Team. Town. TA.

Say those words, and then imagine what the perfect blend of those three things would look like.

If you were at Jeld-Wen field today, or if you watched the videos or took a peak at the pictures, then I can pretty much guess what your vision would be. What we all witnessed today was the embodiment of those 11 letters.

By now most of you have the background, but it bears repeating because there is a point here that is so important – a point that, again, embodies the mantra of team, town, and TA.

Atticus was like any other 8-year-old boy playing soccer, when he learned he had cancer. His treatments forced him to miss his final soccer game with his team, the Green Machine.

When Make-A-Wish contacted him and asked what he might like to do, he could have said, “I want my family to go to Disneyworld”. NOBODY would have faulted him for that.

Instead he said that he wanted to do something his whole team could share in – he wanted to play soccer against the Timbers.  He is an 8-year-old boy who is the definition of “wise beyond his years” – he wanted to share it with his friends and community - or, saying it another way, his team and his town.

And, so, a match was set. The Timbers would face the Green Machine in the late morning on May 1^st.

The second – and I literally mean the second – the word of the game hit social media the Timbers Army was flooded by members offering to help out.  It was amazing.

The hardest part of what we did today wasn’t making it happen, it was making sure everyone who wanted to be involved could be involved. The outpouring of love that went into the tifo, the chants, and everything else was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

When over 3,000 of us walked into the stadium we probably thought, “Man, Atticus is going to love this” – and I’m sure he did (at least I hope he did). But, there was something else.

In the midst of all that, some of us were lucky enough for the first time to really feel what it means when we say team, town, TA. It’s nearly 5 hours since the match ended, and there are still tears welling up in my eyes.

I wish I could articulate exactly why. Part of it is because I’m a father, and I cannot fathom how terrifying it would be to have one of my kids diagnosed with cancer. Part of it is because I’ve always believed in the power of sport to bring people together, but this was overwhelming. And, part of it is because I’m completely taken aback by how much love and community I have felt this afternoon.

Atticus wanted to share his wish with his team; I wonder if he had any idea how much it would mean to the rest of rest of us.

I should close there, because really that’s the message – sometimes you think you’re doing something for someone else, but you actually end up getting more out of it than you could have ever put in.

But I can't wrap up with acknowledging all the folks that made today special.

On behalf of the 107ist board of directors I'd like to thank:

• The people who came out to help paint the tifo a few weeks back
• Our amazing capos, drums, and trumpet crew for their contributions
• The flag crew (and ad hoc volunteers) who set up the North End today
• The entire Timbers organization, from Merritt to his staff to the players and coaches, all of whom showed the world the definition of class today
• Make-A-Wish Oregon for reaching out to us
• And, of course, Atticus – Thank you for letting us take part in your wish.

Team. Town. TA.

—by Mike Coleman

Tuesday is one of my favorite days of the week as far as soccer goes. It’s the day when most of the power rankings are released (for those of you who are unfamiliar, Power Rankings are where ‘experts’ look at the 19 MLS teams and rank them based on their current performance and future potential – these rankings are, of course,  100% subjective).

Another one of my favorite things is futzing with data in Excel. I’m not a statistician by any measure, but I love manipulating data and trying to figure out any relationships that might exist (yes, I know, that sounds terribly exciting).

In any case, back to soccer . . .

I read about 5 different power rankings, and have always wondered how they compare. So this week I built myself an excel spreadsheet where I take power rankings from 5 different sources (MLS.com, Bleacher Report, Sports Nation, Soccer By Ives, and The Oregonian) and figure out what the average ranking was, how much (on average) the teams moved from one week to the next as well as the standard deviation in the ranks and movement. Finally, I thought the results of the past 5 matches would be an interesting indicator of a teams "power" (although it would be a trailing indicator at best, and doesn't account for who the opponents were during that time e.g. there is no "strength of schedule" component)

I’m not sure if anyone else cares about this, but I thought I’d share it here this week. If folks dig it, I’ll happily keep doing it. I’m also looking to go back and input the data for the first 8 weeks so I can chart the change in power rankings over the season.

So, without further blathering here are your meta power rankings for Week 9:

Nothing to surprising here, but what’s interesting is what happens when you look at the last point totals from the past 5 matches:

 

 

 

 

 

 It would seem near the top and bottom the last 5 games are pretty well reflected. Houston is ranked a bit higher than their past 5 matches would suggest. The real surprise is San Jose who, despite only earning 3 points in the past 5 matches (which is tied for 2^nd worst in the league) is ranked middle of the pack. One can only assume that the ‘experts’ feel like the 3 points are not indicative of their potential.

 

 

 

 The next thing I looked at was movement. The Union were this week’s biggest losers – their 2-0 loss to New England cost them an average of 3.4 spots in the Power Rankings. On the opposite side of the spectrum Columbus picked up a whopping 3.6 points by virtue of their 3-0 defeat of D.C. United (one could question if beating the consensus worst team in the league warranted such a big leap). D.C. United, Colorado, and Chivas all  held pretty steady week after week, and our beloved Timbers picked up the 2^nd highest number of spots (2.8) with their defeat of Sporting Kansas City (it would be hard for me to argue that they should have picked up more spots as that would put them above Montreal, their lone defeat, LA, and Dallas).

The last thing I looked at were the standard deviation of both the movement and rankings. Like I said, I’m not statistician, but I believe that standard deviation (which basically provides an indication of how much variation there is in a set of numbers) offers interesting insight into what the ‘experts’ all agree on and where there is a lack of alignment.

