(12) Portland Timbers (5,9,8, 23 points) vs (5) Columbus Crew (10,6,6, 36 points)
Saturday July, 15, 7:30 PM PST/10:30 PM EST
Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
Portland Timbers Briefly
Last night against Colorado, despite having a few shots at goal, the team came short of its objective of getting a win on the road as this team’s troubles mount in every game.
Is this team locker room fragmented, it certainly looks like as the giant efforts of its GM Ned Grabavoy of building a contender in the field are coming up short. The team is having a number of issues on the field as some of its players aren’t delivering.
What’s the matter with the Portland Timbers as its one of a kind fanbase is asking a number of questions of this team’s poor development in the season after it’s been built up in many of its areas.
The team definitely needs to get its focus back and start developing a winning culture. The case of Santiago Moreno really needs to become a priority of the club in order to put down his anxiety of moving to another team.
A united team is a happy team. Why doesn’t Gio develop this culture as the man can make things work for the better and put a remedy to this nonsense with a number of players being not happy with the team and showing it in their game?
Teamwork is imperative for a successful team and not only three or four players need to be present in every match. It’s a starting eleven and each one of these lads needs to put in their contribution.
As Boli, Chara, Paredes, and Zuparic being the center of the team and even Evander when he’s healthy, this team is potent and dangerous, but if everyone plays in the same page, we can see far more better results.
Giovanni Savarese needs to put order in that locker room and not let continue to grow the dissent and discord and put an end to this nonsense that the followers of this team deserve more fulfillment.
I conclude that injuries really take a toll on a team and the Timbers haven’t been exempted of its notable players on the injured list. But this doesn’t need to be an excuse to not give your best in the field.
Probable Lineup: GK David Bingham, Juan Mosquera, Dario Zuparic, Miguel Araujo, Claudio Bravo; Diego Chara, Cristhian Paredes; Victor Griffith, Marvin Loria, Nathan Fogaca; Franck Boli
Photo Credit Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew Briefly
Manager Wilfred Nancy looks like the man who has the Midas touch. The team he manages becomes a winner and so far with the Columbus Crew, the man has turned this team around for the best as results speak louder than words.
Not in the top, but at least they are seeded in fifth place and very secure in the postseason spots. So far, this team has a number of weapons in its offensive attack very well a solid defensive game that can give the opposing strikers a headache.
So far, in the season the Crew has a perfect record against its Western Conference opponents and looking for extend its streak to four when they play the Timbers this upcoming Saturday night at Providence Park.
Very well, with the way Portland has been held lately with just five goals scored in the last 10 games and not playing in their best games lately the Rose City, they can become an easy prey for this Midwest side looking to extend their positive streak.
Probable Lineup: GK Patrick Shulte, Sean Zawadszki, Steven Moreira, Malte Amudsen; Mohamed Farsi, Alexandru Matan, Darlington Nagbe, Yaw Yeboah; Lucas Zelarayan; Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez
Meetings
09/18/2022 Columbus Crew 1-1 Portland Timbers
04/20/2019 Columbus Crew 1-3 Portland Timbers
09/19/2018 Portland Timbers 3-2 Columbus Crew
Forecast
The Portland Timbers looking for a big win against Columbus, on the day of Diego Valeri’s homage
Portland Timbers
Columbus Crew
