The New England Revolution visit the Portland Timbers on Sunday. Photo/Kari Heistad
The New England Revolution have their work cut out on Sunday night in Oregon: their next opponent, the Portland Timbers, have been as good when playing at home as a cup of Public Domain coffee. Public Domain is a coffee shop in Portland and it features a well-rounded and robust product that packs a punch. In many ways, that’s the best way to describe the current Timbers, who are unbeaten at home and playing a dynamic, tactical brand of football.
Portland’s strength goes beyond their quality on the pitch—their home venue, Providence Park, is widely considered a twelfth man. So it’s no wonder the Revolution have never been victorious at Portland.
That said, the 2017 season is a clean slate. The Timbers, two years removed from winning their first MLS Cup, are the top-ranked team in the Western Conference and look deserving of their current position. New England have yet to register a clean sheet this season and will need to be wary of Portland’s multi-pronged attack.
Midfielder Diego Valeri is that playmaker. Fernando Adi is the Timbers’ main striker and a clinical finisher. Both players have four goals in as many matches to start the season, tying them for second-most goals in Major League Soccer.
The Revolution aren’t behind the eight ball ahead of Sunday’s game in Portland, but aren’t expected to win, either.
A victory on Sunday for the Revs, who have been largely inconsistent in the early stages of the 2017 campaign, would be a clear signal that the tide is turning. A draw would be a respectable result as well. But putting it bluntly: the Timbers are firing on all cylinders while the Revolution are not.
New England’s back line has been largely unconvincing through the team’s first three games of the season. The main culprit of this uncertainty has been defensive newcomer Benjamin Angoua. The 30-year-old Ivorian is a veteran player who has spent nearly a decade playing in Ligue 1, though his depth of experience has not aided him well so far in his brief time in MLS.
Angoua has been directly responsible for the Revolution conceding a goal in every match they’ve played (Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota) and his partnership on the back line along with center back Antonio Mlinar Delamea is still raw. The Revolution need a more fortified defense if they hope to engineer a positive result in Rose City, and the Angoua-Delamea tandem is a requirement for success.
Valeri, Adi, and Portland’s multi-faceted, dynamic attack doesn’t yield. They have scored nine home goals this season—the most in MLS.
New England have the potential to play a well-rounded brand of soccer—their balance throughout the pitch in terms of quality of defenders and scoring threats is similar to Portland’s—but they need to treat Sunday’s contest like an air hockey game.
Air hockey is high-octane. Both sides never quit. It’s offense and defense with a side of cleverness and craft. Basically, there’s no sense in expecting Portland to roll over and die. They won’t. Does any self-respecting side in air hockey?
Portland’s mascot is Timber Joey, a lumberman who breaks out a chainsaw and slices a disc out of a tree log every time the hosts score. The wooden disc is then awarded to the goal scorer after the final whistle.
The Portland players want to hear the chainsaw. Timber Joey wants to hear the chainsaw. The fans at Providence Park want to hear the chainsaw.
The Revolution do not want to hear the chainsaw.
In any event, New England’s attack runs through their ability to transition from defense into offense (like in air hockey!) and Lee Nguyen’s playmaking ability. In the Revolution’s last game, a 5-2 victory over Minnesota United last Saturday afternoon, coach Jay Heaps slotted Nguyen in behind the striker pairing of Juan Agudelo and Kei Kamara.
The tactical switch worked well: Nguyen was able to run at Minnesota and cut through their defense and allow the players behind him, mainly Diego Fagundez, to make meaningful passes that create goals. To boot, both Kamara and Agudelo scored in the run of play.
A victory in Portland isn’t outside the realm of possibility, though it will require the Revolution to play an entire, 90-minute match going tit for tat with the Timbers. And it’s not that such a performance is impossible—it’s that New England have shown what’s required only in glimpses thus far, and nothing more.
If you want to reach Julian, follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