 

With a standard deviation of 0 the ‘experts’ all agree that D.C. United is the worst team in MLS – every single one of them ranked them 19. On the other end of the spectrum there is considerably less agreement on New York (1.82) and Philadelphia (1.92). In the case of New York the rankings are almost uniformly spread from 7^th (Soccer By Ives and the Oregonian) to 11^th (Bleacher Report). For Philadelphia the main outlier is The Oregonian where they ranked 15^th (compared to 10^th, two at 11^th , and 12^th) – clearly GCA has no love for the Union. It’s also important to note that the teams at the top are generally agreed on by the ‘experts’ (as is the placement of Vancouver).

 

 

 Looking at the deviation in movement – clearly the biggest outlier by a pretty significant margin is New York. In two rankings they gained a whopping 4 spots, in two rankings they gained 2 spots, and in one ranking, Bleacher Report, they actually lost 2 spots, falling from 9^th to 11^th  (for the sake of completeness I will note that they were actually tied for 11^th).

 

 

 

What does all this mean, I have no idea. Like I said, I just like to geek out with numbers. I’m sure some of my conclusions aren’t necessarily that insightful (or even correct). If you have a suggestion on how to improve this exercise, let me know.

For those who want to see the information for themselves, you can find my spreadsheet here on google docs.

—by Chris Rifer

Sporting Kansas City took the field on Saturday looking to send a message coming off a frustrating loss and showcase their new argyle kits.  What they didn’t expect, however, was that the Portland Timbers would put on a show of their own.  With Kansas City having not conceded at home this year, the Portland Timbers marched into Sporting Park and sullied the Wizards’ sheet over, and over, and over.  The result netted a thrilling three points and a royal’s share of legitimacy.

It was never going to be a smooth ride, however, which became readily apparent just 40 seconds in, when Chance Myers ran onto the end of a Matt Besler long throw and nodded inside the near post for the stunning opening goal.

Chief among the Timbers’ many qualities, however, are picking themselves up off the mat.  And they near did just that less than four minutes later when Rodney Wallace played Diego Valeri through on the left side.  Jimmy Nielsen was quick off his line, however, and between he and Paulo Nagamura, Kansas City were able to deflect Valeri’s shot just enough to bloop it off the crossbar, eventually to be cleared by Aurelien Collin.

The Timbers kept pressing, however, and nearly found the equalizer in the 24^th minute when Darlington Nagbe played Wallace through on the left side.  Nielsen could only parry Wallace’s tremendous strike from 25 yards out, however, and on the ensuring corner Valeri found Ryan Johnson elevating over the defense in the center of the box to put things back on level terms.

It wouldn’t last long, however, as Kansas City came right back on a clever set piece play in the 29^th minute to go back ahead.  With every observant pair of eyes expecting Graham Zusi to swing his free kick into the box, the American international played it short to Benny Feilhaber, who chipped to Collin.  The big center back found Myers—who had never scored an MLS goal coming in— at the near post, where he easily tapped home.

If the stout Kansas City defense has a vulnerability, however, it is on the break.  With a penchant for being aggressive with their fullbacks, Kansas City was beaten twice on the break last week at the Home Depot Center, and in the 33^rd minute the Timbers would make it thrice in seven days.  After the Johnsons combined to poke the ball away from Collin in Kansas City’s half, Wallace played the ball forward for Diego Valeri who sent Ryan Johnson through the very high Sporting defense.  Johnson beelined for the box, pulled Nielsen off his line, then played back to Darlington Nagbe at the face of goal, who slammed on the brakes to tap into the open net.

After perhaps the most entertaining half of soccer in Timbers’ MLS history, however, the game still hung in the balance.  It’s one thing to look better on the road and earn draws.  It’s another altogether to go into a place like Kansas City and come away with three points.

Rodney Wallace would help the Timbers do just that in the 58^th minute.  After C.J. Sapong gave away a bad ball to Diego Chara, the original designated player ran into space and found Wallace running behind Myers.  As Rod lined up his shot, Myers took him down from behind.  Not even that could foil the Timbers’ breakout star, as on his way down he slotted past Nielsen and into the net.[1]

The Wizards were far from finished, however.  In the 73^rd minute Matt Besler’s cross was deflected by Michael Harrington but still squirreled in front of goal. Collin’s finish, however, spun harmlessly in the box and Donovan Ricketts collected.

Portland would have to weather a frantic final fifteen minutes, however, that saw Collin, Myers, and Jacob Peterson just miss promising chances to bring Kansas City back into the game.

Sporting’s last gasp, however, would require some of Ricketts’ heroics.  In the second minute of stoppage time Seth Sinovic sent a cross from well outside the box to the top of the six, where Collin headed brilliantly to the near post, but a diving Ricketts steered it away.

Saturday’s match was a major checkpoint for the Timbers along their path to legitimacy.  Not only are Sporting KC a serious contender and dominant at home, but they’re also the team whose style most resembles Portland’s fledgling identity.  Rather than stand by while Sporting imposed their will and christened their new kits, the Timbers took the game to them.  And ultimately, they stole the show.

