john spencer

A Saturday away from the forest…

Posted on: June 1st, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 3 Comments

 

It feels like something is missing today. Is something missing today? Well, yes, something is missing today--football.

This is the curse of a team that is doing well. Last year at this time we had more than our share of bad news and bad vibes and bad results because the Timbers were a bad team with a bad coach. Though we may not have wanted to, but because we loved the club, last year we were compelled to watch and hope that the next game would turn things around. The time between matches was easily spent, or uneasily spent--depending on your outlook. There was plenty to discuss and even more to complain about. The inevitable sacking of John Spencer loomed over ever word, as people waited for that eventual final word from the owner admitting that he got things wrong. Now, things are going swimmingly well and people are without those lightening rods to strike out at, so they find new lightening rods with which to disagree. All the while overlooking the masterpiece that has been played so far this season.

This vision Porter had to find players who could either immediately step into his system or would easily make the transition into the system is masterful. He has created art, but the execution of his art has been performed by the players themselves. These individuals have grasped the concepts and the spirit of possession football, but more importantly they have grasped the winning spirit. None more so than the captain. But then that had always been wired into him. His type is the type of competitor that does not quit. And though there are obvious personal goals bouncing around in his dance filled heart, Johnson is grounded enough to apprehend why winning is so important. fp.wj.4After the Timbers comprehensive win against Wilmington in the USOC, the players and the manager had their opportunities to speak with media. Porter discussed the artistic drive to improve his vision, and Piquionne discussed how relieved and happy he was to finally score for the Timbers. But it was the captain who articulated best what that win meant, never forgetting why he plays:

“We were excited and right before we were going out, we found out that Seattle had lost and we would host the (next) game. As a Timbers player, I don’t know what more incentive you could ask for than to play another game in front of these fans."

Lost in the nightmare of last season was the two way support offered up on game day. The Timbers faithful showed up, they sang, they gave everything they could for the team, but something did not click. Whatever your theory may be regarding the talent or lack of talent or the manager or the general manager, that team did not get what it meant to play for us. Ultimately, that is what they are there for--to entertain and play for the people who shell out the money and love. And to win. There was a disconnect and that game against Cal FC exposed the failings of the entire club--top to bottom. The team could not execute a game plan because they were never given one.

Whether it was buying into an idea that stolid, antiquated tactics could win, or brining in overpriced and overhyped players who did little more for the team than wait for a goal scoring opportunity, or putting together a side made of other journeymen who had little idea of how to play together, someone failed. Players cried about not receiving the support from the club, or they cried about not getting the love from the supporters they never earned. And the supporters turned on each and every one of them. But this year, with the prime directive of fight, fight, fight, and win, the players have grasped what they are to do, the manager reminds them of what they are to do, and the supporters love them for doing it. capt.willBut that statement from Will Johnson about why he plays, about why each member of the Timbers squad plays, should be remembered because that is why we support them.

And so now we miss Timbers football. Internationals have forced a break in the action, and we wait until next Saturday for the players to return. Personally, International football is hardly a sport I care to follow and even less support. It may well be an honor for an athlete to represent his country. It may. But that honor does not excuse the wretched product on the pitch or the inevitable injuries suffered by key players because they played teams manned by other players with inferior talents, who throw themselves about the pitch trying to uphold that contrived sense of honor. And while the aesthete may suffer the indignity of watching that mess, the true victims are the club teams and the club supporters who will lose the services of those players due to unnecessary injuries.

Similarly, other risks are taken with the health of players in Major League Soccer. Yesterday, it was announced that AS Roma would be the side to play against the MLS All-Star side this summer. Already people are discussing who should be awarded the opportunity to play. The season is only 13 games young and a discussion of which players have been so overly influential in the first third of the season is taking place? This is one of the big fallacies of the event, there are many, but this one takes the cake. It is near impossible to suggest that a player who has only put in 13 games is worthier than other players this season for such an honor. It neither represents the best players (Matt Besler, the defensive player of the year, was not even on the All-Star balloting), nor does it consider the clutch, individual play going into the final stages of the season. But more concerning is the additional game in a 34 game season, where fatigue is an issue. It is without question that when a player suffers fatigue the risk the he will suffer injury increases exponentially. The interruption of the season for a meaningless game that increases the risk of harm not only to the players but also the clubs is a pathetic invention for the league to promote itself. Though things are going well, we might benefit from remembering that the Timbers can hardly suffer any more injuries than they have.

