Monthly Archives: July 2012

Wednesday’s Column posted on tuesday’s blog

Posted on July 31, 2012 | 5 Comments

God bless Robbie Earle. I mean really. I loved him as a player (I remember him playing for Port Vale in the 1980s) and I always really enjoyed hearing his commentary on football matches. He has that gift, so rare among former players in the color commentary role, of providing useful analysis without just opening his gob for the sake of opening it. He understands the game, but his real virtue as a commentator is his ability to provide information to the viewer that allows them to understand the game better as well.

Why am I going on about Robbie Earle? Because at about minute 21 or so in Saturday night’s match he pointed out something which I had sort of noticed but had not really put my finger on. Portland’s back line was playing a higher line than they’ve done all season and the effects on play in midfield were salutary. For once in a long while, Portland was doing an excellent job of closing down the space and denying opposing players room to operate. The result was one of the better defensive performances of the season.

The evidence of this was to be found all around midfield. Diego Chará, who so often has to expend a large portion of his energies chasing opposing players over wide stretches of ground, was able to close down effectively and turn his gains immediately into attacks. Nagbe looked a lot better as well, seeming to grow into the role that the team is determined to have him play. Perhaps the greatest benefit from the change in positioning was Jewsbury. With the spatial problems of holding defensive midfielder somewhat simplified by the tighter formation, Jewsbury was able to intervene effectively and win ball in a way that was extremely disruptive to the opposition.

Further up the pitch, matters also improved. Songo’o really made a fist of it, playing with flare and aggression and putting effective service to the middle of the penalty area. Brent Richards had his best game in the Timbers shirt. In previous matches he has seemed a bit at sea. Against Chivas, after a few early bobbles, he figured out what his role was and played it well. He has great hops, as evidenced by the fact that he beat Jazic to pretty much every ball in the air. In addition, he has the ability to throw long à la Rory Delap, and this is something that the team should really take to heart. Those of you who watch the English Premier League with regularity will have seen (with irritation unless you are Stoke fans) the ritual of the Delap throw in. It disrupts the tempo of the game, provides added set piece opportunities, and allows Stoke to employ the leverage of their size. All of these things would be useful additions to Portland’s arsenal. When balls are bouncing around in the penalty area and you’ve had a chance to pack it with bodies, good things tend to happen.

As it happens, Richards has lots of other positive qualities to bring to the table. He’s quick and he’s good on the ball. He still has some things to learn, such as that backheels in open play seldom come off, and he still has a tendency to dribble himself into blind alleys. These are things that coaching and experience will help. At all events, there is now some real competition for playing time at right wing and that is all to the good.

You could look at Kris Boyd’s performance and say that he flubbed far too many easy chances. And you’d be right. Looked at in broader perspective, it’s worth noting that he got a lot more chances than he had in practically any other match all season. Boyd knows where the goal is. His history at Rangers provides ample evidence for this proposition. My feeling, at least at this point, is that he feels a lot of pressure to convert chances because of the paucity of service that he has received so far this season. If Portland can continue to feed the ball in to him in dangerous areas, I have every confidence that he will come good. What seemed most promising about Boyd on Saturday was that he seemed engaged for the whole match. He is a guy who, if his body language is anything to go by, is easily given to frustration. With a better and more consistent service, Boyd should thrive.

I was favorably impressed by the work that new assistant coach Sean McAuley was doing on the touchline. McAuley has a good coaching pedigree, coming to us as he does from Sheffield Wednesday. Coaching in the Championship is, by might lights, excellent preparation for coaching in the MLS. He will have worked with players at this skill level and will know how to handle them and what can be expected of them. Both he and Gavin made the point that having a different voice in leadership is a good thing, and it didn’t take McAuley long to make his heard, even above the massive din created at the JW.

I want to pause here for a moment to take note of that din. I was trading texts with a Dallas fan during that match. We came in for a lot of well-deserved stick on that night, but one thing that he had to concede was that the atmosphere at the JW continues to be about the best in the league. A typical exchange from our conversation went something like this:

Dallas Fan: All you guys can do is sing.
Magadh: Yeah, that’s big talk given that your park is barely half full.
Silence.

It would have been better if we’d at least gotten a point out of that match. I get that, and I know everyone else does. This I will say, the lads fought hard until the final whistle and showed spirit in the face of adversity. After four losses on the bounce that’s a good sign. The fixes for what’s wrong with this team won’t happen tomorrow, or even next week, but for the first time in some while there seems to be reason for optimism. That’s enough to be going on with for now.

Magadh

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Player Ratings vs. Chivas 3.0

Posted on July 30, 2012 | 10 Comments

Another week, another 1-0 loss to Chivas. Or so it would appear, but appearances can deceive. This was a much better performance than in any of the past four matches. The lads looked well up for it from the opening kickoff and played hard until the final whistle. There was none of the lethargy and disorganization that was so plain to see in Dallas, and if it must be conceded that all their good works once again resulted in no points, it must also be said that this was a definite step in the right direction.

The changes started with the formation. Gone was the 4-2-3-1 which had been so ineffective. In its place was which you might describe as a 4-1-4-1. In central midfield, the team played an inverted diamond, with Jewsbury covering the backs and Chará and Nagbe playing over the top. This, along with a newfound compactness in their formation (about which I’ll say more later in the week), allowed the Timbers to really compete for the ball in the middle of the park, as well as providing copious opportunities to get forward. Not surprisingly, the team also created a lot more dangerous situations than they had in all of the previous four matches combined.

Losing always sucks. But the pill is a little easier to swallow when it there is evidence of progress. And with that, let’s do the numbers.

1. Troy Perkins: I guess we have to get the bad news out of the way early. Sad to say, responsibility for the goal rests squarely on Perkins’s shoulders (as he conceded in the post game interview). His decision to come out to try to parry Zemanski’s free kick was poor, as he was never, ever going to get there. That the goal proved to be Portland’s undoing highlights the sometimes cruel nature of this game, but it is what it is. This rating may strike some as harsh, but the magnitude of the error must tell here. 3

12. David Horst: A much more focused performance from Horst that in some other recent matches really set the tone at the back. He was physical when he needed to be, but was not put off by the speed and technical ability of Chivas’s attackers, which admittedly were not much in evidence for most of the match. 6

33. Hanyer Mosquera: Partnered well with Horst and didn’t foul anybody. This was due in part to Chivas’s lack of attacking ambition, but had also to do with the fact that we really suffocated them in the middle of the park. 5

14. Stephen Smith: Sometimes you don’t know whether you’re going to get Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. On Saturday night it was the former. In previous matches Ryan Smith’s ownership of our Scottish defender was such that he probably had to report him on his tax forms. In his absence, Steven Smith kept things calm on the flanks, using his pace and guile to keep things in front of him, at least in the vast majority of cases. 5

