Portland Timbers Player Ratings Versus Los Angeles Galaxy

The Portland Timbers were coming off four straight victories in league play when they arrived in Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy Wednesday. Their early season results perhaps belied an untapped reservoir of talent that was beginning to burst forth, with Diego Valeri and Will Johnson returning from injury and the offense beginning to find the back of the net.

Certainly there was evidence that, if a few things had gone the Timbers’ way at the beginning of the season, the Timbers should be higher up the league table. However, one might also argue that recent favorable results were earned against lesser teams or depleted rosters and that Portland must still prove that they can perform against the MLS elite. This match-up was a failed opportunity to lay those suspicions to rest and possibly another indicator that the Timbers may actually deserve their place in the standings.

Timbers Captain Will Johnson was being rested for the upcoming Cascadia Derby versus the Seattle Sounders. Nat Borchers was fresh off a rest that saw Norberto Paparatto ably substituting alongside Liam Ridgewell in the previous win against Houston Dynamo. Diego Valeri was returning to the field as a starter after missing matches due to an ankle sprain, with Gaston Fernandez having performed quite well in his stead and challenging naysayers who prognosticated about his seemingly imminent midseason departure.

A victory against the Galaxy at StubHub Center was always going to be a big ask, as the Galaxy are rarely defeated on their home grounds. However, Portland has developed a reputation for performing more successfully on the road and upset Los Angeles in the past. Both teams were carrying momentum from their recent form and trying to claw their way to the top of the table. Los Angeles and Portland have both tended to build success in the second half of the season, though early season setbacks for the Galaxy may be more attributed to CONCACAFF obligations than the Timbers penchant for injuries to key players.

This match should have been more even than it was but the stars aligned for the Galaxy, who lethally capitalized on every Timbers misstep with a potent attack and shrugged off the feeble efforts of Portland’s impotent offense. A positive for both teams is that it provided them with opportunities to experiment as, after the game became so lopsided, neither had anything to lose by trying out different players and formations. With the transfer window opening very soon, players must perform their very best to secure their places in their respective rosters. Not too many Timbers made very good cases for themselves in this outing.

Diego Chará 8: Man of the Match. Despite at least one giveaway in an unfavorable position and his usual tactical foul, Chará and his Cheshire Cat grin were omnipresent on the pitch at StubHub. He was able to switch the pitch in a way that the Timbers have missed with the absence of Will Johnson. He also got involved in the attack with pinpoint penetrating passes.

Jorge Villafaña 7.5: Villafaña has become a mainstay on the left side of the Timbers in attack and defense, with his crossing abilities inspiring religious fervor. His defense has been reliably consistent, except on set pieces, where it is consistently unreliable. In this match he did not shine especially brightly at either end of the pitch, perhaps being dragged down by the weight of all the failure happening around him.

Michael Nanchoff (On in 75′) 7: Nanchoff may not have seen the pitch long enough against Los Angeles to have earned a rating, but as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreadful showing, his inclusion is a nod the verve and creativity he brought to the game and a way to balance out the suck throughout the rest of the ratings.

 

Darlington Nagbe 5.5: He came, he played, he dribbled. Nagbe’s mere presence on the field opens up space for his teammates. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to release the ball quickly enough, to the right places, for his teammates to take advantage of this before rival defenders inevitably hacked him down. This is now typical Nagbe. Hopefully his shoulder wasn’t hurt too badly in the fall betwixt the Galaxy slices. The return of Dairon Asprilla might be just what Nagbe and the Timbers need.

Adam Larson Kwarasey 5: This may be a bit too generous. He didn’t really have much chance at any of the goals that LA scored. Being fooled by a stutter-stepping Robbie Keane isn’t unusual or much reason for shame. He may have done better against Robbie Rogers but that was legitimately an exemplary goal and more the fault of his defenders, especially Alvas Powell. His wall on the Jose Villarreal free kick goal was a travesty, but it seemed that he was yelling at Fanendo Adi to move into a better position, which Adi clearly did not do well enough.

Rodney Wallace 5: Wallace has had a relatively down season that began to trend upward in the last few games. Maybe he is feeling the pressure with the Ishmael Yartey experiment, Nanchoff returning from injury, and Nagbe able to play inverted on the left. This match he started off strong before fizzling out in the second half, no doubt making the decision to substitute Nanchoff in even more of a no-brainer for Caleb Porter.

Gaston Fernandez (On in 60′) 5: Maybe he deserves a 6. He probably deserved to start over Valeri at this point, in which case he may have performed better, if recent statistics are any indication. He offered some creativity, didn’t do much to fuel frustrations about flopping or diving, and was probably set up to fail by the time he was subbed on.

Nat Borchers 5: He looked like he might have been complicit in at least one of the goals, but it is unreasonable to have expected him to cover for the failings of Powell and the inadequacies of Jack Jewsbury. He made some good clearances and got surprisingly involved in the attack. The overall poor quality of the Timbers play probably made him look worse than he was to me.

Fanendo Adi (On in 70′) 5: He missed some opportunities on goal, but was in the right place to have them to begin with, which is a small victory. He managed to stay upright and onside.

Diego Valeri 4: Diego couldn’t find the net or the pass against the Galaxy. This is the most lackluster performance I’ve ever seen from him. He didn’t appear to be in pain, frustrated, or otherwise out of sorts, except that absolutely nothing he tried worked at all.

Jack Jewsbury 3.5: This may be a bit harsh, as I think Jack really only made one enormous mistake the whole match. Mostly, he’s just showing his age, having been converted from a midfielder, to a right back, to a revolving door. Maybe he would make a good central defender? It would be great for the Timbers to have him around another year or two and retire him in the Rose City. However, every time I start down this path he has an amazing game and shows his worth again.

Liam Ridgewell 3: Ridgy really wasn’t doing too poorly until he karate kicked Alan Gordon for no reason, besides the fact that it was Alan Gordon. I might have given him a 6 up until that point. I still kind of cheer for him because, seriously, he karate kicked Alan Gordon. However, he was the Captain for this match and, however well Paparatto performed against Houston and may be able to perform against Seattle, the Timbers need Ridgewell to be available and a good example. This was brash, wipes his ass with cash, Ridgewell. There is no place for that on the Timbers.

Maximiliano Urruti 3: Urruti really didn’t look too bad right out of the gate in the first half. Then he dug his own grave so deeply he may be Buddhist now. Part of me wants to admire that he tracked back to defend. That showed the type of hustle and initiative that I admire in players. However, it also showed that he doesn’t know that rival forwards will do to him what tries to do to defenders: go down easy. Urruti should not have put his hands on Lletget, even slightly. He should not have been so close behind Lleget to allow him to dive at the barest touch, throwing his legs back and getting tangled in Urruti’s feet to draw the penalty kick. This play irrevocably changed the momentum of the match.

Alvas Powell 2.5: Second in failure only to his red cards in his earliest days with the Timbers, this was Powell’s worst performance in green and gold this season. He wasn’t reckless and brash, just flat incompetent on both sides of the ball. Powell could not cross to anyone or position himself intelligently enough to defend well. It was interesting seeing him switched to the left side though. Why not?