Tag Archives: columbus crew

streaks, slumps and the law of averages continue to remain, well, average…

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 2 Comments

the term meh is about all that can be used to describe my feelings about the result from saturday night. the fact remains we have not scored a goal since our trip to a galaxy far, far away. and as much credit people want to give the timbers for the win over sporting, i say this: we did not win against sporting, sporting lost. regardless of the outcome, you cannot consider an owngoal a goal created by the side, nor can you attribute that win to anything more than blind stupid luck. the timbers created nothing then, and have created nothing still. and so the goalless streak continues.

do not get me wrong, a draw is better than a loss and a goalless draw shows more about the team’s character than say a 2-2 draw, where we gave up the 2nd goal at the 85 minute.  it appears we have learned what an important platform an assured defensive performance can provide the attacking portion of the game. aside from some glaring giveaways courtesy of mssrs chabala and palmer, the defense did most everything right. i was especially impressed with futty–what a solid performance he delivered, and a solid post-game interview.  the real mark of the defense is that columbus were limited to 3 shots on goal the entire 90 minutes. though mosquera does look suspect at covering an onrushing player, which is an issue of speed not quality, his partnership with futty is one that i look forward to seeing again.

in a moment of consternation to an awarded free-kick expressed through 20k groans, i had to agree with a call made by the ref. a neighbor to the rear was inconsolable and dismayed by that fact. i looked at him and said, hey, man, you know i may be a loudmouthed jerk, but at least i am fair (or something to that effect). we had a group knuckles and the line became the reference to every joke made the remainder of the evening. so, in an attempt to be fair, i must say that rodwall and jewsbury were better than their usual on saturday.

i have been very hard on captain jack, and deservedly so–he has not performed well throughout the first seven games. when he is engaged in the game he plays like a crab, or he is either out hustled or just not interested. but credit where credit is due: excluding a few moments venturing into prime dungeness waters, jack was assured in the back and looked to push the ball along the touchline. i am sure his inclusion in the side as a rightback was as much a surprise to many as it was to me, but there was that time back in 2007-08 when he played that position, and was named the wiz’s defensive player in the process. i am not excited to think he may be our new rightback, but anything is better than reverting to palmer, or returning to steve purdy. so, for now, we can only judge him on what he does going forward.

the rodwall was finally placed in a position intended to exploit the only things he is good at: getting forward and playing offensively. however, somewhere in his time at leftback he learned to track back and assist on the defensive end. this came especially useful given chewy’s reluctance to contribute defensively. offensively, the rodwall also contributed some good interplay with the striking force when going to the byline, put in some crosses that were reasonably good, and had a very nice strike from 30 yards out parried away by gruenebaum. to summarise, i thought rodwall played a passable game in a position i felt best suited for him.

maybe relenting to increased pressure to change, or maybe he realised the timbers do not have the personnel to play a variation of 4-3-3, spencer not only made positional changes, he also employed the 4-4-2–a formation i believe plays to the current team’s strengths. post game, the gaffer was pleased with the improvement, stating

We look back to ourselves, and as I say, it’s a positive step. Obviously not the result we hoped for, but a positive step.

you know, he is right. we showed positive signs and it appeared that our creativity is on the mend and hopefully to return. nagbe was very lively, turning the opposition left and right, causing them some serious problems; it is amazing what a position change will do for a player. nagbe is not a player who excels at pushing to the byline and lofting crosses. he is not a winger and is typically marginalized from the game when placed in that role. spencer got that one right, putting nagbe in the number 10 and slotted behind boyd. he was direct, influential and lacked only the finishing touch. i am sure if he remains in that position, rather than fall subject to spencer’s ever-changing and whimsical formations, he will get on the board again.

though there was an improvement in our creative output (we created 6 shots on goal against columbus, equalling the output of the last two games, combined) and in the pressure we placed the opposition under, as the scoreline and the streak indicates, our final ball was non-existent. the gaffer also addressed that issue, stating:

We’ve got to have a little more quality in the final third. We need to get Kris Boyd better service, that’s for sure

boyd did not get perfect service, but he did get service. perfect service will not happen when players like songo’o complete only 50% of the passes attempted. a creative player of songo’o's caliber and position should have a pass completion percentage closer to 75. on saturday, songo’o was frustrating; he seemed to exchange his direct and silky play for the ever exciting, but never reliable, step over after step over after step over. while some ball skill is cute, like street dribbling is cute, in my opinion it should be limited to weekends when football is not being played–unless you are christiano ronaldo. songo’o has shown that he can be effective when taking on players, not running into them–unfortunately, the step-over forces one’s field of vision to his feet, not the players ahead of him. consequently, i felt he was one of the most wasteful players on the pitch.

had diego chara not been playing on saturday, i would likely have given the booby prize to songo’o. thankfully, chara was, or, rather, it is too bad that chara was playing. the twelve-year-old is increasingly frustrating. i doubt he knows how to make a challenge without fouling, committing 7 during this match. i think i may be correct in this one, but no player in the mls committed more fouls than the midget and it appears he is working to ensure he does not lose that distinction–he has collected 25 total this season. i am fine with a midfielder who fouls, but i do not have patience for one who continually places the team in peril due to the position of the fouls. i may believe that he is the best defensive midfield option we have, but he is not an option worthy of designated player status nor 500k per annum.

not all that exciting, but that is the state of things at the timbers.

with that, have a great day and enjoy the sun.

sunshine.

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the man in the iron mask

Posted on May 6, 2012 | 3 Comments

well, at the very least, we did not lose. this was a game we could not lose. though not a win, i am satisfied with the draw. the game certainly draws some questions, and those will be discussed in tomorrow’s post, but for now i can rest easier knowing that the side came out motivated and controlled the match for long periods of time.

it is very rare that a nil-nil draw can spark a revival for a side. however, last night’s match and what it lacked end product it made up for with the promise of what can happen if the side plays to their strengths. the timbers play against an arguably poor columbus side, riddled with injury, showed the quality we know they are capable. this was all due to some key personnel and positional adjustments to the squad.

when i read the starting xi i felt like i had missed something. i noticed a number of names placed together on the same sheet that should not be on the same sheet together. we had chewy at left back, jewsbury at right back, songo’o and wallace on the wings, chara and palmer in the middle, nagbe paired with boyd. i accepted we were limited in who could start due to injury, but i could only shake my head when seeing that starting xi.

the dismay that brunner was not in the xi was not enough to stifle the pleasure felt to see futty danso make his first appearance of the season after injury. he partnered hanyer mosquera in the center of defence. the two complimented each other extremely well, snuffing out most everything that came their way. yes, there were nail-biting moments, but these two were well up for the task. futty was especially impressive. for a fella who had suffered a serious injury early on to come out and make key stops and clearances in a cannot lose again situation, he was impressive.

from the outset, the timbers controlled the majority of the possession and the intensity of the play, it was more window dressing than anything. several good chances fell to the feet of timbers players. in the 11 minute, nagbe, who was outstanding in his natural role sat behind the main striker, drove into the 18 yard box, turning, ducking, shucking, only for the dazzle to be shut down by a good group effort from the columbus centerback pairing and gruenebaum. because nagbe fell down in his build-up, many cries for a penalty rose up through the crowd and i could only laugh–i know we are desperate for a goal, but in no way were we ever going to be awarded that as a penalty.

there were some heart in throat moments. in the 26 minute, after a bit of bungling of a beautiful, nemanja vokovic cross, jack was called upon to head a ball over the cross-bar and clear, preventing a certain disaster and a columbus goal. while jack looked calm after his game saving effort, we in the stands were not so. thank god the crew has an offense far more impotent than ours–they have been shut out after last night’s game 4 times this season–had milovan mirosevic put a solid foot ont he ball we would have been looking at our palms instead of a calm captain.

the resulting corner brought some dicey moments, but our man in the mask stood tall to the challenge (with a little help from his little friend–diego chara), eventually forcing columbus (i think it was danny o’rourke) to shoot into the side netting.