15. Kosuke Kimura: After a spate of poor performances, Kimura finally gave Portland fans a little glimpse of the qualities that led to his acquisition in the first place. Played well in defense and did a better job of assisting the wing on his side, in this case the rookie Brent Richards, in holding possession of creating forward production. 5

21. Diego Chará: Chará absolutely ran his socks off, and I strongly suspect that the injury that saw him limp through the final stages of the match was a result of this massive effort that he gave. And why not? Portland finally played a formation that allowed him to get close to opposing midfielders and make his aggression tell. This was one of his very best matches of the season. He harassed Chivas midfielders without mercy, won tons of ball, and time and time again turned defense into attack. For me, he was MOTM. 7.5

13. Jack Jewsbury: Once again entrusted with the captain’s armband, and playing in a formation that allowed him to use his skills effectively, Jewsbury showed marked improvement on his recent form. With Chará and Nagbe wreaking havoc ahead of him, Jewsbury could pick his spots and was able to blunt Chivas’s ability to attack through the middle of the park. 5

8. Frank Songo’o: Somebody needs to find out what Songo’o ate before the match and make sure everyone else eats that too. Wow, did he look up for this game. His level of technique and aggression has never been as high as it was on Saturday, and he repeatedly ran at defenders to good effect. He also put in a number of dangerous balls, although some of his set piece deliveries left much to be desired. You could say he was partly culpable for the goal, as the free kick from which it was scored was the result of a rather ill considered shirt tug in midfield. For my money, that would be a pretty harsh judgment given that the spot of the kick was some 35 yards from goal. In any case, overall you’d have to say that this was a very good performance. 7

16. Brent Richards: Welcome to the league my son. I haven’t been convinced up to now that Richards had what it took, but this performance made a believer out of me. Fairly early on he discovered that Jazic had about as much chance of sprouting wings and flying back to Nova Scotia as he did of winning a ball in the air, and he mercilessly exploited this advantage to put balls into dangerous places. He also showed that he has a throw in of Rory Delap-esque proportions. Still made some of the kind of mistakes that a young player will, but really showed a lot of promise. 7

9. Kris Boyd: Worked hard from the first whistle to the last and was more engaged due to getting much better service. He flubbed a number of chances from which he should have done better, so this his rating is a bit low, but if he keeps getting fed the ball like this he will prosper. 4

6. Darlinton Nagbe: Played in a slightly advanced role in midfield with Chará and looked quite good. With Chará’s ball winning keeping things steady in that part of the pitch, Nagbe was able to make better use of his skills and showed that he can be an attacking threat when formation and personnel allow him to be. 5.5

10. Danny Mwanga: Came on late and had a hard time getting into the flow. He seems to be another guy like Alexander who really needs time on the pitch to get into things. 4

11. Kalif Alhassan: Came on for Songo’o and you could kind of see that he wanted to try to make an immediate impact. Had some good touches, but his decision making in the final third was not great. 4

17. Eric Alexander: Usually, Alexander is a bit of a dud as a substitute, but he did reasonably well. Provided good service from the corner and at least made a show of wanting to get to the byline. 5

Magadh

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we had joy, we had fun, we had f-15 eagles blockout the sun…

Posted on July 29, 2012 | 15 Comments

i left the jw last night thinking of all the disappointing moments in the match about which i could write. i thought i could write about boyd and his knack for missing sitters. i thought i could write about songo’o giving away a cheap foul that lead to the goal. i thought i could write about perkins coming 12 feet off his line in an attempt to claim a ball he had no business claiming. i could write about those things because they happened, and i will.

but before i get into the dirty details of the match, i have an important admission to make. one that might affect the readership of this blog. one that might offend, cause hatred, even force me to obtain restraining orders on those who will likely threaten my well-being. i am a tad bit apprehensive, but here it goes: i am not going to highlight those disappointing aspects too heavily because, despite their existence within the match, i think the team played well.

so, there it is–my confession. i fully expect repercussions. but to forewarn those who will seek retribution for my pathetic admission, know that i have several city and county detectives on speed-dial, as well as pepper spray. and a cat that hisses.

even if you were nowhere near the game, a television, or your computer, and you consider only the basic statistics of the match you can see the timbers were the commanding force last night. they controlled nearly 60% of the possession and they completed 78% of their passes. you can do the math to figure out how many passes they actually completed. and while you do that i will move on to the next perfunctory statistic. they controlled the midfield and the air, winning 58% of the contested duels. and they had the monster share of shots on goal. the official stats at the jw reflected 21 shots on goal.

those are great numbers. if i understood what they meant i would take myself to vegas and forget my current career for a life in the fast lane. fortunately, i did rather poorly in calculus and statistics, so the analytical description of the game will be left to those better equipped with graphs and heat sensors, and tony “the grinch” fugano will have to wait a few more years before he gets to break my kneecaps. instead, i will remain steadfast to my shoot-from-the-hip descriptions and say those numbers suggest a match weighted in favor of the timbers.

sure, some can look at the 21 shots without a goal to justify their irritation with the team. i agree, the result was frustrating. but the fact 21 opportunities were created by this side, in any game, is exceptional. especially when considering the fact against fc dallas the timbers had just 6 total attempts. and fewer against chivas on the 18th. the service was there, the finishing was not. that happens and is forgivable–unless you support a team at the bottom of the table, in the worst skid of any side this season, and is without a legitimate head coach, interim head coach, and technical director. i get there will be comparisons to cal fc and the number of chances created against them, but some rather glaring differences exist between the two games. first, the official number of shots on goal against cal fc was double that of last night. second, chivas is mls quality. and third, cal fc was CAL FC.

as always, during the pre-match build up, my seat neighbor asked my final score prediction. i suggested a 2-1 loss, which took into consideration ryan smith was out and the advantage given by playing in the jw. the prediction was made with the understanding that i hoped to be proven wrong. from the first minute of play it looked as if i would be.

the timbers attack was weighted on the left-side, with songo’o the primary creative force. it was apparent the team had been instructed to utilize brent richard’s leaping abilities, which is a no-brainer. songo’o worked either to get to byline or to a position that would provide him the best opportunity to dump the ball to the right side of the box. considering the stingy nature of the chivas defense, the tactics looked to put the center back pairing of danny califf and john valencia off-balance. but more importantly, it was clear the timbers had learned their lessons from their last meeting with chivas–they kept john riley busy. riley absolutely torched the timbers and steven smith the last go around. so, the more songo’o pushed on the left-flank, the less time it provided riley to get forward in support of bolanos and cardozo. essentially, the timbers were defensive in the chivas final third. it worked.