Notes & Observations

• The Timbers’ 1.75 goals per game lead MLS, adding to the long list of the Timbers’ 2013 accomplishments that were utterly inconceivable a year ago.  If you’re having a hard time grasping what you just read, here’s another way of putting it.  Through nine games, the Timbers have the most potent offense in MLS.  If you’re feeling lightheaded, breathing into a paper bag helps.
• Chance Myers grabbed headlines with his goals, but the Timbers brutalized him defensively.  All three of Portland’s goals were directly or indirectly a result of Portland exploiting Sporting down their right flank—you know, which is where Myers is nominally slated to play.
• The win, and the manner of the win, will likely force opponents to change their tactics to accommodate Portland’s style of play.  This has been one of the more positive developments of 2013 for the Timbers—teams are coming in having to go away from their identity to try to compete with Portland.  On Saturday Sporting didn’t change their identity, and as a result were punished when the Timbers over and over found space in behind the Wizards’ defense.
• The past four games are likely the best four-game stretch in Timbers’ MLS history.  With home matches against Houston and San Jose, and away days in San Jose and Kansas City, 5 or 6 points out of the 12 would have been a respectable result.  Instead, the Timbers took 10, and as a result sit alone in 3^rd in the Western Conference.[2]
• I continue to be impressed with the tweaks Caleb Porter makes in the Timbers’ tactics on a weekly basis.  On Saturday, the Timbers shifted their midfield formation to the left to exploit Myers’s penchant for being caught upfield to tremendous success.  With Ryan Johnson and Rodney Wallace often floating near the left touchline, Diego Valeri found space to pull into the center-left channel and Darlington Nagbe moved more central.  With Myers often plucking dandelions near midfield, this created a numbers advantage for Portland going forward that they exploited frequently in the first half.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 7.5 Another really good performance from Ricketts, as it was his presence in the box, as much as anything, that let the 3-2 result stand up.

Michael Harrington, 6 Moved to the right against his former team, and really got after it early, being aggressive offensively and sending in a few rough challenges on his former teammates.  Most of the action was on the other side of the field, however, limiting Michael’s ceiling a little bit.  Nonetheless, certainly a satisfying homecoming for Harrington.

Mikael Silvestre, 6 Generally, a tremendous outing from Mikael.  Great tackling, good control in the air, and good distribution from the Timbers’ backline centerpiece.  Along with a number of his colleagues, however, Mikael bears a modest portion of responsibility for some passive defending on the first concession.

Futty, 3.5 I feel a little bit guilty giving Futty a poor grade in light of the fact that it was his 30^th birthday and he went down with a serious-looking knee injury,[3] but it was my buddy’s cat’s namesake that lost his mark on Myers on the second concession and was in the gaggle of gagged defenders on the first.  It was otherwise a solid performance, but mistakes often define defenders.  Here’s hoping his knee injury isn’t as bad as it looked.

Jack Jewsbury, 5.5 Classic Jack.  Solid and unspectacular.  The move to the left was interesting, and worked out inoffensively.

Diego Chara, 7 Checked Benny Feilhaber out of the game, and then made the play on the go-ahead goal.  Was a little bit looser in distribution than he normally is, but that probably has more to do with KC’s pressure than anything else.

Will Johnson, 6 One of Will’s subtler performances, but still very effective.  Johnson was the Timbers’ most active player in winning the ball back in midfield, including on the play that would go on to spark the second goal.

Darlington Nagbe, 7 He’s still just sort of frustrating, but on Saturday Nagbe’s measurables matched his influence.  While he was rewarded for running out the play on his goal, his best moment came when he played a beautiful through ball to Wallace on the shot that set up the corner for the opening goal.

Diego Valeri, 7 A little unlucky in the 5^th minute to not find the net, but Valeri was instrumental in both the first and second goals.  It was his ball that sprung Ryan Johnson on the second goal, for which he probably deserved a secondary assist.

Rodney Wallace, 8.5 Tremendous from Rodney, once again.  If he keeps this form up, trading Dax McCarty for him will look like a no-brainer.

Ryan Johnson, 8 He’s not the tallest guy or the best jumper, but he’s surprisingly good in the air.  He’s not the fastest striker, but he is lethal on the counter.  He’s not the burliest forward, but he’s a very good holdup man.  There isn’t one thing that makes Ryan Johnson great.  He just is.

Ben Zemanski, 6 Caleb Porter was in part talking about Zemanski when he noted the substitutes did a better job of slowing the game down than they did last week against San Jose.  Came in and put in a nice shift on the right wing.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 5.5 Came in at a very difficult time, just as Kansas City were getting ready to bombard the Timbers’ defense.  He handled the task competently, however, again showing that he is capable of manning the backline until reinforcements arrive.

Froderic Piquionne, 6.5 Came on and did exactly what Caleb Porter would have wanted, chasing down long clearances and holding the ball up.  Showed his quality by nearly scoring a wonder goal that would have put things away.  Oh, and I love Froderic.

Preseason Prediction: SKC 2, Timbers 1. Nagbe.

Actual Result: Timbers 3, SKC 2.  Johnson, Nagbe, Wallace.

Onward, Rose City!

Two friends and former Timbers teammates are joining forces to spread the love and do good work together.

Former Timbers Eric Alexander and Joe Bendik may both be with new squads this year, but they are on the same team when it comes to battling cystic fibrosis. Joe's nephew, Gavin, is battling the disease, and they're both doing their part to raise awareness and funds. They are offering Timbers jerseys via raffle to a few lucky fans. $5 gives you a chance at one of the player jerseys, $10 gets you two chances, and so on. To participate, click the following Paypal link:

Paypal link to enter--every $5 is worth one chance at a jersey

IMPORTANT: your donation will automatically enter your name in the drawing for both Joe's and Eric's jerseys. If you are only interested in being in the drawing for one particular player's jersey, please note it in the comments.