Which finds me back to praying that our players return from international duty uninjured. This is an unenviable position, because the only time I prayed for the Rod Wall was not in regards to his continuing health, and now it is. What a difference a season can make.

sunshine.

 

z-man and the timbers “new” direction…

Posted on: April 4th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 4 Comments

 

can it be that only two days remain until the timbers again take to the field? it cannot come soon enough. the impatience of the now crowd headed by the unimaginative and misinformed is beginning to supplant the good will that existed only 2 months ago as porter cp.trainingtook over the reigns of a directionless team. sadly, four games into the season and people have already begun to question whether this team has the mettle to push through a winless patch. the questions are understandable but wholly premature.

four games. we are talking about four games for a team that is literally brand new and still trying to find its feet. yet the questions persist. the comparisons have begun. and soon the gripping. or not. whether the expectations that currently rest upon the team are justified, they are there. by some, porter was labeled the savior of football in Portland after the demise of john spencer, as if john spencer had the ability to do much more than pump his fist and say things in a cool accent. the fact is spencer could not realize the opportunity he had because he was not cut out to manage a club. he may have been the best cheerleader this club had during a time it was being re-introduced to the city and the world.  the club needed him for that role. in his time he gave the timbers faithful some great wins, including an opening home win on day one of the new jw, but he was never the man to take this club forward. he had a limited vision of how to bring the team into the future, how to grow it into a force. and that is where patience becomes necessary.

four games into the season and we have seen more from the team in terms of heart and drive than we ever saw in the year and a half spencer guided the club. there are issues. there are questions. but these issues are part of the development of a team and the answers will only become clearer once the team has had more time to show its strengths (and its weaknesses). without a doubt, there are concerns about certain player selections, but, overall, this team is playing better football than it has ever played since becoming a member of major league soccer. the wins will come as soon as the team learns how to play effectively within a possession based system rather than reverting to old, tried and tested formulas that feel comfortable.

the differences between porter and spencer remain relevant and apparent. porter embodies the attitude of patience, where spencer would have been raving and barking by this point yet still persisting with his route 1 football. porter is still in the process of sussing things out. he knows things are developing within the squad and that each day brings them closer to realizing what potential the play has proven to have.

There is an evolution taking shape. You can see it clearly, especially in the mentality. The spirit in this group is unquestionable. The group has bought in.

the question whether the timbers faithful will remain faithful while that evolution continues is really a moot point. the supporters will remain regardless of the performances. the greater issue is whether the media hype machines will remain charitable or will their hyperbolic disaster machines be dusted off and fueled up. as i was saying, the unimaginative often tend to prevail in moments of doubt. fortunately, those in the club understand and feel the desire to improve as much as those who watch them. the captain has addressed some of the issues surrounding the four game "winless streak," stating that the road draws in two of the mst difficult places to play should not be considered less of an achievement simply because they lost a home game to the currently best club in major league soccer.

Draws are acceptable if you win your home games. So, with our slow start at home, the draws are not as satisfying as they would be.

some might forget that the other home game was a draw against a talented red bulls squad. quite honestly, i had little expectation to see the timbers do more than win against colorado. so, the 3 points the timbers have after 4 games is exactly where i thought they would be. as depressing as it is to think they could have been much better off had they not conceded the first goals in each of the four matches, they have shown a quality that once they collect the first win things will happen--heart.

