Recapturing his form. The stage is set for Clint Dempsey

By Toby Dunkelberg

Sunday is the first derby day of the year for the fans of the Rave Green.

They’ve beaten the 2014 MLS Cup runner–ups New England Revolution, lost against their insurmountable final hurdle LA Galaxy, and won solidly at Colorado. But those matches matches pale in comparison to Sunday’s meeting. For Sounders fans, Portland is everything.

Last year, three of these derbies were packed into the span of six weeks. This time there’s been a whole offseason for tensions to rise and anticipation to build. Add to that Seattle’s poor run of form in the Cascadia Cup in the last couple years and the importance of this match is amplified. These two teams faced each other early last season as well, and the question on the minds of many is whether this game has the potential to match that phenomenally entertaining 4-4 draw in Portland.

Unlike the last time, the Timbers go into this meeting with a win, two actually. Seattle for their part has been much less dominating then they were last year when teams hadn’t figured out how to combat the duo of Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins. With more of an even match – at least on paper – one would expect this game to be much more controlled and frankly boring as each side is less inclined to take chances. Those people are wrong.

Tactical preview: Cascadia derby has potential for goals

Sounders v Timbers: The view from Vancouver

Timbers Training: Will Johnson and Diego Valeri Show

Sounders v Timbers – A preview from Portland

The Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers are both lethal on the counter attack, Seattle through their talented attacking corps of four, and Portland through their sheer speed and athleticism. Both sides prefer an open, fluid style, and that leads to excitement for people in the seats. The teams’ tendencies themselves lead to an exciting match, and then your throw the rivalry on top of it and you’re left with and fast paced game that can change in the span of a minute.

There are noticeable differences in this year’s sides though. The main couple for Portland is the lack of Valeri and Johnson. Valeri was Portlands offensive catalyst and played a role that no one’s been able to replicate this season. On the road especially, Portland has struggled to score goals. They created dozens of chances but they’ve had a tremendously poor conversion percentage. That’s something that’s unlikely to change in the cacophonous confines of CenturyLink Field.

Diego Chara will have to contain Seattle’s offense within the rules.

Their other issue has been the absence of captain and 2014 MLS All-Star Will Johnson. His tenacity and defending prowess have been sorely missed as Portland has lost numerous points in the waning minutes of their matches. Jack Jewsbury is an effective substitute whose service is especially suited to punish a Seattle side that continues to commit fouls near the 18-yard box. But even that can’t hide the mismatch Jewsbury faces against the likes of Dempsey and Martins. Look for him or his partner at CDM, Chara, to be man-marking Dempsey.

Portland will be hungry coming off a narrow win at New York City FC where they were outshot and outplayed for large parts of the game, but they’ve never played particularly well at CenturyLink and still look to be figuring things out in the attack. On the bright side their defense appears to be improved on virtually all fronts and is operating much better as a unit.

On the other side of the ball, Seattle looks to be finding their forms after 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids. In that game we saw Lamar Neagle’s come alive to score his first goals of the 2015 campaign. Once again there are other goal threats outside of Martins and Dempsey and that’s when the Sounders really start to shine. They interplay and find the open man well and make defenses throw fits trying to figure out who to mark and who to leave open. The Sounders are currently tied for third in goals scored and that’s a stat I expect to improve

Although their offense is firing on all cylinders the recent one game suspension handed to Chad Marshall starts to throws their defense into question. Up until this point Seattle had been one of the better defenses in the league, with only five goals conceded, once again tied for 3^rd best in the league. Marshall is the key to their defense. But behind Marshall you have Zach Scott who slotted in perfectly against Dallas and is a veteran of matches against Portland. In fact the 11 year Sounder has played 35 matches against the Timbers. He lives for rivalry games and often steps up big when needed. And yet at 34 he is getting slow, and Portland is perfectly poised to exploit that.

But this match is at CenturyLink Field, in front of all those fans and with a rising Seattle team. I don’t see Ridgewell, Chara, and the rest of the Timbers defense keeping Seattle off the scoresheet at home. And I have trouble seeing the Timbers without Johnson and Valeri getting more than one goal on the road against a rising Seattle team who has had their number in the past.

PREDICTION

Seattle Sounders: 3

Portland Timbers: 1

More Cascadia Derby:

Sounders v Timbers – A (pre)view from Portland

Tactical preview: Cascadia derby has potential for goals

Sounders v Timbers: The view from Vancouver

Radio Cascadia Ep 40

Timbers Training: Will Johnson and Diego Valeri Show