Entries close at 5pm on May 2nd, when the drawing will be held at the fanladen. Winner need not be present to win. Enter early and enter often! It's for a good cause, and you just might wind up with a jersey from a pretty cool former Timbers player.

All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

This money will support research that will ultimately help folks like Gavin in their battle against cystic fibrosis.

And by the way, you can also register to join the team or donate directly at the CFF link above, if you want in the running for other cool items, including two tickets in section 118 and $50 in concessions for the 7/13 match against the LA Galaxy.

 —By Mike Coleman

A few months back I wrote a blog on how support for Portland Thorns FC might evolve.

Since then a lot has transpired, and I had intended to write a post-mortem about the Thorns home opener. However, before I could get the proverbial pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as it were), I received an email from @CaterJunes.

Rather than spending time trying to find the right words, I'm just going to steal his.

But, before I do,  I want to add just a few thoughts of my own:

There has been some question about the 107ist role in the Rose City Riveters (the supporters group for the Portland Thorns FC), and I wanted to clear up any confusion. The Rose City Riveters are being driven by a steering committee on which I sit as a liaison for the 107ist board of directors. The remainder of the members of that committee are 107ist members (as well as members of the Timbers Army). The 107ist is fully committed to providing budget and guidance to the Riveters to ensure that they can build on what we saw at the home opener.

Please also realize that, while some of this may sound self-congratulatory, we know it wasn't perfect today, we're not breaking our arms patting ourselves on the back. We're going to go back, figure out what worked (Proclamer's chants anyone) and what didn't (Enrique Iglesias chants anyone) and try and get better. If you want to help us do that visit http://rosecityriveters.org or look up Rose City Riveters on facebook.

I've already written more than I intended, so I will close by saying thanks to everyone - from folks who painted to tifo to the steering committee members to the supporters - who came out to help ensure that the ladies of the Thorns FC got the support they deserved

And without any more of my drivel, I give you the wise words of Caterjunes:

--------------

Anyone that felt the Portland Thorns FC supporters group was going to be forced from the beginning, rather than growing organically, would be very pleased by what happened today. This afternoon, we were able to see the fruits of a few dozen people's labors. It was imperfect. It was awkward. It was committed. It was awesome.

A true test of the quality of support came early for the Rose City Riveters, as a few members were forced to ask the folks in the 200s – opened up last minute by the Thorns FO – if they would come down for a few minutes to help with the home opener tifo. As it turns out, it's much easier for 40 people to cut a thousand seats worth of table roll than it is to fill those thousand seats. The Thorns version of the North End is going to take time to figure itself out. But when people are willing to do the prep work for the tifo, and brave enough to ask for help when the GA section is roomier than anticipated, the opportunity for a new supporters group to succeed is great.

Despite weeks of snarky comments on Twitter and elsewhere, the chants developed for the first printing of Riveters chant sheets were pretty good. No, not all were stellar, but they were fun and new, and – thankfully – not re-workings of old Timbers chants. Yes, there were PTFC chants and Rose City chants that were used word for word, but no chants featuring the word "Timbers" were used at all. This was a huge relief. We were even able to use a couple of anti-Seattle chants in the first home match. That was a nice touch.

Bottom line, we all have given the Rose City Riveters and its organizers a hard time throughout this endeavor. Turns out they were up to the task, and appear poised to move forward in a positive – and big – way as the main supporters group for the Thorns. Patch and Sunday were the only capos the entire match, and should be commended for reigning in ten sections of fans to the best of their ability. The tifo crew did a fantastic job of planning the display, getting the player two-sticks designed and painted, then presenting them to our newest athletes upon completion of the match. It was nice to be excited and enthused over something that, more often than not, was the butt of so many jokes leading up to the home opener.

Yes, there will be snark in the future, as there is with anything related to Portland soccer. But if this group of supporters continues on in the same way it began, I have no doubt Jeld-Wen Field will be home to the two greatest groups of football supporters the world has ever seen.

Note: Photo Credit - Portland Thorns FC

We're giving away three pairs of free airfare (domestic) and match tickets for Chicago away, June 8.

Just recruit 3 new members (have them put your name in 'referred by' field on the signup page) by April 30 and you're eligible to win airfare and match tickets for two to Chicago Away.

We'll also give airfare and match tickets for two to the member with the highest number of referrals.

And every new member that signs up in April is eligible for a drawing to win airfare and match tickets for two.

So three ways to win for both new members and those referring them.

Contest ends April 30.

—by Chris Rifer

Wins aren’t always dominant. But simply because one win wasn’t as pretty as the last doesn’t mean it wasn’t of similar quality.

In a game short on highlights and long on tackles, the Portland Timbers rode a magnificent Will Johnson set piece goal to a 1-0 victory.

Neither side had much in the way of chances.  In the 25^th minute, San Jose saw their most promising of the match when Rafel Baca got in behind Jack Jewsbury on the Quakes left wing, but Baca’s hard, low shot was right at Ricketts.  The pace on the shot caused Ricketts to give up a little rebound, but the big Jamaican covered up a step before Alan Gordon could get there for the put-back.

Perhaps the unlikeliest shot of the game came two minutes later, however, when Darlington Nagbe found himself free on the left side of the box and unleashed a shot with his left foot.[1]  Nagbe’s shot was predictably tame, however, and Jon Busch covered up.

In the 30^th minute the Timbers would get their traditional penalty shout, as Nagbe made a clever run into the box to the byline, only to be tackled from behind by Baca.  At first glance it looked like Baca may have made contact with the ball before going through Nagbe, but on closer examination the penalty shouts proved meritorious, as Baca appeared to go through Nagbe first.

