Kevin ‘play on’ Stott in a familiar pose.
By Niall McCusker
After last week’s 3-1 win against Dallas, Caleb Porter indicated that Portland’s new 442 formation would continue as he felt it was the best use of his available talent. But after Orlando’s 2-0 win and Portland’s worst performance of the season he may be having another think about that this week.
When you play in a 442 and you don’t have a midfielder to link the defense with the attack, your strikers aren’t holding the ball up well enough and you are not winning the wings you aren’t going to get much out of the game. The Timbers went direct to their forwards in the first ten minutes, but after that the inherent man advantage in a 433 set-up versus a 442 gave the midfield to Orlando. They had several dangerous attacks by the time their goal eventually came after half an hour.
Timbers Tactical Analysis: Time for a Rethink
The Timbers played a little better in the second half, but too many lethargic and predictable performances from individual players coupled with Orlando’s man advantage in the middle meant there was no come-back on the cards. They had only a couple of half chances before the Floridians broke to earn their late penalty and secure a deserved win.
Here are the individual ratings:
Adam Larsen Kwarasey 5.5: Hey grand-kids let me tell you about that day I saved a penalty from Kaka – we know, we know, Chara and Fernandez encroached and he got to take it again granddad.
While his save from the first penalty was excellent, his play in giving it up was less than stellar for a player touted as a sweeper/keeper type who can manage a high line. That said the ball from Kaka was predictably inch perfect and Rivas showed some nice guile for a young player in drawing the contact. No chance with the first goal, as with all his games so far he was not super busy, while Orlando controlled large parts of the game they didn’t get a lot of good shots on target.
Alvas Powell 5.5: Kaka and Nagbe both had license to roam, so this wing was a straight duel between Shea and Powell. A lot of people are predicting a move to Europe in Powell’s future, Brek Shea failed in England (though injury played a role in that), but he looked better than Powell in this game.
Like at Vancouver he gets credit for being very busy and involved in the attack, but also like that game his final ball was often poor in choice and/or execution.
Got a yellow for a frustration foul in the first half after Stott missed his run onto the ball being checked. He had previously done a good job in cutting that kind of rash decision out so far this season. Needs to keep working on the offensive side of his game, big league scouts don’t give points for effort.
Nat Borchers 5.5: when the other team has the man advantage in midfield it means the center backs have a man advantage at the back, so the center forward really shouldn’t be finding himself unmarked in front of goal. It was a strange play for the first goal, Borchers was touch-tight to Larin, but used that touch to push him into the path of the ball instead of guiding him back a little and getting goal side of him.
Positioning on the second goal might have been questionable as well, he reacted late to the run – after Rivas laid off the ball, the attention of Powell, Borchers and Chara was completely on Kaka as Rivas scampered into the box by himself. They did get a nice view of the excellent pass, but they aren’t paid to ball watch.
Yes it was Sunday, but don’t worship him – tackle him!
Liam Ridgewell 6: Ridgewell was not blameless on the first goal either, it was his weak header that left Villafana in no-mans land, allowing Molino to get free down the right to cross in the ball. Did hold the line well in the middle though, Orlando had the extra man but mostly had to lay the ball wide.
Jorge Villafana 5.5: He may have held Castillo excellently last week, but had much more trouble with Kevin Molino. Not terrible, but below par in this game like most of his colleagues. His set-piece delivery continues to be quite solid.
Larin chests it in – unorthodox but effective!
George Fochive (off on 46′) 5: He beat Kaka to the first ball that came his way in the first minute, but that might have been the highlight of his afternoon. He and Chara didn’t get a handle on the game during the first half, even though out-numbered they might have done a little more. One great forward run in the 35th minute was not enough to save him from being withdrawn at halftime. In fairness though, the substitution said more about the tactical imbalance in the line-ups than a deficiency in his play. Porter might have thought about changing the system at halftime, even though withdrawing a striker seems a negative move when trailing by a goal.
