—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!

—by Chris Rifer

Say what you will about the 2013 Portland Timbers, but they don’t lack for heart.  Three times in their first four games, the Timbers have fallen behind only to come back and earn a draw.

Going into Saturday, however, the Timbers had other plans in mind.  Facing a severely weakened Colorado Rapids team, Portland had its eyes firmly set on three points in Commerce City.

In a game where chances presented themselves seemingly at random, the Rapids found the first one out of nowhere in the early stages.  After Brian Mullan sent a ball into the box from 40 yards out on the right wing, Shane O’Neil somewhat meekly got head to it 15 yards from goal.  The looping header floated its way toward the far post before bouncing back off the inside of the woodwork.  The Timbers were unable to immediately clear the danger, however, and the rebound deflected across the face of goal to Tony Cascio at the near post, but his attempt to tap home was denied by the opposite post.

The danger cleared, Portland began to string together some solid play through the midfield, but ultimately couldn’t find the final pass to put them through on goal.

Instead, the Timbers once again found a way to give up the first goal.  In the 18^th minute, after Donovan Ricketts shanked a routine clearance out of bounds, Chris Klute gathered after Edson Buddle worked himself into a sideline trap.  Klute played Dillon Powers back toward the center of the field, where he found more than enough space to fire into the back of the net from 25 yards.

Portland’s best chance of the first half presented itself in the 21^st minute, when Rapids keeper Clint Irwin failed to clear a corner, and the ball bounced around the box eventually finding Andrew Jean-Baptiste at the back post.  Drew’s poke, however, went well wide under good defending from Marvell Wynne.

Down a goal at halftime is nothing new for this Timbers team.  Come to think of it, neither is being down two goals in the second half.

The Timbers checked that second box in the 48^th minute.  After Ben Zemanski and Jean-Baptiste combined for one of the Timbers’ trademark moments of forehead-slapping defending, Cascio burst through on goal.  Cascio got his steps wrong, though, and was quickly closed down by Donovan Ricketts.  At the same time Ricketts was gathering the ball off of Cascio’s foot, however, Diego Chara clipped the Colorado forward from behind, inspiring the referee to whistle for a very soft penalty.  Hendry Thomas coolly converted, and the Commerce City boys appeared in business.

Moments later, however, the Timbers would benefit from some of the Rapids’ forehead-slapping defense.  After Colorado cleared a Valeri free kick, Michael Harrington played it back to Ryan Johnson on the left wing.  Johnson, completely unbothered by any number of observant Colorado players, sent a cool cross into the top of the six for a similarly observed Will Johnson, who easily nodded inside the near post.

The referee set Colorado up in a dangerous position in the 59^th minute, however, after Deshorn Brown slipped on the ball on the left edge of the box, only to have the man in yellow whistle Andrew Jean-Baptiste for, apparently rudely, not catching Brown to break his fall.  The Timbers nullified the Emily Post foul, however, when the ensuing free kick was cleared by Frederic Piquionne at the near post.

Five minutes later Colorado knocked on the door again, as Shane O’Neill collected an uncleared corner at the top of the box and hit a pretty shot on frame, only to be parried away by a diving Ricketts.

In the 68^th minute, however, it was the Timbers’ turn to apply pressure.  After pinging the ball around the attacking half, the Timbers earned a series of corners and attacking throws.  The third corner was the charm, as in the 70^th minute Diego Valeri found David Horst beyond the back post.  Horst had beaten Atiba Harris and would have had a free header, but Harris grabbed Horst and flung his leg around the center back, which only served to impede Horst.  The referee blew for a penalty, which Will Johnson smashed past Irwin, leading to an arm-flailing celebration that begs for repetition.

From there, neither team could muster more than half chances, as tired legs further dulled the Timbers’ already less-than-stellar attack.  While the result marks the third time in four matches the Timbers have shown the pluck to come back from goal(s) down, the reality of the Timbers’ habit of falling behind is manifestly unsustainable.  Three points from four games is still three points from four games, no matter how hard-earned.