speaking of heart, i mentioned ben zemanski earlier this week. he may not be the ideal option at right back. and, in fact, he is not my preferred option at right back because that means jack is in the squad and the system is off-balance. against seattle, both mags i suggested that miller remain at the back and zemanski push forward to the right side of midfield. we still hold that position. yet, since that first run out at rightback zemanski has acquitted himself rather well. last weekend he was the most consistent of the timbers squad, playing within the possession system while his counterparts reverted to spencer route one idiocy in a hurricane. zman.colzemanski completed more passes, was involved in more build up play, and had more overall involvements in play than any other timbers player on the pitch. and he was successful at it. of any player, he was the one that looked to get the ball into the 18 yard box. on the night, he made 7 passes or crosses into the box. more than even the creative midfielder who was hung out to dry on the right flank. in many estimations, he is the best crosser of the ball currently finding minutes in the side. the concern is the current imbalance in the squad may prevent the team from exploiting his ability to put in that good cross because he must support on defense.

those are your thoughts for the day.

sunshine

teaching soccer in portland…

Posted on: March 30th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 2 Comments

 

yesterday, what appears to be a two-part expose on timbers owner and superfan, merritt paulson, was published on the league's official site. it was an excellent article, but not very illuminating for those who had watched the introduction of the boss to the world of soccer as it happened. or so i thought. imagesCAZXHVZZas articles of this nature tend to do, comparisons were made between portland and seattle and their relevant success. paulson was quick to point out two things of which we are all aware: first, seattle received the benefits of a solo entry into the mls and those benefits extended to the expansion draft. and, second, the timbers were not as fortunate--they entered the leauge with the vancouver whitecaps. and then merritt made the admission:

And they got the coach right, which I didn’t.

that admission was a brutally honest appraisal of not only john spencer, but also of himself. spencer is a charismatic guy, who came with an impressive resume. he played for glasgow rangers, queens park rangers, chelsea, motherwell, colorado, the scotish national side, he scored alot of goals, and then he spent time with the houston dynamo as an assistant under dominc kinnear, winning back to back mls championships. on paper he presented that prototypical footballing brainiac, who could motivate players, and had the credentials to back it up if challenged. but if you recall, following the end of his playing days in colorado, he went back to england and took up a career in punditry for chelsea. coaching was not his calling, it was an afterthought. seven years later, that afterthought made for some entertaining commercials and post game banter, but it did little else.

there is an old saying that my wife and magadh find detestable: those who can, do, those who cannot, teach. well, spencer did. and like too many ex-footballers who find themselves outside the training grounds, looking in, reliving their glory days, he needed something to do during retirement. js.portland my apologies now: he should have remained either retired, sipping a pimm's cup and playing the ponies at stamford bridge, or under someone who could actually teach, because he could not. and, so, it seems in the world of coaching, those who can coach, and those who cannot are shown the door. and that is what led the timbers to hire caleb porter--a coach.

porter has a system. spencer had a system, too, it just was not a good system--it was an old system, and little else. spencer's system pumped the ball into the 18 yard box from the wings with a relentless zeal. it was predictable and easily defended. porter's system relies on ball retention in order to create goal scoring opportunities. it is fluid, malleable, and unpredictable. the players are still getting used to the dynamic vision of the play, but it has given the team an identity and style of play that one expects from a professional footballing side. and it is still developing.

We get a notch, a level better each week. There will be a ceiling at some point, but we’re certainly not there. Our ceiling is a bit higher than most teams because we have so many new guys, so our potential to grow in training week after week is greater than other teams. I’m seeing that in training. The team we are, going into this game, is a notch higher than we were last week.

two weeks ago, the timbers went into the clink and came home with a shared point. they did so because porter got the tactics right. the team played surrounding and stifling defense that prevented seattle from exploiting any openings in the midfield. he then made the right substitutions at the right times. first, taking off jack jewsbury at the 70 minute mark, who was the pivot in back line that limited seattle to 7 shots, and he brought on frederick piquionne. this changed the positioning of the play, pressing the attack further forward, but also gave the midfield an additional body to assist in link-up play. then in the 80 minute, porter brought on the rod wall, which further increased impetus to get forward and the pressure on seattle's back four. here is the point: had spencer been in the same situation, he would have substituted lovell palmer for jack jewsbury and kalif for nagbe. like for like for like for failure.

