Lamar Neagle has as many starts as Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey combined.
by Matt Hoffman
Sunday’s Sounders-Timbers tilt Timbers and Sounders FC will be the 94th all-time meeting between the Cascadian cities (1:30 PM, ESPN). Recent form suggests the Timbers have the edge, but as we know all to well: anything is possible in a rivalry that stretches back 40 years across three different leagues.
Here are the story lines heading to Sunday’s nationally televised match:
Hard knocks in Seattle
When Lamar Neagle has played all of Seattle’s 26 games and started in 20, you know it’s been a tough year for the Sounders. That’s not a knock of Neagle, but if Neagle is making 20 starts, that means that Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins aren’t.
In 13 games, Martins has nine goals, Dempsey has 7. Neagle has four. Fittingly, neither Martins nor Dempsey were on the field, for instance, the last time the Timbers played the Sounders. The result was a comprehensive 4-1 Timbers victory at Providence Park in late June.
Since then the Sounders have won twice with five losses in between. The wins–home games each of them–were against a DC United team decimated by injuries and against an expansion Orlando side who played with only ten men the majority of the game.
Amid losing Martins and Dempsey,The Sounders have nose-dived from top of the table to just below the red line with Houston and RSL knocking on their door.
The Sounders hope their fortunes will changed as the players return to the fold. Martins has played the last two weeks while Dempsey participated in full practice this week though Sigi Schmid was mum on if Dempsey will see the pitch this weekend.
Seattle has also spent a significant amount of money in the Summer transfer window. The jury is out but with a few exceptions, summer acquisitions rarely seamlessly transition well to MLS in a few short weeks the way the Sounders need them to.
Timbers adjustments
The Timbers are like a Pandora playlist. You put in Duran Duran and who knows what comes next: Madonna? Journey? Biz Markie? Menudo?
The Timbers inconsistency on offense is so striking that currently defender Nat Borchers is tied for second on the team in scoring.
The defense has kept the team in games but the team will face its starkest defensive fracas against a desperate Seattle side this weekend and they’ll be doing it without one, possibly two, of their most important players.
Diego Chara won’t go due to a red card in last week’s match. Captain Will Johnson meanwhile is a question mark with a sore leg.
Will Johnson may not make the match (leg)
Either one is a big loss for the Timbers, but potentially playing without both could profess doom for the Timbers.
As the adage goes, the best defense for the Timbers may lie in a good offense. That’s a tall order for a team 18th in the league in scoring.
The losses of Chara, and possibly Johnson, may in fact embolden Caleb Porter to employ what fans have been clamoring over for weeks now: starting DP forwards Fanendo Adi and Lucas Melano together.
Starting the two together would not necessarily mean Porter would be deviating from the 4-2-3-1 formation. Porter has said before Melano can play in any of the front four positions in his 4-2-3-1 formation. This was on display last Friday when Melano slid over to the left when Rodney Wallace exited the match in favor of Adi.
Collectively the pair looked sharp creating chances and ultimately salvaging a point in the the end.
As Seattle has tumbled in the standings over the past few weeks, it’s safe to assume that Seattle will ratchet the pressure to 11 this weekend. Look for the Timbers to start slowly, happily ceding the possession battle to the home side, maybe being content to half-hardheartedly jettison a couple shots downfield initially before turning more proactive about twenty minutes into the match.
Adam Larson-Kwarasey and the defense got caught out twice on quick counters by Houston. Unquestionably this was a subject of training this week. It’s worth asking if one, possibly both, defensive midfielders will be staying back foregoing the attacking in order to bolster the defense.
Especially when you consider that leaving Seattle with a point would be a huge feather under Portland’s cap.