after a few minutes i was certain the opportunities were going to come. but it took some time for the momentum to settle in the timbers favor. starting in the 17 minute, the timbers had a serious of breakaways that either resulted in corners or off-sides. one particularly tastey opportunity came in the 20 minute from a richards header to boyd. boyd collected the ball with a nifty back heel, hoping to tee off on dan kennedy, who looked a plum in his plum kit. unfortunately, boyd missed his moment with a mis-hit. this would not be the only time the timbers faithful would be treated to such frustration.

here are some highlights–remember them in a sixties-esque scene montage similar to butch cassidy and the sundace kid, it will make reliving them easier to stomach. in the 23minute: franck slices the ball to nagbe on the top of the 18 yard box. nagbe flicks to, well, i do not know who, but it looked promising. in the 25 minute: after being sent through with a great ball from chara, boyd rounded kennedy and put the ball in the net. off side. in the 26 minute: franck found richards on the opposite side of the 18 yard box. richards then shanked the ball wide. in the 29 minute: a breakaway started by the industry of the horstache, would see chara center to boyd, who would then set and drill kennedy with the ball. in the 39 minute: following some great interplay between kimura and chara on the rightside touch-line, richards took a nifty flick from chara and broke into space. he then rifled a shot at kennedy who did well to block without parrying. in the 42 minute: after putting the centerbacks off-balance, songo’o and chara had finally carved out space through the mid-to-left channel. they were able to capitalize on their efforts and opened room for chara to push to the byline. pushing as hard as his little legs would push, chara was able to put in a beautiful and stinging low-centered cross. boyd was there, collected, and for whatever reason thought it unfair to put over the windfallen plum, kennedy. there would be no better opportunity than that opportunity and that opportunity was lost.

the half was blown without any stoppage awarded. instead of walking into the dressing rooms with a 3 goal lead, the timbers walked into the dressing rooms knowing they had just given dan kennedy additional footage for his youtube scouting report.

the second half was more of the same and similarly frustrating. so, there really is no need to relive the highlight reels of missed opportunities. the only difference between the first half and the second half was the 69 minute. songo’o was beaten on the left by paolo cardozo. rather than trusting jewsbury to clean up the mess (can you blame him?) he gave cardozo a tug on the shirt and was awarded a yellow for his efforts. ben zemanski took the resulting free-kick and he curled in a good ball outside the 6 yard box. rather than doing the correct thing by remaining on his line, perkins attacked a ball he had no reason to attack. he flubbed, and danny califf headed in the only goal of the game.  while it takes a village to raise a child, it only takes one mistake to lose a match. that was the mistake. perkins knew it, and to his credit he took responsibility for the mistake in his post-game comments rather than saying he did not want to point fingers at anyone (ehhhhem, jack). as nice as that was, it did not keep the score even.

even with the loss, i was left with pride in the way the side played. songo’o and richards asserted themselves in this match. franck displayed more of the creative qualities his pre-season form suggested were in his bag of skills, and richards brought industry and passion to the side. richards’s passing will improve, but any failure to connect will be overlooked by his dribbling and ball winning abilities. going against the opinion of the estimable and erudite co-author of this blog, i thought richards really made a statement for his inclusion in side.

finally, the question on everyone’s mind for the last 2 weeks was answered last night. the reason sean mcauley was brought to portland was to bark orders from the sideline. i cannot approach his addition to the side without some cynicism. he does provide a sufficient buffer for gavin if this season goes completely tits-up, which means gavin rides off into the sunset unscathed, free of responsibility, and looking for new bus fares. but overcoming my initial reaction when watching mcauley on the touch-line, it was clear he had been working on reshaping the defense. he made certain they retained their line, worked as a unit, and spread attackers appropriately–you know, the things a defensive corps should do.

alright, that is my game response.

have a great day and enjoy the reserves.

 

sunshine.

 

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Same Goats, Different Day

Posted on July 28, 2012 | 4 Comments

There are days in a blogger’s life when you just don’t know what to write. I must admit that I was seriously tempted to just repost the piece that I wrote before the last match with Chivas because, quite frankly, not much has changed. Once again, we come into a match with a team that has real trouble producing goals (against everybody but us) having conceded five in our previous MLS match. I suppose that a glass half full sort of person, assuming that there are any such people left among us, might look at this and say that at least we had a decent performance against Aston Villa in the mean time. I myself am swiftly losing my ability to be a glass half full sort of person. Unless it’s a really, really big glass. And it’s half full of bourbon. Yeah, that I can get with.

My morning was colored grey by reading this piece from the The Shinguardian that sunshine sent around. It illustrates a point that I think most of us had grokked already: this team has been blighted by some really poor personnel decisions in the course of the last 18 months. Wallace, Palmer, and Chabala, just to pick three names, have really shown themselves not to be up to the standards of the league. This raises a number of troubling questions, none more acute than this: what can be done with them now that we have them? It looks very much like this team is going to have to be rebuilt in the off season. Given the role of the current management in bringing this group together, it’s hard to have a lot of confidence that they will be able to pick up the pieces and assemble a group that is going to be competitive.

Portland has some things going for it. There is a very dedicated fan base here, and along with good facilities and the quality of life factors in this town, this makes Portland an inherently attractive place. On the other hand, it’s hard to convince people to join up with an organization that hasn’t given a lot of positive signs in recent times. For whatever it’s worth, I don’t think that the Timbers are quite as bad as some of their recent performances might suggest. Firing John Spencer seems to have had precisely the opposite effect that might have been intended. Instead of galvanizing the team and imbuing the players with a sense of purpose and urgency, it looks very much as if it was yet another body blow to the group.

Since Spencer’s departure, the team has conceded 11 goals in three matches, which is bad. What is worse is that is seems to have revealed an underlying malaise with this group that Spencer’s presence seemed to have kept in the background. Some of the play in defense during the debacle in Dallas would have resulted in recriminations during a Sunday kickaround, much less in a professional match. It’s not just that the players that we have don’t have the requisite quality. That is the kind of thing that can be adjusted for, at least to some extent. The problem now really seems to be that they look disorganized. It’s extremely depressing to see someone like Chará, who for me is one of the guys in the side who actually does have what it takes, running around trying to put out fires in midfield without getting the proper support. The situation up front is even worse. I firmly believe that both Kris Boyd and Danny Mwanga have the goods. I mean, if Kenny Cooper can make it in this league then Kris Boyd certainly can. Yet, match after match, one is confronted with the depressing spectacle of Boyd or Mwanga (they seldom seem to be on the pitch together) hanging around in forward areas not getting any service. Neither of these guys (and this especially applies to Boyd) are of the kind who can manufacture their own chances. This doesn’t mean that they don’t have to tools to be successful in this environment. What it does mean is that the rest of the guys on the team have to work together to get the ball into the sorts of positions from which the proper service can be provided, and to cross the ball in such a way that it doesn’t just bounce off the first defender.