cp.themansomewhere in his vision, developed over years of coaching and as a student of coaching, porter has grown an ability to understand the flow of play. he makes adjustments within the game to harness that flow in order to increase the pressure on the opposition and increase the opportunities for goal. that is why those who can, coach, those who can't, should sip on pimm's cups. that is why when merritt said he did not pick the right guy to lead this team he makes an admission regarding his relative novice approach to ownership and to a game he was not as well equipped to understand as he is now. it appears the only person who learned a lesson from spencer was the man who hired him.

speaking of now, the timbers are playing at 3 pm. the denver post has run a piece suggesting that horst may make his debut. i highly doubt that, especially since this piece had likely taken on the life of an article by dan itel. a somewhat disingenuous title, leads to a good article that highlights the strong character of a player i really like--david horst. but the fact is the timbers issues at the back are not so much personnel issues as they are issues of a developing understanding between the back four and the crippled keeper. once they have been ironed out, i believe we will see a team able to shut out sides like did to seattle with more regularity.

all right, 3 points it is.

sunshine

A John Nyen Exclusive: does size really matter?

Posted on: March 6th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 1 Comment

 

Let’s get the pre-rehearsed statement out of the way:

The Portland Timbers have the potential to be absolute assassins on a big field.

Ok, are you good with that? Let’s continue and examine.

With a 110x70 yard pitch for the first two seasons of MLS, the Timbers attempted to meld the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City philosophy into one team. John Spencer wanted his team to be a quick playing, defensively stout team that played frenetically to the forward position and wings on offense and, for a few months, the Timbers fit the methodology imposed by Spencer.

Portland used the lack of width of the field (ala Dom Kinnear) to attempt to congest the play defensively, and then spring the attack out to the wing.  This attempted playing style was often done in the empty bucket 4-4-2 formation which relied on Diego Chara and Jack Jewsbury (often) attempting to break up the attack and shuttle the ball to a streaking wing player who would then charge to the endline before humping a ball into the 18 yard box, where hopefully a forward would be standing.

The atmosphere of Jeld Wen, the size of the field and the players understanding the bounces of the turf allowed the Timbers to create a decent home record. However, the failures on the road of 3 wins in two years showed some of the issues with a narrow system built for a specific pitch size.

The Timbers were dependent on attempting to maintain defensive positioning, but on the large field of LA Galaxy (120X75) the center backs, fullbacks and central defensive midfield were all frequently pulled out of position leaving large gaps in the defense and players isolated one on one. With the skill of players like David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane on one side, these gaps would inevitably result in goals.

With the Timbers playing a quick trigger offense, too often the ball would be turned over and the team would then go back into a defensive shell of attempting to simultaneously stay physical (an attribute that the team tended to lack) and positioned correctly (another attribute that the team had trouble with).

Certainly teams like Houston (pitch size 115x70 or same width but 5 yards longer than Portland’s old pitch size) are able to positively implement their system with great result. However, Houston only won two games on the road in 2011 and 4 games on the road in 2012. Their key was a sterling home record that is one of the best in Major League Soccer. In 2011 Houston had the best home record in the East. In 2012 they never lost a game at home.  As a matter of fact, since moving into BBVA Compass Stadium the Dynamo have won or tied every single one of their games at home.  Houston, as well, have tried to move away from that extremely physical style to one built around the connections in midfield and the stellar left foot of Brad Davis.

Now, for the Timbers, enter Caleb Porter.

This offseason the Timbers began moving into a new direction of possession with purpose. After the dramatic tie against Red Bull New York, we can see the initial stages of the Porterization of the Timbers. We can also begin to draw some very basic conclusions from the match, and one of those is that this team is built for possession through their central hub of Diego Valeri.

With the new system of the Timbers, Portland should have the ability to make use of the “slightly larger than Jeld Wen” fields in MLS by paper-cutting teams to death. Slowly, link by link, pass by pass, PTFC can draw out opponents, create mistakes, pass the ball across the field, and make their opposition chase the play.  This was evident on the newly widened (110X74) field on Sunday as the Timbers were able to keep possession and simply tire Red Bull out by making them chase the ball.