As Baca’s tackle demonstrated, however, the Quakes came out to be organized and physical.  Ramiro Corrales somehow avoided being booked in the first half despite more than one opportunity for the referee, Alan Gordon picked up a yellow card for a very late challenge on Diego Chara, and the rest of the Quakes midfield used physicality to good effect to keep the Timbers’ offense off balance and largely out of the final third.

The Timbers, for their part, looked satisfied to poke and prod the Quakes defense, and find space where they could, but feed San Jose a steady diet of passing and possession to put some fatigue into the Quakes’ legs.

In the second half both teams reaped what they had sown.  After pressing his luck by calling Will Johnson a homophobic slur in the 60^th minute, the now disowned former Timber was sent off after receiving a second yellow for an elbow to Mikael Silvestre’s mouth in the 69^th minute.

From there, the Quakes began to crumble under Portland’s pressure.  Despite holding the Timbers to 5 shots to that point, Portland fired off six in the ensuing eight minutes.

The last of that six-pack was the winner.  After Corrales took Kalif Alhassan down less than 25 yards out in the middle of the field, Will Johnson bent a beautiful free kick over the Quakes’ wall and inside the post.

Perhaps to some supporters’ surprise, however, the Timbers took their foot off the pedal from there.  Try as they might, however, 10-man San Jose couldn’t break down the suddenly stout Timbers defense.  Chris Wondolowski saw his only real chance come in stoppage time, as a long throw deflected to his head, but the ball had little pace and his header was right at Ricketts.

The win builds on what is becoming a trend for the Timbers that sends a foreboding message to future opponents.  Against Seattle, Colorado, and San Jose, opponents managed to disrupt Portland’s offense and limit its ability to create genuine chances in the final third.  Nonetheless, the Timbers have four goals and five points from those three games.  Over the last several weeks, the Timbers have demonstrated that playing physical and packing it in against them is no guarantee of success, and even when things are difficult, Portland can still find the goals necessary to get a result.  And as the Dynamo found out a week ago, when their offense is firing on all cylinders, the Timbers can overrun anybody.

Notes & Observations

• The Timbers haven’t conceded a goal in 222 minutes.  This clean sheet stretch already ranks 4^th in Timbers MLS history.  The Timbers defense wasn’t unlocked for 225 minutes between April 28, 2012 and May 20, 2012; 255 minutes from April 23, 2011 to May 14, 2011; and a whopping 342 minutes from August 20, 2011 to September 21, 2011.
• While the Timbers defense has been very good over this stretch, the midfield has been the Timbers best defense.  On Sunday, Portland held a dominant 64.3% of the ball, substantially limiting San Jose’s opportunities to build anything in the attack.   So, while the defense has certainly proven an adequate level of competency, its true test will come in games where the Timbers don’t control the flow.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 7 Not a ton to do, as San Jose only had three shots on goal, but Ricketts controlled his box well in coming out to handle a handful of crosses, and, in second half stoppage time, he was in the right spot when the Timbers needed him.

Jack Jewsbury, 6 Got forward more than he did against Houston, including playing the ball through to Nagbe for the could-have-been penalty.  His score is held down just a little bit because he got beat once or twice, including by Baca in the first half.

Futty, 6 A confident performance from Futty, who has risen dramatically in Caleb Porter’s estimation in recent weeks.  Had a difficult task in handling Gordon, Lenhart, and Wondolowski, and did nicely, even if I would have liked to see him win a few more headers.

Mikael Silvestre, 7 Mikael is starting to make those who were critical of his signing look silly.[2]  While he got off to a rough start in Portland, his steady improvement has blossomed into quality.

Michael Harrington, 7 He’s limited in the attack, but Harrington’s defense has come along nicely.  After a rough preseason, Michael is looking like he can fill the void left by Steven Smith’s departure.

Will Johnson, 8.5 It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that shift for Will Johnson.  Was solid in possession and defense.  Frustrated his opponents.  Provided impassioned leadership.  Struck the winning goal in magnificent fashion.  He is our Captain.

Diego Chara, 6.5 A typically nice day for Diego.  Looked more like his usual self, though.  Dominant, if a bit physical, in the center, and then generally making a mess of things in attacking positions.

Rodney Wallace, 6.5 A little bit more subtle game for Rod than against Houston, but not much less effective.  San Jose was forcing the Timbers to the wings for extended periods, and Rod and Kalif Alhassan kept the Timbers offense moving, even if struggling to score, throughout.

Darlington Nagbe, 4.5 Made some really nice runs, but had several opportunities to do more than he did.  His left footed strike, while unique, was wasteful, and Darlington had a number of chances in the second half that similarly went awry.

Kalif Alhassan, 6 Kalif took on a more creative role on Sunday than he did a week ago, largely due to a little bit quieter game from Nagbe.  Although he had a couple instances where he could have done better, his success opening spaces in San Jose’s defense was one reason for the Timbers late surge.

Ryan Johnson, 6 This was a tough match for Johnson, as San Jose’s stellar center backs made it virtually impossible for him to get the ball in a promising position.  Johnson, however, reacted by working harder, holding the ball up, chasing long balls down, and doing everything a good center forward does that often goes unnoticed.

Ben Zemanski, Frederic Piquionne, Ryan Miller, INC – Each guy came on as the Timbers were in the process of shutting it down.  Nobody stood out, which primarily means mission accomplished.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 1, Quakes 1. Valeri, Wondolowski.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Quakes 0. Will Johnson.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

Much has already been written about the Timbers midfield in 2013.  From the arrival of Diego Valeri, to the on-again-off-again brilliance of Darlington Nagbe, to the steady leadership of Will Johnson, a small forest has been slain on the subject of the Timbers’ 2013 midfield.