I’ve mentioned in previous columns the tendency of Timbers midfielders to get caught in possession, and perhaps this is a window into the most distressing aspect of the over lack of organization in the team. The tendency of our opponents has been to flood midfield. This takes advantage of the fact that our midfielders simply don’t do a very good job of supporting each other. Time and time again we attempt to advance the ball up the flanks, only to run it into cul-de-sacs of opposing players. Earlier in the season, I thought that this was due to a lack of quality at fullback. Well, that was certainly the case, but now it appears that a more pressing problem is that the wide players don’t have any idea how they are supposed to work together. Attempts by this team to work the ball up the pitch generally result in a giveaway somewhere around the center circle. The play in defense has not been very good lately, but it hasn’t been helped by the fact that even when we do get the ball we don’t seem to do much with it.

Ok, one small positive that we can take into this match is that Chivas has some injury woes going into this match. Apparently, Ryan Smith won’t be playing. This is kind of a relief, since he absolutely abused Steven Smith that last time around. Sunshine sent me a text to let me know that Brent Richards is supposed to figure in this match. I really wish that that gave me more confidence. I know that he’s a young player, but in the matches in which I’ve seen him participate he just hasn’t looked the part. It’s difficult to learn the trade in a side where you’re not getting a lot of good examples of how the game is supposed to be played.

Well, that’s me then. Sorry if this column has been a bit of a downer, but the team needs to pull it together and get some positive things going on. Once they do that I can get back to writing about the positives.

Magadh

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The Shecky Green Post

Posted on July 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

I hate missing matches. But, because some people fail to schedule their parties around the Timbers schedule, this Saturday the Sheckys will be attending a different, but delicious function. So, no rabble rousing from me, and those good folk in the upper 210s will get a break. When I informed Sunshine I will be absent on Saturday, he looked at me with his cold, unflinching stare and said “that is your problem, bub.” I guess it is. It’s funny that a guy who types solely in lowercase speaks primarily in capitals…

But never fear, technology and the Twatterverse will provide me updates underneath the dinner table. I love sneaking off for the occasional update. This will be my second absence of the season. My first was a trip to Florida. Luckily, our host from Michigan had a dish and I was able to watch the match from the Detroit Fox Sports channel. While not John Strong, listening to the Columbus broadcast was entertaining. However, as this disastrous season continues, the opposition’s commentary is losing it’s comedic value.

In the wake of Spencer’s firing, we have had some horrible losses. I know the loses appear may indicate Gavin is more culpable for the team we have and their performances. Still, I stand by my earlier belief that Spencer should have been shown the door. His firing does not automatically make the timbers a better team. It does not insure the Timbers will attain Merritt’s pre-season expectations that Portland will make the play-offs. That assumption would be ridiculous.

The Gavin Wilkinson debate I will leave to someone else better informed  than this noob. But a fellow blogger, OctoberThoughtsPdX, did provide a quote worth discussion. Kristen was speaking with an old school Army member, who described the overall sentiment towards Gavin’s presence at the club in an unflattering way. He said “Gavin’s in his twelfth year with the club. He should be a legend, but he isn’t.” I think that speaks volumes.

In the long run, I believe firing Spencer will pay off. But it will not change the course of this season. We may end up with a few more great moments and flashes of brilliance as we saw against Seattle and San Jose, and the Cascadia Cup is still up in the air, but we are not going to go to the play-offs.

Who really cares? I mean, as i am being taught by Sunshine in his abusive, tough-love sort of education, we do not support a team only in the good times, we simply support a team. I am beginning to understand that the bad times make the good times that much sweeter.  I know I am in for the long-haul.  That doesn’t end in October, but carries on. Hopefully I will be able to share a flask with  Shecky Jr. while standing in the upper 210s. I look forward to that day with great anticipation, as I do every moment in between then and now. Which is an important reminder that as frustrated as I may get, as red-in-the-face, angry, and despondent as Sunshine may get, we do it because we love this team. If you are reading this blog, well, aside from Anfield 89, I am sure you love the Timbers as well. So, remember that when the team under Gavin loses again.

Since Sunshine and Magadh have done their due diligence in covering the Aston Villa match I will not beat the dead horse for long (you can beat a dead horse to water…). All I have to add is that that match was a good time. The weather was perfect, the mood was light, the match didn’t mean anything in the long run and perhaps that’s why our boys in green seemed to be having so much fun. I know that is why I did. I enjoyed the dancing and the lighthearted fun on the field ,and I hope to see more of that in the future. Maybe some fun will get the “communication” flowing and bring the team together.

This year the Timbers can’t seem to generate points anywhere and may end up with the first pick in the draft. But my sense of success is not built just on points–it comes from the magic seen when the whole team works together, and luck and curses and hexes and all of that too. And fun. And when the success within the standings comes I will be there in 210 to see it. Unlike my cohorts, who will cringe at the idea of lighthearted fun and football in the same sentence, I plan to enjoy the rest of this season, while looking forward to better seasons in the future. I will probably drink a little bit more during matches, get to know my section mates a little bit better, and not care about the results from here on out. More smiles, more fun, and more friends–for me, that is what the Timbers are about.

But not this Saturday. So, to my friends in the upper 210s, Ed, Arndt, John, and the rest: don’t start too much trouble without me.

RCTID,

Shecky

PS-This Sunday the Timbers reserves play the Chivas reserves at 2pm. Tickets are cheap and I have proposed to Sunshine a gathering in the lower 210s. Let’s call it a meet and greet for readers, writers, supporters and their kin. Unfortunately, my abuser cannot make it, but Shecky Jr. will be in attendance for his second time ever. I know he is very excited for the opportunity to drool on Merritt. Consider yourselves invite to say hello. And bring your Franz trading cards – I have a couple extra Brent Richards to trade and based on his few appearances I think we will be hearing a lot about him in the years to come.

SG

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Musings on Villa

Posted on July 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

I guess I shouldn’t be too annoyed by the quality of coverage of the MLS in general and of the Timbers in particular on ESPN Soccernet. I will say that it causes one a certain amount of pique to log on to the team page on that site and find headlines in the sidebar like, “Cooper’s Goal Lifts Timbers Past Whitecaps,” and “DC 1 – 1 Portland: Timbers in the Playoff Hunt.” Perhaps it’s better than seeing blurbs about more recent events like, “Timbers Concede Five for the Second Time in Three Matches.” It’s certainly better than seeing something like, “Timbers Shanked Like a Prison Yard Snitch by Lowly Dallas,” so I suppose we should probably count our blessings.