When I say “the Timbers were able to keep possession” and we are talking about a home game it is worth noting that a smaller width pitch makes it easier for defenses of BOTH teams to press in an attempt to get the ball back in midfield. Visitor and home teams alike can obtain a benefit from this. There is just simply less room for individual players than there is in New York or Montreal. With the expansion of the field to a width more consistent with the rest of MLS, the Timbers should be more familiar with their team spacing on the road as it will be very close to their positioning and width at home.

The large fields in Montreal (120x77), Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Harrison, and Kansas City (all 120x75) should give the new look Timbers even more room to move, both horizontally as well as from top to bottom. This should give them the ability, not seen last year, to compete on these fields and control the game.

The win that clinched the Cascadia Cup in Vancouver, British Colombia was highlighted by the aerial flight of the ball and the anti-soccer that, at times, Portland utilized. To be certain, Vancouver didn’t really attempt to play on the ground either, but Portland were simply content with stepping to a Whitecap player, stopping their forward momentum and then retreating.

This season, there can be a small amount of hope that, on the road, the Timbers will attempt to utilize their skill and movement to keep the ball moving and defenses running. As with anything written before it happens, this theory remains to be seen, but the mood can only be positive as the season rolls into the second week and beyond. Of course, the very first test of this new system on the road will come in very hostile environments as the first away game for the Timbers will be in their derby against Seattle (114x74).  However, what better environment to have as a test to the ability of your team to control the balance of play than in an environment on the road likely more charged than just about any other road game during the season.

In the meantime, the Timbers will attempt to ply their system on Montreal at home against an Impact side that spent a good solid 60 minutes cobbling together well organized defensive lines capable of thwarting Seattle’s attempts at goal.

There will be growing pains for Portland this season. There will be unexpected issues as well as those very expected issues. However the expectations get tempered, it appears that Portland are headed towards a very interesting campaign in 2013, especially with their road performances.

John

noteworthy, newsworthy, and football yellow journalism…

Posted on: February 11th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 3 Comments

 

imagesCAMG9AS1

what a slow weekend for news. even with the team travelling home there should be some news, right? evidently not. one day has elapsed since the timbers have pulled up roots in arizona and left for the northwest, yet somehow the topical conditions in which mainstream news has found itself are so arid that they cannot compose stories of interest involving team development. no, instead of stuffing the mental coffers with quotes and notes on tactics or new individual players, the news has been limited to sigi scmid's response to merritt paulson's insensitivity over twitter regarding schmid's obvious physical condition. let's face it, the dude is not small. but how is that newsworthy?

i am left again wondering how a major league team has such few and talentless journalists that its coverage in the mainstream is limited to that type of journalism. was it purposeful to install the progeny of william randolph hearst's rambunctious yet irresponsible yellow tall tales? perhaps now that sigi's weight issues are out there in mainstream format we can discuss bat boy's and lobster girl's not so secret love affair in an area of the north end commonly referred to as del boca vista. once that has been uncovered for the greater portland metro-area to read, i think it would be prudent of the mainstream journalists to break the story surrounding how vera katz magically transforms into a chupacabra at the very scent of pine resin.

one of the very reasons we started this blog was to create a daily discussion about football in portland. this is soccer city, usa and the people who live here have a greater knowledge of the sport than any other city in the country. unfortunately, the discussion provided by mainstream journalism is considerably limited in quantity as well as quality. sigi schmid is fat and merritt paulson made a gaff. we get it. but how about the new formation? what about the already observable benefits of possession play? what about the new tactics of team defense? what about mikael silvestre's trial--is that going result in a permanent deal? what about the freeze out of futty danso? these are topics apropos to the continued and intelligent discussion of our team: the portland timbers.

the news could flourish if the few of us who have devoted significant chunks of our days to discussing the club were provided the same or similar access to the coaches and players as other, more "qualified" journalists have received. i would love to see any one of or all of kevin alexander or magadh or kristen g or bob kellett be offered a press pass and access to the people who we actually care to devote an excessive amount of time discussing. even if the club does not agree with the conversation, the conversation does benefit the club.