By comparison to his midfield colleagues, however, Kalif Alhassan has been a model of forestry stewardship.  Through his first three years in Portland, Alhassan has been at times scintillating, but all-too-often frustrating.  After the 2012 home opener, Portland’s resident soccer skeptic John Canzano wrote that Kalif had “a pair of poems for feet.”  Short poems, apparently, because he was rarely heard from again.

Kalif’s reputation in Portland is for being a purveyor of specious flash.  He looks good because he can go on aesthetically pleasing, arm-flailing runs, but they have typically turned into nothing because Kalif, at times, has played for the sensational rather than the prudent.

Then you look at his statistical line in 2013.  4 appearances, 2 starts, 0 goals, 1 assist, 2 shots.  Meh.  And it wouldn’t surprise me if, without reading on, people have a hard time recalling which goal Kalif assisted on.

The reason, however, is Kalif’s play has transformed dramatically for the better in 2013.  Now, don’t get me wrong, he still goes on his signature runs once in a while.  And they often still lead to sweet nothingness, such as against Houston when he dribbled magnificently past several challenging Dynamo players to go straight out of bounds.

But that hasn’t been the story of Kalif’s 2013 campaign.  Despite not seeing much airtime, Kalif has been consistently present, and quietly influential, in some of the Timbers’ most important moments in 2013.

Of the four goals the Timbers have scored with Alhassan on the field in 2013, he’s been a critical, albeit quiet, component in all three.

The most direct example came on the first goal of the regular season.  Everybody remembers Diego Valeri’s juggling splendor that allowed Portland to momentarily erase the early mess made by Donovan Ricketts and Mikael Silvestre.  But who was the guy who flashed into the center to give Will Johnson a positive passing option, then played a simple, albeit perfectly weighed ball into Valeri?  Kalif Alhassan.

Fast-forward forty minutes, and the Timbers are down 3-1.  Everybody remembers Darlington Nagbe’s putback of a dangerous Valeri shot.  What they may not remember, however, is the guy who popped out to allow Nagbe to switch the ball, and then took one touch to play Valeri into space.  Who was he?  Kalif.

And then everybody remembers Nagbe’s steal and through ball to Ryan Johnson for the back end of his brace against the Dynamo.  But who was the guy that, when Nagbe drew the ire of two Dynamo, collected a pass, took three touches, attracted three defenders, and then played Nagbe into the newly vacant area he would run into for the decisive pass?  Well, you get the point.

Five touches of the ball.  Three simple passes.  Three critical moments in the young 2013 campaign.

Whereas Kalif endured long spells of poor production and repeated public criticism under John Spencer, Caleb Porter’s style seems better suited for Kalif as a footballer.  “He’s definitely my type of player,” Porter stated bluntly after practice on Saturday.  Porter continued, “the attacking style is built around having a couple of those type of guys.  We don’t want six of those guys, because now it’s too cute and tricky, but a couple of those guys really add a flavor of things.”

These above instances, then, are indicative of the larger piece Kalif represents in the puzzle that is the Timbers midfield.  Portland’s two primary midfield playmakers, Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe, both like to pick the ball up and move into space to make the final pass or unleash a shot of their own.  As the three moments above indicate, Kalif facilitates that.  As such, while Kalif is creative, he’s not really a creator in Porter’s system.  Rather, he’s been much more of a facilitator.

One player, no matter how creative, moving by himself will rarely get anywhere, as the defense will close him down in a hurry.  Give that player somebody to play a quick combination with, however, and that coveted space suddenly appears for the talisman to take.

On Saturday, Porter said it himself.  “I like to shape my teams up and put it together with a Nagbe and a Kalif type of guy . . . I like the way Kalif and Darlington play off each other, they seem to like to play together.  Darlington is a guy when he gets underneath and gets the ball, he needs a guy to play off of.”

That, then, has been Kalif’s biggest contribution in 2013.  He opens the spaces that allow his now-capable teammates to make their magic.

In one crucial respect, then, Alhassan is the polar opposite of the reputation he’s earned in years past.  Whereas before, Kalif was tantalizing for his specious flare, now Alhassan is making a case for his inclusion in the lineup with another trait – his quiet quality.

And that, so far, represents the evolution of Kalif Alhassan.

Saturday Practice Notes

• Porter did not sound optimistic about Diego Valeri’s inclusion in the lineup on Saturday, as he has not yet cleared the League’s concussion protocol.  While it is possible he could clear it on Sunday, Porter sounded uncertain if he would play even in that event.  It seems likely, then, that if Valeri can’t go, Porter would elect to play the same front four as in the second half against Houston, with Rodney Wallace wide left, Alhassan nominally on the right, Nagbe floating in a sort of supporting striker role, and Ryan Johnson up top.
• At this point, it sounds like the center back tandem on Sunday is up in the air.  Both Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Mikael Silvestre missed significant practice time this week with various “niggles.”  On Saturday, Porter said both would be a game time decision, although he did suggest that both playing was within the realm of realistic possibilities.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Andrew Brawley

In light of some recent professional developments, I’m sorry to announce this will be my last blog entry at TA-dot-org for the foreseeable future.