The lads actually made a pretty good showing against Aston Villa and, without making too much of the whole thing, there are some positives worth taking from this. The match in Dallas was a pretty savage beating. It’s the kind of thing that can really knock the stuffing out of a team, especially one that’s a bit wobbly to begin with. The Villa match was a good change of pace. It was challenging but nothing was really on the line. Except pride that is, and there has been precious little of that about in recent days. Coming back twice from a goal down was a good sign. Moreover, playing tough against opposition from a much higher grade league, even in pre-season, will go a long way toward reminding the guys that they can actually play this game. In light of recent events, they might have had some reason to doubt that.

(For those who have ever wondered about the dimensions of football’s global profile, I present the following. Perusing the pages of Newsnow.co.uk, I discovered that the Timbers match with Aston Villa got a write up in the Himalayan Times .

Aside from a bit about the Timbers’ overall level of resiliency, the only thing of substance to be gleaned from that match was that Tom Hanks is (apparently) a diehard Aston Villa fan . I’m trying to think what the basis of this particular connection could be. As many of you are probably aware, Villa is one of three top division teams from Birmingham, the U.K.’s second largest city. The other two, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, don’t seem to have the kind of global reach that Villa does. Perhaps I should have put global reach in quotes there, since it’s not like they are one of those world brands like Manchester United or Real Madrid. Really, it’s more of a relative thing. I’ve never actually met a West Brom fan outside of Birmingham, and I’ve met precious few City fans anywhere besides the West Midlands.

The Birmingham teams don’t seem to pull in foreign fans in the way that those from Manchester and London do. In the case of Manchester, I most often find that it’s a matter of supporting a prominent winner, like people supporting the Yankees just on name recognition, or the hoards of fair weather fans that followed the Chicago Bulls when they had Michael Jordan. In the case of London, it’s actually a place where people go, so the teams there tend to get a bit more notice than the Derby Counties and Stoke Cities of this world. Birmingham is just not the sort of place that one is going to go for a vacation. I’ve been there on a few occasions, but only to see shows and only because at the time I lived in Nottingham, which is about an hour’s drive away. With all due respect to the people who live there, it’s not likely to blossom into a tourist destination any time soon.

Having played them down a bit, I will say that I have met a fair number of Villa fans outside the UK. Perhaps it’s the claret and blue color scheme, which is after all rather attractive. A couple of years ago they seemed poised to be real contenders in the Premier League. A series of poor player decisions and the departure of Martin O’Neill led to a decline in their fortunes. At this point, the biggest moments in their season are the derby matches.

Anyway, according to things I’ve read on the web, Hanks has been a fan of Villa since 2001. I saw an interview he did on British TV in 2008 in which he essentially conceded that he had started supporting the team because he thought the name was cool. Actually, that’s a reason that I can sort of get with. Aston Villa is one of those peculiarly English names, like Wormwood Scrubs or Nether Wallop, that are really fascinating to the Anglophile imagination. The pairing of Aston with Villa makes one think of fabulous living and being served cold drinks on a veranda by a butler names Jeeves, rather than of the slightly grubby northern section of Birmingham that the team calls home.

Well, the upshot of all of this was that Tom Hanks was at the match, hobnobbing with Timber Joey and basically having a high old time. More power to him. For us it was merely a diversion. A much needed diversion, no doubt, but a diversion nonetheless. Now it is behind us, and the task at hand is to prepare for our upcoming match with Chivas. There will be no international movie icons there (in all likelihood anyway), just our lads and our lot. This is the time to start putting the poor form behind us. Chivas is a team that we can beat, one that we should have beat when we met them last week. After that we get Dallas again, a team that I think we would all like to get a little vengeance against. Well, one thing at a time.

Magadh

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well, our heros need villains too…

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 2 Comments

well, that was nice. nice and friendly. which is how a friendly should be–friendly. it was so friendly that even i was able to forgive and laugh at facepalmer’s 3 punts into the upper decks. in fact, after the third punt, i was standing on the railing cheering for good old facepalmer. after all, it was a friendly and we need to spread the friendly cheer.

so, “brandon rodgers” and his kids from aston villa were here last night. ok, i know, the manager of aston villa is not “brandon rodgers.” so, ian dowie and aston villa were here last night. and, as you might guess, it was a friendly. in the footballing world when you say friendly what you really mean is the game was a meaningless duel played for the benefit of two clubs where both clubs want to grow their audience within a new market, gain some match fitness, and earn some cash.

i like friendlies–unless they are international friendlies, in which case i hate them (but that is a separate post for a separate day when there is less news than this friendly news). as friendly as friendlies are, and they are friendly, they are not a proper barometer to gauge the positioning of a team.

last night’s friendly presented an opportunity for the timbers and the timbers faithful to forget the last three weeks. to forget that spencer was fired in the middle of the season, that the season has continued to implode since his firing, and that an end to that destruction seems far out of reach. so with all that good cheer, we can now overlook the fact the timbers are still in last place and the fact they are still looking for answers that may not come in gavin’s lifetime at the club.

it was also a great opportunity for rincon, richards, charles renken, even rodney wallace to receive a run out in the first team. they each proved to be more adept in their positions than some of the regular starters. but i caution against placing your hopes on those kids who did play admirably last night. as effective as they were against aston villa, we must remember that aston villa are in the middle of their preseason and looking to develop a team. this game was not a competition for them, it was a friendly scrimmage.

so often in sports when teams are in the toilet supporters may look to new, exciting, and young players to lift them and the club from wherever the seasonal kryptonite has dragged their hopes. it is natural–we have hope, we want to hope, we need to hope. right now, we timbers faithful need to hope in the most desperate of ways. but placing our hopes on those young lads to turn the season around could place unnecessary pressure on them. which is why the friendly was an ideal arena for them to be introduced to the world of big boy games. there was no pressure on them to perform–they had the freedom to express themselves within a fun scrimmage against very good opposition.

why even talk about the first half of the friendly? right? well, aside from captain jack’s bit of petulance following villa’s first goal, there were no talking points. given the fact the timbers refuse to place a defender on the far post during corners, it was as shocking as the day turning into night when the timbers conceded the first goal to villain youngster, barry bannan. while that may have been predictable, the fact the timbers captain threw up his arms in disbelief was not. rather than showing his disappointment with his side he should have pulled them together. but that is not jack’s way. frankly, i am still guessing whether jack has a way of captaining other than silence and pouting. had he ended his strike on communication, he could very well have prevented the goal by placing someone on the far post. anyone. say–nagbe? but he is not that kind of captain.

