Adi’s goals could only secure a draw with LA
Taking the show on the road: Timbers at Sporting preview
by Matt Hoffman
The Portland Timbers are winless, yet undefeated, as they head to Kansas to take on Sporting Kansas City (Match: Saturday, March 21, Sporting Park, 5:30 p.m. Pacific).
Since cutting the ribbon on Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City has been in rarefied air. The team stopped Seattle’s run of U.S. Open Cup dominance en route to winning MLS Cup two seasons ago.
That run of success had a high cost though.
The lack of flexibility in a salary-capped league caught up with the team. Using two of its Designated Player slots to re-sign their own players, Sporting sold off many of it’s top players and didn’t really have the reinforcements to help buoy the team as the World Cup hangover hit the team hard last year. Sporting sputtered toward the finish line last year and crashed out of the playoffs in the first round.
The team rebounded. Somewhat. Like in 2014, the 2015 team has opened the season with a point over their first two games. The first of which being an unsavory home draw with the New York Red Bulls. The second a 3-1 loss at Dallas that could be blamed, in small part, to goal in which no less than five players appeared offside.
In their first game with NYRB, lost star central defender Matt Besler to a red card.
Losing a goal over a missed call is understandably upsetting. Given some time to rue over the match Sporting coach Peter Vermes has come to terms with that.
“I felt the second goal changed things a little bit,” Vermes said in his remarks to the media this week. “But there were times where we lost possession in some very easy situations or put ourselves in dangerous positions.”
“I thought we were on the front foot … we created a lot of chances within [FC Dallas’s] box and had a lot of opportunities.”
Dom Dwyer missed a penalty kick that would have certainly altered the game. So successful were Sporting in gaining penalty kicks, and in Dwyer converting them, that Dwyer’s 2014 is tied for 2nd place all-time in penalty kick goals in an MLS season.
With a savvy, experienced backline the Timbers now possess, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Timbers to were to cede possession and allow Sporting to be the aggressor. A year ago this approach would have been inviting danger.
However, as Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers are solidifying their partnership with one another and Adam Larson Kwarsey in goal, the Timbers are better equipped to withstand the pressure Sporting can apply and not create the gaffes that Sporting takes advantage of.
This is important in a series where the road team has prevailed three out of five games.
Tactically, it’s an open question: Will the Timbers go with the 4-3-3 they started the match with or the 4-4-2 with which they concluded?
It’s splitting hairs here because ultimately the Timbers will look to use Darlington Nagbe’s vision and technical skills to create 1v1 match-ups for Fanendo Adi. As Porter said this week, “[Nagbe’s] going to get on the ball and he’s going to create problems.”
This could be a big ask as Adi will have a tough task going against Matt Besler.
Besler missed the game against Dallas (suspension) but is unquestionably one of the best at his position in MLS. It is no coincidence that his trade value soared following the World Cup.
Which is why the speed on the flanks of Rodney Wallace and Dairon Asprilla are essential to unlocking the Sporting defense just as it was Wallace who assisted on Adi’s initial goal last week.
Canadian international Marcel de Jong made his MLS debut at left back last week. Exploiting the new man will be something to keep an eye out for in this match.
While Sporting will look to attack and push a high line, Porter and the Timbers could use the element of surprise to flummox their now-conference rival.
“If we need to go direct, we can,” Porter said at practice earlier this week.
“We can play on the counter if we can. If we want to keep the ball we can. I think that diversity in our team will help us over the course of the season, game-in, game-out, depending on what the game calls for.”
One final note, this very likely maybe Jack Jewsbury’s final hurrah. The Joplin, Mo. native came up through Sporting and was there for the team’s glory days prior to its rebranding. Jewsbury is still an important locker room presence but his place on the depth chart has been supplanted by Diego Chara, Will Johnson, and Ben Zemanski, the latter two’s injuries making it possible for Jewsbury to be in the starting lineup.