while some journalists have enlisted their sources to create a scurrilous and empty article about twitter and big-boned people, there is news about the club worthy of discussion. the much maligned back four of 2012 has not undergone a significant amount of change. while the team has shed a few useless pounds by cutting lovel palmer and koeske kimura, the diet also saw a little muscle atrophe when they cut ties with steven smith. as ruthless as that roster move was, it was also financially sound given the overall needs of the team. but these moves did not reduce the heart of the defence, which could have benefited from a cull and an addition or two. so far, it seems the approach the club has taken with the defense is one of changing the tactics rather than complete overhaul. to be fair, had the tactics not changed a complete overhaul of the back four would have little change in the timbers woes. the simple answer to that question is that last year the structure and shape of the defense was more 6's and 7's than 4 across. they had little idea of how to hold their shape, force play into outer areas, and to control the tempo of the game.

the reality of last year is this: the positioning of the back four was pitiful. rather than holding their line, too often the right side was caught out, either due to incompetence or by overreacting to play situations as they developed. the more composed defenses allow for play to come to them before pressing and closing down the opposition. and too often their impatience would be confused with eagerness and enthusiasm that is easily forgivable, though not beneficial. as athletic and exciting of a player as he may be, hanyer mosquera was increasingly guilty of this type of impatient play. had he been instructed in terms of proper defensive tactics there may have been different results, but last year it was quite obvious defensive tactics were not often discussed in the confines of training.

that seems to have changed. hopefully. in an article devoted to discussing something other than sigi's defensiveness, dan itel gave us some further insight into how the new manager is implementing his strategies into ritualism. the new manager has brought into camp the team concept. i know i have written on this all too often enough and you are likely sick of the subject, but so was john spencer and gavin wilkinson and we saw what happened in their tenures. porter preaches shape--team shape, defensive shape, and the transition into attacking shape. on all ends of the game, shape allows a team to dictate play, exploit the weaknesses of the opponent, and force them to make mistakes. more than any one player, the shape of team play predicts the outcome of the game.

finally, there are some interesting things happening over at another publication, the columbian. you know, the one in washington. chris gluck, a statistician, is plotting the results of play in his own version of soccernomics, which i will refer to as: timbersnomics. his writing is not for the uninterested, but does enlighten if you are willing to put in the effort.

i would quote the boomtown rats if i actually liked the boomtown rats, but it is monday which means another week closer to march 3.

sunshine

cactus league porterball has begun…

Posted on: January 31st, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 5 Comments

 

cactussoccer

before i get into the specific thoughts i had during and after watching the timbers first pre-season match, i must remind you all that it was  just a pre-season match. i do not want to get carried away with the optimism of a new year with new players and a new coach, but i was impressed. i can understand why people might be gun-shy, reluctant to accept things may be changing in portland, and if they do accept the changes they may still find them to be of dubious effort given the jaded affect left by several months of exposure to just plain awful football.  but be assured this team looks like a team.

for a number of years i had heard of this word--team--but was unaware of what it meant. and, just to be certain i was on the right track i did some research. old mr. merriam, who teamed up with mr. webster to create the greatest weapon ever owned in most homes north of the mason-dixon line, defined team as:

two or more draft animals harnessed to the same vehicle.

well, that really wasnt helpful and reminded me of the type of football once played by john spencer, or the type of industry still employed in the southern regions of the state of oregon. so i had to read a little further. i passed the other multiple definitions that included references to ducks and turtles, and landed upon something that was really quite enlightening. a team is also defined as

a number of individuals associated together in work or activity.

now, this was getting somewhere: these people who work together, must do so in a way that combines their intangible abilities in a beneficial, complimentary, and satisfying way. i know what you may be thinking, likely the same thing as i was thinking. and i was thinking: what the heck is all this about?!?! team? combining intangible abilities? benefiting others in a group to promote success??!?!!? yeah, my mind was blown. and as simplistic as the concepts may be they were lost on the previous coaches.