i said to my seat neighbor right before the half we would end at nil-nil. the way things were shaping up, there was not much going to come from any of the efforts. that is how football is. i think we had just missed another opportunity on goal and our heads were in our hands with the despair best described as the beautiful groan–the moment you realise that you witnessed the failure of something beautiful becoming real. with the pleasant optimism i have come to enjoy from him, he announced that we are going to score and win 1-0. knowing my “realism,” which is better described as the pessimism intrinsic to all gooners, developed from many years of watching the arsenal choke away the final third of the season, he looks ahead and simply shakes his head and smiles.

his prediction nearly came true, and i nearly ate crow, when boyd boyd took a freekick just off the top of the d. nagbe and jewsbury lined up on either side of the ball, but it was nagbe who, in an effort to decrease the angle on the shot, rolled the ball into the path of the onrushing boyd. boyd curled the ball around the substantial wall, missing the back of the net by inches. i hate those types of freekicks, primarily because they rarely, if ever, work. this instance was one that justified the efforts. but the near success of one does not justify the wasted opportunities later on in the half.

during the second half, perkins was again called on to make several decisive saves. but none were as important as his save in the 66 minute, where he was forced to push the ball over the bar, conceding the corner in his effort but also saving the heartache. from my vantage point, it looked as if josh williams had sent us all home with the feeling of god awfulness that we have developed a close and cherished relationship with, but perkins’ reaction was impeccable. aside from a few misplaced kicks, his effort was the difference between not losing and gaining a point.

much has been said about his counterpart, andy gruenebaum, but i really did not see that he was bothered by any shot the timbers put towards him. he easily saved every attempt. sure, he recorded near 6 saves, but they were the types of saves he should have made–they only appeared great at the time because they were against the timbers. illustrative of this point was a nagbe shot on goal from 23 yds in the final moment of the second half. nagbe took the ball in stride, place his body over the ball to keep the shot low but really failed to add any power behind the shot. gruenebaum saved it easily, stretching to his right and quickly grabbing the ball. that was the story for the timbers, last night, placing many shots on goal but never really bothering gruenebaum. not to take away anything from gruenebaum, he played a wonderful match and kept a clean sheet, but he was never called to question like perkins.

at the 82 minute, a great chance fell to the feet of hanyer mosquera. jewsbury took advantage of an ideal position to cross in a freekick. he connected with boyd, who drove the ball to the lower portion of the farpost with his head. the headed ball was well off the target, but mosquera rushed on to miss the ball by only inches as gruenebaum grabbed the ball from danger.

the game was best described by a jewsbury corner in the 4th minute of stoppage time. jack curled the ball into the dangerous area of the columbus box only for boyd to head wide. we had chances, plenty of chances brought about through the industry of nagbe and boyd, but they resulted in nothing. in the end, the bite was missing and we would have to settle for the clean sheet and a draw.

with that, have a great day.

sunshine

thoughts on the match tomorrow.

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The Mirror which Flatters Not

Posted on May 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. This one tells you quite a bit about how the Columbus Crew’s season has been going so far.

It’s often said that misery loves company. If that is the case, then the match today with the Columbus Crew should be an absolute love fest. Anyone reading this will be well aware of Portland’s recent travails. In the last month or so, Columbus has had similarly bitter experiences. They were demolished at home by the Energy Drinks, and followed it up with a pretty meek capitulation to a Philly side that is hardly among the league’s best. Things seemed to stabilize after a home draw to Houston, only to take another severe blow when they were beaten at home by the ‘Couv.

A quick perusal of the Crew blogosphere reveals rumblings of discontent of a viciousness that far outstrips that surrounding our own side. This post from the Crewture site is illustrative of the tone of things more generally. There are a lot of respects in which Cleveland’s season has been similar to ours. If you factor out the opening day win against the Snakes, our goals per game is almost exactly the same as theirs (.86 for them, .85 for us). The difference I suppose has a lot to do with the respective histories of the two clubs. Portland is only in its second season of MLS play, and although the team made a good showing last season, particularly in the later stages, I think most Timbers fans recognize that this is a team that is still in the process of being built. The Crew, by contrast, were a charter side in the league in 1994. They are four years removed from winning the MLS Cup and they have a long established support base that has very developed expectations about how the club will perform.