Observations

• While the results have been mediocre, it’s important to keep things in perspective a little bit.  Merritt Paulson and Caleb Porter are correct insofar as this Timbers group has already shown substantially more grit than any of the prior two MLS Timbers teams.  Additionally, while the team hasn’t looked as sharp on the road, the Timbers tactics have much more systematic direction than they ever did in the Spencer Era, even if the execution isn’t quite perfect yet.  Don’t be surprised to see a few more frustrating results in the coming months, but also don’t be surprised to see this Timbers team improve significantly over the course of the season.
• There was certainly a measure of justice in the two penalties.  Although they were both arguably meritorious within the four corners of the rules,[1] they were both the type of play you’ll see go uncalled with regularity.  Nonetheless, considering they were awarded a soft penalty of their own, I thought Colorado’s postgame bellyaching about Horst’s penalty showed considerable chutzpah.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 5 Struggled mightily in distribution in the first half playing against the wind, which indirectly led to the first concession.  Made a nice save in the 63^rd minute, however, to keep the Timbers within one.

Ben Zemanski, 6.5 A couple shaky moments of defending, including in the buildup to the penalty, but was otherwise solid defensively.  Has shown himself over the course of the last three games to be the best crosser of the ball on the team, something that has come in handy time and time again.  Early returns on the Zemanski era at right back are good.  Could he be the one to break the Curse of Kerrea Gilbert?[2]

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 4 A little bit undisciplined at the back, as he combined with Zemanski to make a mess on the penalty, and also had a couple other hairy moments.  Not AJB’s best effort, but more or less passable.

David Horst, 5.5 Looked a little bit out of place in the first half, but grew into the game as it went along.  Did nicely to find himself in a good spot on the corner that led to the penalty.

Michael Harrington, 6 Had a quietly effective day, as some of the best moments on the left side in the attack involved Harrington, including playing a big part in holding Will Johnson onside on the first goal by dragging his defender down the touchline.  Didn’t have a ton to do defensively, as Colorado was generally pretty quiet on the right.

Diego Chara, 4 Looked out of place again on the right.  Probably not the best idea to make his halfhearted challenge that led to the penalty, but, in his defense, the call was about as soft as they come.  The farther right Diego goes the worse he gets, and, as his heat map shows, he spent a lot of time far out on the wing on Saturday.

Jack Jewsbury, 3.5 If anybody is to blame on the first concession, it’s Jack.  Overplayed his positioning when the ball was on the touchline and didn’t recover in time to pressure Powers.  Then again, it didn’t help that he had to go through the referee to get there.

Diego Valeri, 5 Had a much better first half than I first thought, as he sent a number of balls forward that, with better play on the receiving end, could have turned into something.  Was noticeably out of synch as the game went on, however, looking downright gassed by the end.

Will Johnson, 8 Aside from his brace, which was—to say the least—very nice, Will also had a nice day in the midfield, covering a tremendous amount of ground and winning more than his share of challenges.

Darlington Nagbe, 2 Just awful from Nagbe.  All those good balls from Diego Valeri that nobody noticed? Yeah, that’s because more often than not Darlington was making an indecisive mess of them.

Ryan Johnson, 6 Had another quiet outing, as most of the crosses into the box were carried away by the wind, and the team had a hard time moving the ball through the middle of the field to link up with him.  Had his one moment and made the most of it, however, with a very good cross to Will Johnson for the first goal.

Frederic Piquionne, 5 A more effective outing than against Seattle, as Piquionne found himself in positive spots on the wings a few times and held the ball up nicely. Also sent a wicked cross into the box that perhaps was more impressive than effective.

Rodney Wallace, 5 A quieter outing for Rodney than a couple of his previous substitute appearances.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 Found himself on the ball a couple times and made a noticeable impact in a very short spell.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 1, Rapids 1.  Ryan Johnson.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Rapids 2.  Will Johnson (x2).[3]

Onward, Rose City!

Attention 107ist members we are happy to announce some great new partners:

Barista: Enjoy $1.00 of all pints at their Alberta location only.

Radar PDX: 107ist members receive $1.00 off drinks everyday. Also, during the summer, Radar will be showing matches on their back patio, and will have a special reserved area for 107ist members.

Rudy's Barbershop: 10% off all services (cut and color) and 15% off retail pricing on all products

Sellwood Public House:  $1 off the first pint all day everyday and  happy hour of $1 off our entire menu during Timber games.

Uptown Market: Uptown Market offers $1 off the first pint to any 107ist member.

Full details are on the Official partners page

 

The 107IST board met on Sunday, March 24th to consider applications to fulfill the remainder of Joanne Couchman's term. Joanne is a talented, dedicated individual who contributed a great deal to the success of the board and the organization, and the board accepted with regret her decision to resign for health reasons.