but tuesday confirmed what has been indicated through the last two months of transfer dealings and player acquisition--the timbers now have a coach who understands the concept of team. earlier in his introductory phase at the timbers, porter stated that he may not go out and buy the best players but the players that fit our side the best. it is a subtle distinction but one that is so obviously overlooked by many coaches and managers, today. bringing in the latent that fits and compliments the other players in the team only improves the team. where bringing in a great player because they were so great at some point in their career may not do so. i know i have banged on about this ad nauseam, but it really is a point that cannot be stressed enough.

so, i can now step off of my soapbox and back into the discussion about what we saw from the timbers last tuesday.

tuesday the timbers were excellent in possession. indeed, they exhibited a distinct improvement in the nature of their possession compared to the type of possession we saw from gavin's interpretation of those tactics in the waning months of last season. the team had purpose--they always looked to drive forward into the final third, they looked for the open man, and, more often than not, they made the correct decisions to get open. as is typical with all new systems, the moves were not instinctual but they were far more natural than what we have come to expect from the timbers in the last few years.

We had eight days to train and we have focused on certain things – every day is a building block. And this was another building block. We wanted to see that there was a positive performance based on our good preparation leading into the game, and I thought, overall, we saw that.

if it takes only eight days of instruction and practice to advance this far within the new system, i am hopeful for march 3rd to be at the very least an entertaining game. porter was also surprised at how quickly certain players had developed an understanding, commenting that it

was interesting to see that Nagbe, Ryan [Johnson], Valeri some of these guys have already started to form a relationship, a partnership, and how they link together.

not that it takes a rocket scientist to infer johnson, valeri, and nagbe will be the starting offensive players in whichever formation porter chooses to employ this season, but it does help if you read or watch football or even listen to interviews. clearly porter rates this grouping, and for good reason. they are quick, great with the ball, and, for some strange reason, compliment each other. i know. i know. i know. combining players in roles that compliment each other is as overrated as sitting down to a plate of buttermilk bars from tonalli's on alberta and a carton of blue milk (i'll be picking up my free dozen for that unsolicited product placement, thank you very much). but if you are going to put together a team, i guess bringing in players who fit roles rather than fill holes seems to work best.

i am not going to suggest that the introduction of one player into the squad has improved the overall play, but it has. valeri was everywhere and when he had the ball he was looking forward, finding his teammates in positions that would assist the advancement of play. these were not the typical rodney-wallace-finds-the-next-open-man-kicks-the-ball-and-does-nothing type passes, they were searching, they considered the run of play like a chess match. everything i saw of valeri indicated the timbers finally have a player who thinks ahead of where the play is at that moment. porter could not be more complimentary:

He's a game-changer. He understands the game and understands the flow of the game. He knows how to unlock a team with passing. He had some good moments.

there were several other players i thought worthy of notice--ryan miller, ryan kawulok, ryan johnson. frankly, all the ryans were good. for me, though, it was all about the second half inclusion of last year's unicorn: trencito. the kid simply oozed class. he is not the prototypical number 9, which for me is excellent. he can make his own chances, he places defenses on edge with his pace, and has the requisite athleticism necessary to play for the timbers. i was aware of all those qualities when watching tuesday, but was more impressed by the silky nature of his movement--while he has the physique to be a bull in the china shop, he tends to use other skills to get past players. you cannot teach that, and if you could dike would be a better player for that education. i think he will force porter to ask some questions soon.

alright, ok, those were my more positive impressions of the first few days of zona zonal training. hopefully, we will see more confidence in our third of the pitch. mags was dead on about the noticeable fear of perpetuating the last year's defensive lapses, but i think those kinks will work themselves out once the team strings together some success and belief in their new system of play.

sunshine

The Hopeful Season

Posted on: January 22nd, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com No Comments

 

Traning camp has opened and now things are getting going for real. Oh happy day. I am glad about this for so many reasons. Not the least of which is that the real news cycle of the season is now likely to get underway. I would like to extend my thanks to you hearty readers who have stuck with us over the long off season. As I’ve said before, one of the differences between this league and those in Europe (or other sports here in the USA) is that the news cycle is rather less productive. Bloggers thrive on taking shreds of information and making them into something bigger. It’s a bit like buttering you toast in the morning. Sometimes you open the butter dish and realize that there is only a very small sliver of butter with which to cover your bread. Well, you’ve just got to make do. There is, of course, the option, of going further afield. Sometimes we do. But this runs the risk of making the content of the blog too diffuse, another move which is likely to cost us people’s attention. You are all, I am certain, busy people. It is rather flattering to me that you are willing to take a little time to read what we have to say. But when the news runs dry it makes thing difficult.