I’ve watched a few of their matches from earlier this year, and it’s not hard to figure out why they’ve struggled. The Crew’s attack is one-dimensional, at least in those matches when it has any dimensions. Their theory recently seems to have been to advance the ball down the right hand side through Eddie Gaven and/or Emilio Renteria and then shifting it into the middle. Sadly, there are two major problems with this approach. The first is that the Crew have been wracked by injuries. If my count is correct, they currently have four strikers on the injured list, and even when healthy the like of Ben Speas, Aaron Schoenfeld, and Olman Vargas are not the sort of players that are going to light up the league. The second major problem is a lack of pace, particularly in the case of Renteria. He is simply not the spriest of fellows and he seems to lose emotional engagement and fall out of matches when things aren’t going well (which has happened a lot this season). Gaven is better, but after him the talent level on this team goes down. Way down.

If reports out of Columbus are to be believed, they are going to move Renteria up top for this match, pairing him with Justin Meram. Renteria is a little fireplug, but as I mentioned, he’s not the quickest so this is probably an advantageous situation for our side.

And how is it looking for our side otherwise? Well, about the same. In all likelihood, the lineup with be roughly the same as the one that was sent out against Montreal, except with Braun in for the nutted Purdy. Assuming he gets his P-1 visa worked out (and this is by no means certain), this will be Steven Smith’s first match at Jeld-Wen and his first opportunity to experience the atmosphere that the Portland home crowd can create. It could also be his first MLS match on something vaguely approximating a professional quality pitch. This is not to say that the weak performance that he evinced in Canada was due entirely to the pitch. In fact, it seemed to have more to do with a combination of lack of pace and deficient concentration. There is simply no way that an opposing midfielder should get a free run to the back post in the late stages of a match, and Bendik and quite right to be vocally critical of Smith’s bungling on the day. Unfortunately, the need to get his visa situation sorted out will probably mean that he will not have had the kind of practice time that one would want, given that there are issues to be sorted out between himself and his mates.

Alhassan is still weeks away, so the talk goes. Perkins will be a game time decision. According to reports, he is still has something that would qualify as a nose. Given the treatment that he received at the hands (or should I say feet) of Nyassi last week, this is something on the order of a minor miracle. After this match there is a ten day layoff until the game with Houston, so that should give some of the wounded time to get back into the frame, but that will be of limited consolation if the team can’t manufacture some kind of result out of this match.

In the Guardian, blogger Michael Orr spoke of “cascading negativity” in the Portland fan base. This might overstate things, but not by much. There is certainly heightened concern at the team’s recent form. What is more concerning is that there doesn’t seem to be much in terms of new ideas or approaches coming out of the Timbers camp. What is the team going to do differently to turn things around? This question hangs in the air like pall over Jeld-Wen Field. Things cannot continue as they have been going, but the only answer on offer seems to be to just work harder and hope that we get a few breaks. Portland’s current (bad) form sort of reminds one of a tube of toothpaste: things get pushed down at one place and just rise up in another. The problems at fullback got addressed (sort of) and then it turned out the midfield suffered. Now it seems like there simply isn’t much in terms of a way forward.

You can blame Spencer for at least some of this, and there was some discussion of this in yesterday’s post. What I have not heard, either in the media, or talking to other supporters, is a serious alternative to the lineup that is being sent out there now. Zisso getting healthy might improve matters, but as things stand now the midfield is likely to be Chará-Jewsbury-Palmer-Nagbe. Who else is there? This seems like a recipe for the kind of stasis that is very hard to break out of, and it’s difficult to see where improvement is going to come from given the current group. Please guys, prove me wrong.

Magadh

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