down 1-nil at the half, the timbers faithful wanted to see some youth. so minutes in, the injection of the future began. rincon, renken, and rodney wallace all kitted up. within 10 minutes of his substitution for richards, rincon settled his account and drew the timbers even. franck songo’o, who was once again very good in the side, put in a low arching ball from the left corner. the ball took one or two touches before finding itself at rincon’s feet. he quickly directed it in and then celebrated as if he had won the copa del stumptown. i am not one for line-dancing, but i think the timbers army sure enjoyed it. it was nice to see that sort of passion for the game, the goal, and the supporters.

not to be out done, the villains quickly pulled back the goal and retook the lead in 80 minute. some villain defender that goes by the name matthew lowton put in another set piece goal. too bad jack was not present to pout after that one, because i think the boys really needed his captaining qualities at that point.

a minute later, rodney wallace drew the timbers even with a shot hit from the outside of his left foot that should not have gone in but did go in and was so amazing when it did. it was a moonshot or a boomerang or–i do not know what it was but it was beautiful and left me awestruck. and again the youth celebrated the goal with passion, swarming around the rod-wall to thank him and welcome him back. personally, i had to wipe the drool that ran down my chin due to my slack-jawed amazement and disbelief. simply wow.

the friendly ended and should have remained so, because friendlies do not have stoppage time and they do not go to penalty kicks. but this is portland and we walk to the beat of a million drums here. penalty kicks it was. everyone hit their spot but dike and the match ended.

so, returning to my original point that it would behoove us not to place unrealistic expectations on the youth who represent the timbers future. they played well. they showed they can inject passion and pace into a side that often lacks both, especially when the captain is pouting. they have skill on the ball and, to some extent, they read the game better than their elders. but that does not suggest they should play a full 90, or start for that matter. several things could occur if they were given that opportunity. they could flourish and surprise the timbers faithful. but more likely (and this is not meant to be wet blanket on our fun) they would get injured, or worse, burnt out and discouraged.

we forget how the bodies of youth are still growing. when they are put under the strain of 90 minutes of play week in week out, they break down. rather than being positioned to assist the team, any one of our future heros could be positioned for a lengthy spell on the physio table. and then there is the case of darlington nagbe, who appears jaded and lacks confidence to do even the simplest of things on the pitch. having seen him play for a year and half, i think we forget that he is only 21. playing as often as he has with the expectations that are on him have affected him. imagine the rest of the timber youth suffering from that experience, it could be devastating. my suggestion is to give them 30-40 minutes a game. work them in slowly. build their confidence without the expectations of salvation placed on their undeserving shoulders.

finally, on a non-football related topic. it may come as no surprise that i hate basketball–ugliest sport to ever be played. i had hoped the nba would shoot itself in the foot last year with a year-long strike, but no such luck. so, the nba will be back and mrs sunshine will now spend many days and nights away from home. last night i learned i became a winter widower for the second year running. mrs sunshine was just informed that she would be back with the dancers this season. that might make her and all the 8th grade boys she teaches very happy, but it makes sunshine rather lonely. big ups to my wife, she deserves it.

have a great day.

sunshine

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Player Ratings vs. FC Dallas

Posted on July 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

I’ll have something to say in the way of player ratings below, but I thought before I did that I might say a few words about what I try to do in columns such as this, and how I approach the team more generally. My number one premise is intense love for the team, something that I share with Merritt Paulson, as well as with the thousands who fill the JW week in and week out. Thus, when I have a criticism to make, and I very often do, the goal is not to burn the team down but to point out things that could and should be improved.

As far as criticism of the players goes, it’s something that I take seriously. These are professional footballers, but they are also human beings. On the one hand, they have chosen a career path that is, for better or worse, one of the most public available. Most people in their working lives don’t have an audience of thousands whose emotional state is tied to the success with which the individual’s job is performed. There is an all too prevalent tendency among people writing about sport to let emotions get the better of judgment and to give play to some very bloodthirsty and inhumane sentiments. You don’t have too far in the blogosphere to find people saying things in public that a civilized person would hesitate to say in private. It’s easy in the passion of the sporting environment, and in a situation where there is very little in terms of editorial control, to allow hyperbole and aggression to shape the things that one writes.

Having said that, my business here is to be critical when criticism is warranted. If I am cognizant of the humanity of the players, I am also aware that there are standards to which they must be held. I have watched thousands of football matches in my life. Does that make me an expert? I suppose it’s up to the readers to answer that question. I do know that the players and the management are working conscientiously to make things better and I understand that what they do is not easy. If it was…well, things would be a lot different. In any case, I’ll just close this little segment of my commentary by saying that I much prefer to express praise than disparagement. But being a pollyanna does no one any good.

1. Troy Perkins: He was let down by his defense repeatedly. He might have done better on Jacobson’s goal, although the latter should never have been allowed an open shot from that sort of territory. He was wrong footed on the deflection for the third goal, but really hung out to dry by his defenders on the other four. Quite rightly got the captain’s armband and should probably keep it in the future. 4

98. Futty Danso: He was the best thing that Portland had going in defense, which is not saying much. He worked hard, but he was too often pulled out of position. His frustration with his fellow defenders was evident, but he was simply unable to marshal them in the way a center half should. 3

33. Hanyer Mosquera: He started the evening with an own goal and, quite frankly, things did not get much better from there. He lacked direction for most of the match, and I suppose that the best thing that can be said for him is that he managed to prevent the scoreline from going to 6-0. Still, it was pretty grim. 3

4. Mike Chabala: Dire. Simply dire. Repeatedly caught out of position and/or ball watching. Dallas is not that good, but he made them look like champions. One of the saddest performances in a Timbers jersey in recent memory. 1

15. Kosuke Kimura: Margianally better than Chabala, but not good. He was out of position frequently and allowed Dallas the freedom of the left side of their attacking zone. I understand that he was brought in to try and improve the attacking action on the right side, but he was MIA from a defensive perspective for most of the first half. 2

21. Diego Chará: His was an uncharacteristically feckless performance in midfield. Usually his stock in trade is hassling opposing attackers, but he seemed strangely diffident for most of the night. His failure to win ball with his usual alacrity was a major feature in the dysfunction further up the pitch. 3

17. Eric Alexander: Simply could not get anything done. Repeatedly got caught in possession and passed the ball at a substandard level. I felt sorry for him, because it must have been humiliating to look that out of whack against his former team. 3

8. Frank Songo’o: MOTM for whatever that is worth. It looked to me as if he was playing the role into which Nagbe usually slots. He exerted a lot of effort, but too often ran himself into isolated positions and contributed to the general malaise in Portland’s midfield. More than anything else, this really highlighted the degree to which Portland needs a quality CAM. 4.5

11. Kalif Alhassan: Of all the dysfunctional things going on for the Timbers on Saturday night, perhaps the worst was the combined play of Kimura and Alhassan. Between the two of them, they contrived to prove neither effective offense nor acceptably competent defense. Alhassan was a spectator for most of this match. It’s hard to criticize his defending in the same way that it’s hard to criticize the Cheshire Cat: it didn’t really exist. 2