I accepted a job with a company that has a relationship with the Timbers. As a result, my ability to write in this forum without any kind of filter other than my own will become hindered. I don’t have very many standards when it comes to writing and entertainment in general, but one standard that I do hold high is my ability to say pretty much whatever I want within this forum. The 107IST Board has been absolutely amazing in allowing me to do this, even after occasions where something I wrote might have put them in an awkward position. Not once did I ever hear “hey, can you not say that again?” They trusted me to write and post my opinions in very raw form, all without insisting on being part of the editorial process. That’s some major freedom, and I’ll always be grateful.

Rather than continue to write under the weight of worrying about crossing lines, entering grey areas, etc., I figure it’s best to just leave the stage and let the next person take the mic. I’ve had more than my fair share of fun here, including some major highlights such as*:

• Trolling other Supporters Groups
• Calling out n00bs, old timers, scalpers, spit-swappers, and Canadians
• Being labeled a fascist by Portland Mercury readers
• Lusting over Old Navy and Red Lobster in Seattle
• Seeing Deadspin write about my “Sober Saturday” piece, to which Stumptown Footy wrote about Deadspin’s piece about my piece, to which Deadspin wrote about Stumptown Footy’s piece about Deadspin’s piece about my piece**

Despite getting an email notice for EVERY comment that was filed on my blog entries, which essentially forced me to read every submitted reply as part of the moderation process, I had far more laughs than groans doing this. Perhaps one day I can return to this forum if/when circumstances allow. Until then, you can follow me at my locked*** Twitter account, where I manage to write things that are even stupider than what I post here.

<insert epic quote uttered by a really smart person here>

--Andrew

 

*links purposely left out so you can dig around and give TA-dot-org some web hits. Be resourceful, dammit!

**ironically, I spent Sober Saturday flying to PDX from the east coast, drink(s) in hand. #TrollTollPaid

***locked because…well…Canadians.

 

This is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the 107ist or the TA.

—by Chris Rifer

Since the regular season began, Caleb Porter has preached keeping the lows high and the highs low.  This habit is designed to allow the Timbers to work through inevitable rough patches in games and throughout the course of the season.

Nobody would have blamed Portland on Saturday for getting down after a hard luck first twenty-five minutes, in which David Horst went down with a serious-looking knee injury and Diego Valeri was forced off after an elbow to the face left him dazed and bloodied.

And for a few minutes after Valeri went down, it looked like the Timbers might just be shell-shocked.  In the 31^st minute, Houston should have gone ahead, as Andrew Driver’s cross found its way through the first level of the Timbers defense to Cam Weaver at the far post, but Weaver’s open net tap-in sailed high.

From there, however, the Timbers slowly built back onto their front foot.  While the quality chances weren’t ready to come, the Timbers built a feeling heading into halftime that they could overcome the loss of Valeri and Horst.

It didn’t take long after halftime for that belief to translate into chances.  In the 49^th minute, some great interplay between Rodney Wallace and Darlington Nagbe put the former Zip in some space in front of goal.  Nagbe, hardly the ambi-footer, tried to clip the ball with the outside of his right foot, sending what would have been an otherwise routine finish wide of the near post.

Two minutes later, Mikael Silvestre sent a beautiful ball forward from central defense to Nagbe, who played Kalif Alhassan onto the right wing.  Alhassan sent a dangerous ball across the box to Ryan Johnson waiting at the back post, only for Bobby Boswell to clear it awkwardly at the last moment.

There would be no clearance of Diego Chara’s cross in the 55^th minute, however.  After the Timbers patiently passed the ball around the back, Jack Jewsbury finally found space and sent the ball forward to Chara.  Chara and Nagbe played a quick combination that set the Colombian into space on the right wing.  After Diego—a natural winger[1]—broke free, he sent a picture perfect cross[2] to Ryan Johnson at the mouth of goal, where his finishing touch was bobbled by Tally Hall and eventually nestled into the bottom corner of the goal.  The goal registered the Timbers’ first lead of 2013.

That lead almost doubled four minutes later when Ryan Johnson found Rodney Wallace twenty-five yards from goal.  Wallace, who is enjoying a breakout 2013 under Porter, hit a terrific shot that beat Tally Hall, only to be denied cruelly by the underside of the bar and the chalk of the goal line.

Wallace was at it again ten minutes later, as a handled Kalif Alhassan cross still found its way to him through on goal, but his right-footed effort was straight at Hall.

The Timbers beat Hall four minutes later, in the 72^ndminute, when Chara made a magnificent run through the center of the midfield and found Ryan Johnson on the left wing. Johnson’s cross beat the Dynamo keeper, but sailed just beyond a meekly offering Nagbe.

There was nothing meek about Nagbe a minute later, however, when he won the ball back in the defensive end, played clever combinations with Wallace and Alhassan, dissected the Dynamo midfield, and set Ryan Johnson through on goal.   Johnson doesn’t often miss when he truly gets free, and this was no exception, as he smashed a hard shot past Hall and into the net for his brace.

From there, the Dyanmo had the look of a team utterly broken on the road by a better-prepared opponent.  The Timbers put together extended spells where they strung passes through the midfield under, at best, modest pressure.

There were even a couple moments where the Timbers looked like they might add a third for good measure.  In the 88^th minute Frederic Piquionne showed some surprising speed up the right touchline, and sent a cross into Nagbe, only to have it cut out by Boswell.

But for the hand of Hall, however, the Timbers would have made it three near the final whistle, when Nagbe took a pass from Alhassan and hit it hard toward the far post, but Hall got just enough of a finger on it to send it wide.

