player ratings, portland timbers

So the script played itself out once again on Saturday night. Many of the problems that have afflicted this team all season were once again in evidence, although in fairness it should be said that we had a pretty good fight back to claim a draw. At the most general level, I would say that this was a pretty good performance in defense, at least apart from the penalty that we conceded. The penalty itself should not have happened. I say this not because I think that Horst didn’t make contact with the ball (although I don’t), but because Chris Pontius should have been penalized (and booked) for his grotesque, WWF type move on Steven Smith about 30 seconds earlier. Does it not occur to him that you can seriously injure someone that way? Sadly, the officiating crew could not be bothered to instill a bit of discipline in proceedings and the game went on its merry way.

1. Joe Bendik: Can’t be blamed for not stopping the penalty, and was good in pretty much every other respect. He was helped a lot by the fact that the back four played with unaccustomed precision. 5

12. David Horst: I’m trying to correct for the fact that I am a supporter and give the refs the benefit of the doubt on the penalty. Horst did have his arms extended from his body, but after watching the play about two dozen times it’s not clear to me that he actually made contact with the ball. On the one hand, the linesman (who was I think the one who made the call) was directly on a line with the play, and thus well placed to see it. On the other hand, that same numpty failed to notice Steven Smith getting rammed into advertising boards about four feet away from him, which doesn’t really speak well for his perceptive faculties. In any case, Horst had an excellent match otherwise and, to my way of thinking, deserved better for his efforts than to be implicated in that dirty business. 6

14. Steven Smith: I thought Smith had an excellent night on the whole. In fact, he's my Man of the Match. His positioning was consistently correct and he was by far the better of the two fullbacks in terms of what he contributed going forward. This was particularly in evidence in the passage that led to our equalizer. And then, of course, there was the fact that he was bundled into the advertizing hoardings by Chris Pontius in the lead up to D.C.’s goal. For which he got no call. I pumped up his number a little for that. 7

33. Hanyer Mosquera: He was having quite a good match, I thought, until he tweaked his hammy and it all came crashing down. I sincerely hope that he can get it together for our match with Seattle, but you know how hamstrings are. 6

15. Kosuke Kimura: I want him to be better than he is. Sometimes he looks great, but most of the time he is too busy running himself out of position or committing absolutely needless infractions. In fact, the two are related, and you didn’t have to watch too much of Saturday’s match to get a feel for this. The best that can be said for him is that he’s better than Palmer or Jewsbury, but that’s like saying that eating wormwood is better than eating Drano. 3

6. Darlington Nagbe: He took about half an hour to get going, but when he did he showed flashes of his best. But only flashes. His passing left something to be desired…something like more accuracy, although this probably had something to do with the fact that he was under heavy pressure in midfield for most of the night. 5

13. Jack Jewsbury: He was adequate and, given that he was thrust into the role that the quicker (and better) Diego Chará usually fills, one could say that that was about what could have been expected from him. As usual, not much going forward but effective in defense. Ultimately, it was another standard Jack Jewsbury performance: he gave 100% of what he had on the night. But 100% of what really? 5

22. Rodney Wallace: Used in preference to an inanimate carbon rod, Portland’s own blob of DNA found himself in the way of numerous passes. One is reminded her of the old adage about even a broken clock being right twice a day. 4

7. Sal Zizzo: He had his problems early in the match, due in no small part to the fact that Chris Korb was all over him like a cheap suit. As the match went on he seemed increasingly able to impose himself on it. Zizzo is one of those guys who runs his socks off night in and night out. Now that Portland seems to have made a decisive shift to a more dynamic offensive approach, Zizzo’s skills seem increasingly relevant. 6

8. Frank Songo’o: Had an up and down match from my perspective. There were passages when he seemed to be able to impose himself physically, others where he seemed to be off the pace. And then there was that piece of tomfoolery with Bill Hamid. Sorry Frank, but that stuff is going to draw a call approximately 100% of the time. 5

19. Bright Dike: What sticks in the mind more tenaciously: the one that he scored or the two that he fluffed? The former I suppose, but it’s hard to shake the latter. He’s put in a lot of work and has improved. The fact that this improvement has gifted us a B+ grade striker has more to do with the forces of nature than it does with Dike’s level of drive and determination. 6

98. Futty Danso: Danso got his first run out in a while due to the unfortunate condition of Mosquera’s hamstring, and one is happy to say that he coped well. He is and should be the third choice at center half, but he deputized ably and let D.C.’s attackers know that he was about. 5

10. Danny Mwanga: Didn’t have enough time on the ball, or for that matter the pitch, to really have any significant influence on the match. On the other hand, his arrival did put Kimura out of our collective misery for the evening, so this is something to be said for it after all. 5

16. Brent Richards: Brought on in the waning moments, but didn’t really have any time to make an impact. NR

Magadh