2. Mike Fucito: He provided pretty much the best scoring opportunity for Portland early in the first half, but then faded into oblivion for most of the match. This had mostly to do with the fact that the rest of the team could not get him the ball. He showed his usual energy, but given the paucity of service that he received, the results were thin. 4

10. Danny Mwanga: Did he even play in this match? I distinctly remember him being mentioned during warm-ups, and I know I saw him being pulled off in favor of Boyd early in the second half. In between, I’m not sure I have any evidence that he was on the pitch. No part of the problem, or the solution. He was just nothing. 3

16. Brent Richards: A lad with a lot of pace and some decent talent, but he just hasn’t looked the part so far. The fact that he keeps getting put in once the side has fallen into deep dysfunction probably has something to do with that. 3

13. Jack Jewsbury: Came on for Alhassan and was an improvement. It wasn’t clear what the substitution was meant to accomplish, except to put Alhassan out of our collective misery. Still, Jewsbury worked hard and was a force for good. 4

9. Kris Boyd: I think the coaching staff really did him a favor by keeping him on the bench. I doubt that this climate would have suited him (or his long sleeved jersey), so holding him out probably saved him a case of heat stroke. Came in for the ineffectual Mwanga and was…ineffectual. 3

Enough said.

Magadh

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Bunnies

Posted on July 23, 2012 | 4 Comments

Do you like bunnies? I do. I like to watch them nosing around for food among the bushes in our backyard on a summer morning. I sit quietly, mug of coffee in my hand, watching as they search the undergrowth for tender buds and grasses. Where do they go when they’re not here? Who knows, but it sure is relaxing to watch them quietly going about their business, seemingly without a care in the world…

Ok, sorry, I can’t maintain this charade any longer. I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with something to write about other than that match on Saturday, but I just can’t do it. When the final whistle blew, I started trying hard to forget it. It’s like trying to forget the existence of nuclear weapons or global warming. No matter what else I try to think about, the wretched memory of getting absolutely butchered by FC Dallas imposes itself on my mind.

I suppose that first of all, I should hold my hand up and say the following. For several weeks now, I’ve been promoting the idea of a return to a 4-4-2 formation. My argument was the 4-2-3-1 set up that they’d been using in the last three losses wasn’t working and had been partly responsible for our poor play. Well, be careful what you wish. You might just get it. Portland came out in a 4-4-2 formation against Dallas and suffered their most comprehensive thrashing of the MLS era. Apropos of nothing, Dallas also dealt the Timbers their second worst MLS level beating when they hammered us 4-0 in June of last year.

4-4-2 proved itself to be an even more abject failure than 4-2-3-1. Also, Perkins had the armband and Jewsbury was on the bench, and it didn’t help. So, just to sum up, Portland implemented three of the five things that I suggested yesterday and the result was a catastrophic failure. Nagbe didn’t play in central midfield, which you could also charge to my account, but I did say that they should bring someone else in, since after Nagbe the choices at that position don’t get any better. Portland failed to hold on to the ball for much of the match and didn’t really create much in terms of offensive threat, outside of Fucito’s chance around minute 8. All in all, it was one of those matches that really makes you glad that they don’t have relegation in North American football, because that is where we would be headed…with a bullet.

Having offered five suggestions for moving forward on Saturday, I now offer five dissections of the goals that we conceded.

1. Kimura got sucked inside to cope with a run into the middle, which resulted in three Timbers defenders standing around the top of the D. Alhassan clearly ball watching while this was all going on, and as a result, neither he nor Kimura tracked Benitez’s run down the left hand side. Thus, the latter was a good ten yards clear of any Portland defender as he casually lined up a cross to the on rushing Jackson. Mosquera was actually not in bad position, but his lunge at the ball only succeeded in tipping it inside Perkins’s near post. It was a harsh result for Mosquera, but it was the kind of thing that is going to happen (and has happened repeatedly this season) when opponents are allowed the freedom of the byline.

2. This was the result of a pretty good hit from Andrew Jacobson from just outside the box. You could say that Perkins might have done better, and I think that that would be a fair cop, but the real villains of the piece are Chará and Songo’o, neither of whom saw fit to pick up Jacobson has he followed the ball in to Zach Loyd. On the replay, Chará (for reasons only he will know) just lopes back without making any effort to get close to the Dallas attackers streaming forward. At that moment, I think we all knew it was going to be a long night.

3. You might say Chará was partly at fault on the third goal, as the angle he took toward Jackson was a little too flat. The real catastrophe here was Chabala getting caught flat footed. In a situation like that, the mantra for defenders is: either the ball or the man, but not both. Jackson ghosted past Chabala and even the latter’s attempt at a jersey tug was ineffectual. Perkins wasn’t at fault, as the ball took a deflection off of Danso’s ankle. This was, once again (and I know that I sound like a broken record as I say this), a result of failure to close down an attacker properly.

4. Where was Chabala as this was getting going? He wasn’t anywhere near Scott Sealy. In fact, he was ball watching about fifteen yards up the pitch. This goal was really maddening because it is the kind of thing that one sees in the latter stages of muni league matches when one team is tired and mailing it in. There is just no excuse for an opposing attacker getting this clear in our box. By this point, Portland’s hamster was lying dead in the wheel, and the only question seemed to be exactly how bad a mullering we were going to get.

5. How bad was it going to get, one foolishly asked? This bad. Jackson blew by Chabala and put in a cross about three feet off the touch line. Futty allowed Ruben Luna to get goal side of him, and it was 5-0. I really don’t know what to say about this. Or, more properly, I feel like what need to be said about this has already been said…by me…earlier in this piece. This was just criminal defending. By this point, I think everybody was just wishing that the whole thing would end and that the ref would implement some sort of mercy rule. The MLS is not a top league in terms of world football, but there are a lot of good players here and if you put out a sophomoric effort, this is the kind of dire result that you will get.

Portland has now set the MLS record for longest spell without a road goal. I’m not sure if scoring one or two (or even three as we did against LA) would have mattered, given the level of play in defense. This was a shocking result, but we just have to grit our collective teeth and hope that the lads can start to turn things around.

