbers have in 2013.  Saturday marked the fourth time in the ten-game streak that the Timbers have fallen behind on the road to come back and earn a result.
• Six of the Timbers’ results in the ten unbeaten have come on the road, surpassing the total number of road draws and wins the Timbers earned in 2012.
• There may be hay to be made on the rest of Portland current three-match road trip.  The Timbers’ next two games are winnable fixtures at DC United and Chicago Fire, whose eleven points combined are eight fewer than Portland’s 19.
• The reemergence of Koffie is the difference between the Whitecaps on Saturday and the Whitecaps two weeks ago.  He was fantastic Saturday and could make the Caps dangerous going forward.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 5 Completely helpless on both concessions, but he also didn’t bail his team out on Saturday.  Average day for a goalkeeper.

Michael Harrington, 3 Another poor performance in a generally poor month for Harrington.  Upgrade his seat from lukewarm to toasty.

Futty, 4 Can’t pin either concession on the center backs, and Vancouver’s other chances were limited, but Futty needs to be a little bit smarter with Camilo.  Yes, it looked like a dive.  But it would have been a shocker if he hadn’t gone down in the face of even a penumbra of a touch.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 6 Whereas Futty struggled with Camilo, AJB used his width to good effect in controlling him on a number of occasions.  Good showing from Jean-Baptiste, who stated his case to pair with Pa Kah when everybody is healthy and available.

Jack Jewsbury, 4.5 Decent game defensively, but Jack had a couple opportunities for dangerous crosses that he didn’t capitalize on.

Diego Chara, 7 The best Timber on Saturday.  Had a difficult task in matching up alternately with Reo-Coker and Koffie, and showed very well.  Was a touch looser in his passing than usual, but was massive in winning the ball back in midfield.

Will Johnson, 5 This is a tough grade.  A goal and an assist will generally earn a player an impressive scorecard, but he was culpable on both concessions for failing to mark Koffie and giving Camilo the opportunity to hug the turf leading to the set piece goal.

Diego Valeri, 4 As tough a game as Valeri has had.  Didn’t do too poorly in the opening half hour, but as the rhythm of the game got choppier, Valeri looked increasingly uncomfortable.  Right now Diego is the prohibitive favorite to take home the Diego Chara Award,[2] given to the player with the biggest difference between him home and away performances.

Darlington Nagbe, 6 Went down early, but was very effective in combinations and using his movement to open spaces in a Whitecaps defensive midfield that seemingly had a lot of them early on.

Rodney Wallace, 6 Rod had a tough task running into the right side of a Caps’ defense that features Y.P. Lee and Andy O’Brien.  Wallace did well, however, nearly finding the net twice in the first half.

Ryan Johnson, 4 A step off all day, as he had a couple crucial moments that weren’t quite right, including having his steps wrong in collecting a perfectly weighted ball from Kalif Alhassan in the second half.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 Pretty poor in the first half, but Kalif worked into the game nicely as the second half went along, settling the ball in the center of midfield and feeding it out to promising attacking areas.

Frederic Piquionne, 6 This was a nice example of good Frederic.  Held the ball up well and distributed nicely after he came in.  Once the Timbers pulled level, Piquionne did a decent impression of a right back to add some extra defense.

Jose Valencia, 7 Okay, Vancouver fans, it was totally a handball.  But showed poise well beyond his years in calmly cutting it back, rendering Knighton helpless, and rolling it past the keeper.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 2, Whitecaps 2.  Valeri,[3] Jewsbury.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Whitecaps 2.  Will Johnson, Valencia.

Onward, Rose City!

107ist is organizing a Central Oregon away day to view the June 8 match v. Chicago.

Central Oregon has a lot of Timbers supporters but has yet to establish a coordinated group like some of the other areas in the state. We're hoping to bring dozens of TA along to share ideas and help them network together and jump start their group.

We're coordinating with Bend supporters for the right venue (kids allowed) and seeking a hotel partner. We are also exploring a possible service opportunity for Saturday before the match. These details will be finalized soon.

There's great camping and recreation in Bend and the surrounding area. If you want to join us camping, Tumalo State Park has a few dozen spots still available, Loop C is where we're setting up.

So start planning and join us in Bend for the Chicago match!