With such big shoes to fill, the board had a difficult task, so we were fortunate to have three well qualified candidates apply: Tim Chamberlin, Stephan Lewis, and William Packwood. All three had applications that demonstrated their qualifications, experience, and commitment to team, town, and TA; and two were also available for interviews on Sunday evening. The interviews were very engaging and informative, and our deliberations were lengthy. Having several highly qualified candidates is a good problem to have, and the decision was not an easy one.

Ultimately the board selected Stephan Lewis to fulfill the remainder of Joanne's term, which expires at the end of 2013. Stephan brings a great deal of knowledge and experience: he currently serves both on the community outreach and merch committees, as well as on the Goose Hollow Foothills League Neighborhood Association. The board wishes to thank Bill Packwood and Tim Chamberlin for their willingness to serve, and we hope that they consider running during the open election process as well.

Congratulations to Stephan, and thanks to all of the candidates who were willing to be considered. Your continued commitment is appreciated.

—by Andrew Brawley

People are pretty riled up about the release of the "Feeling Thorny?" shirt now available on the official Portland Thorns web site.

Look, I get it. It comes off as sexist. It’s not empowering for women, and especially younger girls, who will likely be attending Thorns matches in droves this season. With this being the NWSL’s inaugural season, and after two recent failed attempts at creating a successful women’s soccer league, you’d think that marketing personnel throughout would take a more conservative approach in getting the message out and securing the league’s future prospects.

I’m staring fatherhood square in the face, and will soon have to take time in nearly every decision I make to ensure that it, in no way, affects my daughter in a negative fashion. Regardless of my daughter’s age (5, 15, or 35), I wouldn’t buy this product for her. I don’t really care for the connotation. Plus, speaking as a marketer, I just think that Merritt’s marketing team is capable of much better.

HOWEVER!!!

Just as much as it’s my right to not buy this shirt, Merritt has just as much right to manufacture and sell it. Just because we don’t agree with it doesn’t make it wrong. It’s just something we don’t agree with. I don’t agree with most bumper stickers on cars in driveways up and down my street, and consider many of them to be ignorant, but going up to each car's owner and telling them they have to remove their bumper stickers would be just as ignorant. Like my street, this goes two ways. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Portland has become known as a rather progressive city over the last few decades. I believe the most common term used to describe us is “mustachioed vegan hippies,” but let’s just go with “progressive,” shall we? I would think that as a progressive city, we could take a progressive approach and simply ignore this offensive-to-you-maybe-not-offensive-to-others t-shirt.

Our lack of purchase is the strongest message that could possibly be sent to Merritt’s team. Instead, we had to go and get our PC panties in a bunch and go on a Twitter rampage, bringing even more attention to something that offended us, increasing the public’s awareness of the shirt we wanted to see eliminated. Trust me…that’s a marketer’s dream come true.

If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Don’t acknowledge it. Just move on. If Merritt sees a warehouse full of never-purchased Feeling Thorny shirts, he’ll get the message.

 

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

Reminder: the Timbers Army spring Blood Drive is coming up on Friday, April 5th!

Every 2 seconds, a person is in need of blood. By simply putting aside an hour of your day, you can help save up to 3 lives. We all bleed Rose City Red; now it's time to bleed to save lives.

Location: Jeld-Wen Field 18th and Morrison side

Date: Friday April 5th 2013

Time: 1:30-7:30 pm

HUGE thanks to Nick Brock for getting this show on the road, and to the Portland Timbers Front Office for giving us the space.

Click here to sign up for your donation appointment

Participants will also be eligible to win two pairs of tickets to the April 6th match against Houston!

Since this always comes up, we'll mention it here as well: If you have tattoos, you can donate, as long as you got inked in the State of Oregon, at a licensed tattoo parlor.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

There will also be food/prizes/goodies/entertainment/general surprises, so watch this space for more announcements!

—by Chris Rifer

Aesthetics be damned, the Portland Timbers used pluck to steal a point from the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.  In the grander scheme, however, the effort showed that the Timbers may have the capacity to gel into a team that can win consistently—even if they still have a ways to go at this point.

Portland opened the chances in the first minute when Darlington Nagbe found Diego Valeri in the middle of the field on a special pass through the Sounders defense from the wing.  Valeri’s swerving shot from distance was on target, but Michael Gspurning made a diving[1] save to his left.

The Timbers’ best chance from their promising early spell came in the 9^th minute when Ryan Johnson played a dangerous cross through the box, but Darlington Nagbe couldn’t quite get to the ball to tap home.