Magadh

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Posted in defensive woes, match report

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a whole lotta suck happened…

Posted on July 22, 2012 | 9 Comments

opening sentences in times like these are often difficult to come by. i am speechless, dismayed, troubled, resolved that this is as good as it is going to be for the remainder of the season until some serious changes are made. so, without an opening sentence of worth, i will tell you that last night i dreamt i was on name that tune. but it was name that game. and i was asked how quickly i could describe the game. and i said “tom, i can name that tune in two words: that sucked.” unlike the timbers, i won and lost in the same moment.

blaming last night’s loss on heat, exhaustion, being tired, jet lag, hotel rooms, 3 games in 8 days, only overlooks or ignores the basic play in the game–the timbers chased an fc dallas side that controlled possession and the balance of play. all the speculation in the world cannot disguise the fact the timbers were never in that match. Fucitio’s would be goal, if it had actually been a goal, may have brought some hope to the side and helped them avoid an unflattering record, but it would not have stopped zach lloyd in the first half and jackson in the second half.

for those who watched the match it would be near impossible to fail to see the general team issues of lack of talent, lack of intelligence, and lack of conviction become central to the play of two specific individuals. but even more worrisome than the spotlighted transformations is that some are actually shocked by their play and this result. sure, dallas is nothing near enough to being a good team to be called a good team (yes, i meant it that way), but they exposed the timbers for the individual flaws and the collective inabilities that have persistently plagued portland throughout the season. so, yes we can look at setting a record for the longest number of minutes without having scored a road goal and hang our heads in shame, but we would miss the fact that during that scoreless time the timbers have given up 18 unanswered road goals, and have now given up 18 goals in the last 6 games. many will look to the fact the timbers cannot score on the road as the excuse for the problems, but that misses the point–they cannot defend!

i have written it several times on this blog, so it will not hurt to write it several more, and i think i will until the timbers change their approach–you cannot lose the game if the other team does not score goals. the only way to prevent losing is to prevent shipping the opportunities that brought the type of goals we saw the timbers hand fc dallas. in the several matches since gavin has taken over as interim coach, i have seen a not so great timbers defense that was developing a stingy streak turn into a pseudo-amoeba. the back four has no shape, no structure, but unlike an amoeba it cannot shift or move towards any threat. to defend successfully, a team must be drilled on structure, on recognizing threats, and on preventing threats. the recent changes in formation indicate this process does not take place during any training periods and is the furthest thing from their minds during game time.

last night saw gavin scrap that disastrous 4-2-3-1 formation for a return to the diamond. he also did something that most timbers supporters have been asking management to do for ages–sack jewsbury and give the armband to perkins. with those changes alone, i was highly optimistic going into this match. perhaps this was arrogance on my part, i knew that fc dallas was missing half their squad to injury, deaths in the family, and overall petulance, but i had a feeling a return to a familiar formation without an individual who made only 4 successful defensive clearances and tackles in the last match would give the timbers a positive result.

to save you readers the suspense, i will summarise the game in two sentences. once again, kalif was guilty of not tracking back too many times to count. and once again, chewy was found out to be an awful player, who is incapable of making proper choices in positioning, let alone proper tonsorial choices.

with those two points made clear, i can now inform you that fc dallas controlled possession through sharp passing, which forced the timbers to chase the ball for extended periods of time. the overall possession stats were astonishing. the end split was nearly 60-40. i was shocked they were not more lopsided than they were reported. at 35 minutes, fc dallas had retained possession for 70% of the match to that point. how could the timbers compete with that? pre-match i heard gavin describe his inept and horrific game plan–conserve energy by not doing what should be done defensively, not closing down the opposition, and not hustling. my jaw hit the floor and then i realized–only gavin. but, true to the game plan, the timbers did just that for the first portion of the match until it was apparent that plan sucked. and by that point, it was apparent the timbers sucked.

to cut to the chase, zach lloyd dominated chewy with his runs forward on the right. i know the television screen does not give a full picture of match play, but it did give a good picture of chabala’s play. for large portions of the game i never saw him in the picture. zach lloyd was simply too good and too fast for chabala to handle. within fifteen minutes of the match starting, lloyd had already put in 3 superb crosses on goal. and but for the shoddy heading of carlos rodriguez, the scoreline may have been worse than it was soon to become.

the first goal saw lloyd attack on the right, switch the ball to ferreira who in turn found an unmarked jair benitez sprinting down the leftside near the touchline. benitez laced a bullet cross into jackson who was covered by hanyer mosquera. both men attacked the ball. unfortunately, mosco put it into the back of the net. that happens to centerbacks–they give up an own goal now and then. forgivable. unforgivable was kalif’s positioning and lack of recovery on that drive. instead of putting himself in a position that would permit coverage on the leftwing, he stood 30 feet off the touchline and moved to ferreira who was already tracked by chara. open space was given, open space was taken. once he became aware of benitez run, he should have sprinted to cover kimura who was moving to benitez. instead–sunday in the park. 1 nil.

now, i can describe the pain of each and every goal scored by fc dallas, but i think we supporters have suffered enough. the first goal is the only goal that mattered, because the timbers never answered it. that was the winner and, therefore, the most important goal of the match. but the second goal is one that must be reviewed, if only to illustrate the pervasive issues within the timbers defense. ferreira, who was a boss in the midfield last night, had control of the ball just beyond midfield. he spotted zach lloyd who had taken out a picnic basket, laid out a table-cloth, and was sipping on sweet tea while awaiting an uncontested pass over the top of the defense. lloyd took the ball in stride and quickly tapped back to an onrushing andrew jacobson. jacobson easily put the ball past perkins for the second of two preventable goals.

the first time i saw the goal i yelled where was the offside trap? and then i yelled where was chewy? the second time i saw that goal i yelled something far worse and coarser than what might even be approved by a sailor. that goal should not have happened, and would not have happened if chewy had not been so inexplicably out of position, sitting in the stands somewhere behind kevin hartman. but it was not just chewy, it was the absentminded, positional awareness of the entire back line. lloyd was straying offside. had the line held its form and stepped forward, lloyd would have been called off. instead, the line disintegrated once ferreira made that superb pass and with that any chance the timbers had of levelling also disintegrated. the game was over at that point. 2 nil at the 26 minute.

for all the suck chewy was doing, and it was a lot of bad, songo’o sensed that his duty was to cover for a man who was being torched over and over and over again. he hustled on both defense and offense. i sympathized with his efforts, but sympathy is rather impotent 2500 miles away, sat in front of a television screen.

in the second half jackson displayed what a benefit modern striker/creative player can be for a side. he was skilful on the ball, off the ball, with a pass, or making his own shot. he tore the timbers apart in the is second half. his goal in the 48 minute was reminiscent of darren bent at his best. but the goals he created for sealy and luna were examples of the type of player needed to turn this timber side around (well, that and a few good defenders). even though the timbers do not have a player of his skill, i am certain the current staff would have little to no idea how to employ him if they did–he would be mishandled, played out of position, or sat on the bench.

the game ended 5 nil to fc dallas and further exposed some glaring issues i am sure magadh and myself will discuss throughout the week as we await next saturday.

i hope you all have survived and look forward to a day without worry.

sunshine.

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