Diego Chara 6.5: Chara somehow found himself in a one v one situation on the halfway line as Orlando countered from a Portland set-piece. Took the foul and was fortunate to see only yellow as even though Molino still had half the field to run, no other Timber was within recovery distance.
Quite how that happened will undoubtedly have been the subject of robust post-game inquiry, in that situation you should always have have two defenders on the highest attacker.
He later got involved in some frisky tussles with his compatriot Higuita, which was unwise when on a yellow card. Pushed forward more in the second half with the security of Jewsbury behind him and sent some nice balls to his strikers and wingers. Along with Nagbe looked like the player really trying to drive his colleagues on and get them back in the game, but while Chara’s range of passing is better than many think, Portland’s midfield is still lacking a true creator.
I really want to retaliate here – is the ref watching?
Darlington Nagbe 7: As has been the case in most games this season his direct running was at the heart of Portland’s more dangerous attacks, was a little greedier in this game, taking a few of his own shots at the top of the box, which is no bad thing. Released Asprilla on the right for an effort on goal and could have had a penalty right before halftime. A slight jersey tug probably wasn’t going to convince Stott to award a spot-kick, but at least go down and look for it. Actually waved an imaginary yellow card at the referee in the 54th minute, but you could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
Rodney Wallace (off on 55′) 5.5: Had a good first twenty minutes but faded out of the game after that. Both he and Nagbe could have been busier on the defensive side in the first half. With Asprilla and now Yartley looking on from the bench he might be running out of time as a starter.
Fanendo Adi 5.5: had a good first ten minutes and popped up with some dangerous moments in the second half, but otherwise was too easily dealt with by Collin. The Frenchman seems to enjoy playing the part of the pantomime villain and probably should have been booked for tossing Adi to the ground in the first half, but he played an excellent game – winning headers, stepping out in front and blocking shots.
Adi got frustrated but kept putting in some work, should have got his header on target from Powell’s cross with twenty minutes to go.
You’re a big lad – get on with it!
Maxi Urruti 5.5: He didn’t get into the game in the first half, both forwards got poor service, but it seemed like Urruti should have dropped a bit deeper into the middle to look for the ball. Porter has admitted he doesn’t really play the second striker role but this match was really crying out for one, if only Portland had another Argentinian player in the squad who enjoys this kind of role?
Finally got a couple of chances in the second half, from Adi’s header down and Nagbe’s through-ball. Normally Urruti doesn’t have to be asked twice to shoot when inside the box, early shots are what he is all about – but today he wanted an extra touch and Orlando’s defense was closing down much too quickly for that.
Jack Jewsbury (on in 46′) 6: Is he is really the substitute to bring your team back from a goal down? Jewsbury played well and Portland’s midfield took on a more solid look, but that might have been due to Orlando being happy to sit back and soak up pressure. A shoulder charge on Kaka right at the start of the second half made a statement, but Portland never really brought the urgency up to the required level after that.
Dairon Asprilla (on in 55′) 6: When you have a converted midfielder (Shea) playing at full-back, using an orthodox winger to make him focus on defense is a good move. He and Powell stopped Shea attacking, but the Texan also defended well. A good effort on goal when released by Nagbe, but like Powell his crossing and passing was a bit of a mixed bag.
Gaston ‘not on long enough for rating’ Fernandez (on in 81′): ‘La Gata’ has been retired as a nickname and replaced with this unwieldy mouthful. Not sure who’s dog he has been kicking but he is definitely out of favor. The two striker system wasn’t working in this game and there wasn’t a link between the midfield and attack, but still no Gaston. It could be argued that Portland were knocking on the door before Orlando’s penalty, but it was a very polite knock – more like Mormon missionaries than debt collectors. Portland lacked urgency and while Fernandez is definitely not a player who brings that to a game, he is a thinker who brings a cerebral approach to unlocking a defense. He may not be the answer, but he should at least be given a chance to state his case.