As we have seen over the past several weeks, however, the wheels can fall of a seemingly smoothly running Timbers wagon in a hurry.  Just four minutes after Nagbe nearly found the net for Portland, Diego Chara lazily turned a ball over to Steve Zakuani on the right wing while trying to interchange with Ben Zemanski.  Zakuani took a clear path into the box and crossed to Eddie Johnson who routinely tapped home.

The next twenty minutes marked the darkest period for Portland on Saturday, as the Sounders repeatedly victimized an out-of-place Chara on the Timbers right wing.  In the 19^th minute, Eddie Johnson earned space by faking Chara out of his boots and unleashed a shot that Donovan Ricketts could only nervously parry away.

The Timbers would weather the rest of the storm, however, and before halftime make some noise of their own.

The first noisy moment, however, came courtesy of the silence of referee Kevin Stott’s whistle, as in the 25^th minute the Timbers took their penalty-denying show on the road when Jhon Kennedy Hurtado scissor tackled Ryan Johnson in the box, but nothing was given.  While Hurtado got a touch on the ball, the dangerous nature of the tackle would have made it a sure booking— if perhaps a straight sending off—anywhere else on the field.

After a stretch of positive play, the Timbers looked like they might challenge for an equalizer before halftime, but time and again lacked the touch to finish good build up play.  In the 42^nd minute, a quality Ben Zemanski cross bounced around the box and fell for Darlington Nagbe, but he pulled his shot well wide.

The Timbers promising play became choppier after halftime, as the Seattle team that was looking to attack in the first half essentially shut down to preserve their 1-0 lead.  With the shift in Seattle’s tactics, a feeling grew that the Timbers were going to have to either labor to unlock Seattle’s defense or convert a set piece.  Diego Valeri almost did the latter in the 49^th minute, when his free kick from 30 yard out on the right side glanced off the bar.

From there, however, there would be very little for either side until the late stages.  Seattle was content to sit back and protect the 1-0 lead, hoping an opportunity to counter and get at an exposed Timbers’ defense would present itself.  Portland, for its part, flooded the left side of the field, and tried to generate opportunities by creating imbalance.  While the tactic didn’t directly lead to a goal, it did generate several opportunities for Ben Zemanski to come forward on a vacant right side and send a ball into the box.

The Timbers couldn’t open up Seattle’s packed-in defense, however, until the dying stages.  The Sounders defense showed its first crack in the 89^th minute, when Ryan Johnson ran through a gaggle of rave green-clad defenders, but had his shot deflected just over the bar on top of the goal.

That crack turned into a gaping hole a minute later, and Rodney Wallace took full advantage.  After a Diego Valeri cross was cleared, Andrew Jean-Baptiste gathered in space and sent back into the box.  Rodney Wallace, completely unmarked, ran near post and nodded into the back of the net for the dramatic equalizer.

As was to be expected, the Timbers’ offense lost a good share of its dynamism heading out on the road.  It was still good enough, however, to occupy Ozzie Alonso and, ultimately, scratch out an equalizer.

The story after the match, however, was the improvement of the defense.  Whereas in weeks past, the defense was making multiple major mistakes per game, the backline turned in a much more complete performance against Seattle.  They weren’t perfect, but their performance marked significant progress from the previous two outings.

After justified concern about the defense over the past three weeks, then, the Timbers showed on Saturday that they may be able to gel into a successful one on both sides of the ball.  There is still a lot of work to do, but Saturday showed, if anything, that the defense has the capacity to permit this team to earn results.

Quotes & Observations

• The continued gelling of the team was a clear theme in the postgame comments.  Caleb Porter emphasized the large number of new players being integrated into the team, noting that there may not be another team in MLS starting six players who weren’t with the club last year.  He noted, “But again, we’re three games in and we’re still working out kinks.  But I’m pleased that we’re gelling as quick as we are.”
• Will Johnson echoed those sentiments in the locker room.  When asked what the difference between this defensive effort and those the Timbers put on in the two weeks prior, Johnson answered “More time together.  We were compact. We were unified in our movement and our shape.  We just need some time to get this going.”
• Johnson and Porter’s point is certainly well taken.  Considering the tremendous changes that took place over the offseason, it would have been nothing less than a miracle if the team came in without some kinks to iron out.  Nonetheless, Saturday was the first real indication that the team’s defensive deficiencies were a kink rather than a fundamental flaw.  Now Porter will have to go back to work to figure out the best way to balance the offense, high pressure defense, and cover for the backline.  The success he has at that task will go a long way toward determining the success of this team.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 5.5 Nothing he could have done on the concession, and did well to save Johnson’s effort at a second seven minutes later.  Otherwise, he didn’t have a whole lot to do, as the Timbers limited Seattle to seven shots, only three of which were on target.