Let us not get ahead of ourselves. Training camp has indeed started, but this is currently more of an issue for the people gutting their way through two-a-days than either for us or for you. And yet, it is hard to escape a certain feeling of moment. Last season was one of the grimmest that I have ever lived through as a fan of sports. I’ve spent the vast majority of my time as a follower of the game living out my obsession with Arsenal. Any of you who are familiar with that club will know that, for the last decade or so, they have been generally pretty successful (at least if participation in the Champions League is anything to go by). But following them is has been a bit stressful in the sense that they seem always on the verge of falling back into mediocrity. From a longer term perspective this is really a high point for a team that, for much of its history, couldn’t win the big game. People with a slightly longer frame of memory may recall that, after winning a league and cup double in 1970/71 Arsenal came within an ace of being relegated a couple of years later.

Last season was, I think it fair to say, a scarring experience for all of us. There was rot in the team, but none of us (or not many of us) saw it at the outset. By the time the full measure of the problems became evident the season was already spiraling the bowl. There were some redeeming moments, but in the grotesque morality play of last season they seemed always to be followed by a painful reminder that they were mere blips on a downward path. The period from the last week of June to the end of July illustrates this perfectly. After gutting out a tough win against at home to Seattle, we promptly got hammered 3-0 away to Colorado. This was followed by a (wholly unexpected) triumph against San Jose, one of the toughest teams in the league. Defeat away to RSL followed. Then the bottom dropped out of the tub. We surrendered five goals at home in the course of getting beat the L.A. Gals. We lost 1-0 Chivas, one of the real bottom feeders in the league. And then we were absolutely put to the sword by F.C. Dallas. I have very unpleasant memories of that match. I happened to be watching it on the MLS internet service and, having neglected to turn off the chat feature, I spend much of the first half in verbal jousts with Dallas fans (who combined I.Q.s could be measured in a single digit). Then I pickled myself in beer.

In the midst of that run John Spencer was put out of our collective misery. I have to admit that I had a moment of real Schadenfreude when it came to Gavin Wilkinson in that moment. I remember an exchange of texts between myself and sunshine in which I said something like, “I’m glad that this has happened because now Gavin is going to get to sleep in the bed that he has made for himself.” Yeah, it was something like that. Well, I think there was more profanity, but you get my point. The balance of the season was a long audition for the playing staff to see who was going to take part in the rebuilding process that we all knew had to happen. Some made the cut, others didn’t, and now the team has been leavened with new talent that, we fervently hope, will turn things around.

It will surprise anyone who actually knows me personally that I am, in my heart of hearts, an optimist. It will surprise them because I so often profess intense pessimism. But when I am on my own I have a hard time settling for the confidence in failure. Rationally I know it’s better to be a pessimist. As a very wise man once said, when you’re a pessimist it’s at least a pleasant surprise when you’re wrong. With football I feel like if one didn’t believe that good things were going to happen then there would really be no point in watching. Which is not to say that I’m some kind of pollyanna. Just that I’d like to think of the glass as half full until I know that it’s empty. Last season was a good object lesson in the emptying of the glass.

The question for the team and for us was: what are you going to do about it? Well, they seem to have done something. Porter was probably the best candidate on offer in the coaching market last year (at least of the coaches that we had any chance of attracting), and getting him on board has to be taken as a positive sign. Most importantly from my perspective is that they have been willing to cut away the dead wood. And, of course, it looks as if they made some upgrades, particularly in the form of Valeri, who is the real deal if his YouTube clips are anything to go by (and I think they are).

Training camp has begun and now is the season of our hopes. Perhaps we will be brought down to earth by subsequent events, but things look a lot brighter than they did a few months ago and I, for one, am going to hang on to that.

Magadh