The win marks the first true high point of the season, and comes at a very important time.  Facing a home-and-home with San Jose and a road fixture at Kansas City to end the month, if the Timbers hadn’t taken maximum points from Houston they would have been heading into a difficult stretch with significant questions, and not very many points, hanging over their heads.

As it stands, though, the Timbers await San Jose’s Sunday arrival with greater confidence.  While Porter had been grooming his team to grind through stretches like the next three weeks, a little bit of added swagger can certainly go a long way.

Observations

• After the match, both Porter and the players in the locker room practiced the coach’s preaching of restraint after results. Porter held what may have been the most sober press conference of the young season. While noting that “this was a big step in the right direction; this was that breakthrough I’ve been looking for,” Porter’s demeanor throughout was fairly unassuming. Will Johnson’s comments similarly reflected this philosophy in the postgame locker room, as he noted, “I don’t know if there was a whole lot of pent up frustration from not winning.”  While everybody seemed to be repeating the line that they would “enjoy” the victory, I was impressed with the unanimity with which they kept it in perspective.  After a game that deserved superlatives, there were few coming from the coaches or players.
• One of the biggest differences in the Timbers’ performance was the play of Diego Chara.  After having made uncharacteristically significant mistakes over the past two weeks, Chara was nearly flawless on Saturday night.  As to the difference in Chara’s play, Porter opined it was a function of “the overall group gaining an understanding, and chemistry with each other.”  While increased familiarity is certainly a part of the improvement, Chara’s effectiveness has been strongly related to where he slots in tactically.  In the first half against Seattle, and for much of the match against Colorado, Chara spent the majority of his time out wide on the right side.  He was noticeably uncomfortable in both games, which came through not only in aesthetics, but also on the scoresheet.  On Saturday, Diego was back in the central midfield with Will Johnson.  While Chara occasionally strayed wide, including in the lead up to his magnificent cross on the first goal, he consistently made his home base in and around the center circle.  The result was near perfection, as he completed 49 of 51 passes,[3] logged an assist, and made several good runs through Houston’s midfield.
• I still expect the next few months of this season to be a little bit of a tough go, but Saturday night showed the Timbers can put it all together at once, even under less than ideal circumstances.  If the Timbers can put together performances like that consistently sooner rather than later, there won’t be five teams in the West that will finish above them on the table.  That’s a big ask, and probably still an unreasonable one, but, I should admit, I didn’t expect to see a performance like Saturday until we were well into summer.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 6 Had a couple of his obligatory awkward moments, but they were pretty minor on Saturday.  Otherwise Donovan was confident, and made a good save on a Brad Davis first half shot.  Had the opportunity to count the rubber pellets in the turf some in the second half.

Jack Jewsbury, 7 This shouldn’t have been altogether surprising, as he was solid at the position last year, but Jack was very solid at right back on Saturday.  He did it in typical Jewsbury fashion, too.  Conservatively, and more than competently.

David Horst, 5 Feel awful for Horst, as it looked like a serious right knee injury from the press box.  Once in a while those will turn out to be not as bad as it looked, but live and on the replay it had cruciate ligament tear written all over it.

Mikael Silvestre, 7 A really nice game from Silvestre.  He had one little mistake when a ball got through his legs, but otherwise won a good number of balls in the air and distributed very nicely from the back.

Michael Harrington, 6 Harrington’s best defensive game, as he shut down his flank a number of times.  Still limited by his lack of left foot getting forward, but considering the other offensive firepower, that wasn’t a huge problem on Saturday.

Diego Chara, 8.5 This was discussed in greater detail above, but Diego was nearly perfect.  His cross to Ryan Johnson for the first score was one of the best I’ve seen from a Timber.

Will Johnson, 6.5 While Chara was more aggressive getting forward on Saturday, Johnson very effectively played the defensive yin to Diego’s yang.

Diego Valeri, 5 Looked as good as anybody in the relatively tame first 28 minutes, but was then robbed of the chance to really work his way into the game.  Hopefully he’ll be back for next week’s match against San Jose, but, considering how good the Timbers were in the first half, it’s not the end of the world if he’s held out.

Rodney Wallace, 8 One of the best performances we’ve seen from Rodney in a Timbers uniform.  Was really unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet, but made his presence felt in the midfield nonetheless.

Darlington Nagbe, 6 If he had a left foot and some confidence, Darlington would be unstoppable.  Unfortunately he has neither, so you sort of have to take the good with the frustrating.  There was a healthy dose of both on Saturday.

Ryan Johnson, 7.5 Goals are nice.  Really nice.  But Johnson made an impact in other ways, including having a couple crosses just narrowly miss their likely goal-scoring marks.

Kalif Alhassan, 7 Great stuff from Kalif in relief of Valeri.  Although nominally slated on the right, Kalif did a good job of floating inside to provide a ready and willing combination partner in the central midfield.  His teammates availed themselves of his services regularly, including in the build up to both goals.  Looking back on the goals that have occurred while Kalif has been on the field, it’s remarkable how many of them he had a hand in setting up.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 5.5 Put his team in a tough spot once by getting beat on the byline, but the defense was more than capable of cleaning up that mini-mess.  Still has a tendency to thump in distribution a little more than I’m sure Porter would like, but overall very competent.  Considering Horst’s injury seems likely to be long term, he may be the staring center back for the foreseeable future.

Frederic Piquionne, 6 A nice brief spell for Piquionne, even if he may have been a little too ambitious at times.  I had no idea he could move like he did when he broke down the right sideline.

Preseason Prediction: Dynamo 2, Timbers 0.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Dynamo 0.  Johnson (x2).  Oops.

Onward, Rose City!