Ben Zemanski, 6.5 A really nice starting eleven debut for Ben Zemanski.  Solid game defensively, and did a good job of knowing when to get forward and when to hang back.  Sent a couple dangerous looking crosses into the box, suggesting more assists may be in the cards for him.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 6 Overall a decent outing for AJB, but his grade is somewhat depressed by his failure to track Johnson on the first concession.  Johnson went far post and Jean-Baptiste, for some reason, went near post.  Helped get it back, though, with his nice ball to Wallace for the equalizer.

Mikael Silvestre, 6 Still had some squirrely moments, but had many more confident ones.  A much better performance from Silvestre makes for interesting decisions when David Horst gets healthy.

Michael Harrington, 5 Didn’t have a whole lot to do defensively, as Seattle was focused on attacking the Timbers’ right side.  Didn’t have a whole lot to do offensively, as the Timbers were more conservative with their fullbacks.  Capably did not a whole lot.

Diego Chara, 3.5 One of the poorest performances we’ve seen from Diego.  Was noticeably out of place when he was playing wide on the right, which led to a goal conceded and another dangerous situation.  Once the Timbers shifted left, Diego was much more central.  And much more effective.

Jack Jewsbury, 5.5 Steady, reliable, not especially noticeable.  In other words, a good defensive central midfielder.  Also adds the threat of a true crack from distance, which is nice.

Darlington Nagbe, 4 Was a little bit wasteful on the couple instances he had a ball fall to him in the box, and didn’t have much space to exploit.

Will Johnson, 6 Johnson is a little bit of an acquired taste, as his contributions are usually a step or two away from the ultimate payoff, but over the course of a game it’s hard to ignore his propensity for making the right pass and sterling work ethic.

Diego Valeri, 4.5 Was borderline bad when he was at second striker, as it didn’t let him pick up the ball deep and pick apart the defense.  When he was allowed to roam into the midfield toward the end of the first half, things immediately improved offensively for Portland.

Ryan Johnson, 5 A little bit unlucky not to draw a penalty, but was otherwise fairly quiet.  Has shown an ability to work through multiple defenders to get into the box, which will pay off one of these days.

Frederic Piquionne, 3 He didn’t really play a position, or, you know, run.  So that was weird.

Rodney Wallace, 7.5 Twice in three games, now, Rod Wallace has come on and made a real difference.  The guy has earned and taken his fair share of knocks, but his contributions in the first few weeks of the season are undeniable.  Until further notice, Wallace is the first man off the bench in most situations.

Jose Valencia, INC. Should have come on in Piquionne’s spot.

Preseason Prediction: Sounders 3, Timbers 1.  Kalif Alhassan.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Sounders 1.  Rodney Wallace.

Onward, Rose City!

On Sunday March 24th, the 107ist board will be meeting to determine who shall fill the board vacancy created by the resignation of Joanne Couchman. We are asking for all interested 107ist members to apply and, if available, to appear before the board for a brief presentation and Q&A of why you would make a good appointment. The length of term for this appointment is 9 months (remainder this year) and you would be due for election to a standard 3 year term at the end of the 2013 season.

We ask that individuals give serious consideration before choosing to apply. The qualities we are looking for in our new board member include an individual who:

• Has shown a commitment and been involved in 107ist and Timbers Army activities
• Has taken leadership roles when asked and/or shown initiative to lead
• Has the time to devote to the many hours it takes to be a board member (15 hrs a week on average, one 3 hr board meeting a month, possible multiple committee meetings, and many email conversations daily)
• Has a working knowledge of TA/107ist history
• Has unique skill sets that he/she thinks will help the board address current and future challenges

If you are interested in applying for the appointment please first read our bylaws and then complete the Candidate Information Form. Please be sure to explain how you meet the qualities listed above.

The 107ist board will be scheduling time slots between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 24 at the Timbers Army Fanladen 1633 SW Alder. Please indicate in the form if you would like to be allocated a time slot (approx 10-15 mins), and if you have a time preference for this.

The deadline for submissions is Friday March 22nd at 6:00 p.m.

If you have any questions about this process, please email board@107ist.org

NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE AVAILABLE TO MEET WITH THE BOARD TO BE CONSIDERED. All applications will be given equal weight.

Thanks, and good luck!

The 107ist