Great save by Gleeson off a Mezquida shot.
By Matt Hoffman
Thirteen shots on goal?
In Saturday’s matinee the Timbers withstood 26 shots by the Vancouver Whitecaps. Now, as Caleb Porter addressed in his post match remarks that “13 shots on goal” appearing on your score sheet doesn’t mean that those were 13 great shots. Many of them, as Porter says, were from distance. So sure, there is a quality component.
On the other hand, these aren’t shots of the “Oops, I crossed the half line and now my direct passes are now shots on goal, I hate FIFA 16! Oh how I hate you” variety either. Vancouver players had the ball and space not just in the final third but in the box as well.
Thankfully, and as Chris Gluck mentioned in my preview piece, Vancouver are like me when I see my first gruesome death on Game Of Thrones, can’t finish.
It’s not as if the Timbers took a bunker mentality and just booted the ball away instead of playing from the back, either. The Timbers had modest possession (46%) and completed a decent (80%) number of their passes.
In other words, it wasn’t just the defense that let Jake Gleeson down, but an offense that couldn’t keep the ball away and in fact gave it away in bad locations.
Player Ratings
Jake Gleeson: 8. The boy stood on his head again. The first goal, Jake was thinking cross. The second was a reaction to a miscue. Either way, I’m rating Gleeson here as unlucky. Regardless of his performance, Jake has two consecutive games where his box is under siege. It’s hard to thrive in that hostile a workplace.
Zarek Valentin: 4. Earlier this week Caleb Porter, in a question about Jake Gleeson, said it’s easier to deal with a player brimming with too much confidence than one whose confidence needs to be built up. Being a fullback in Porter’s scheme is not an easy task. It’s unfortunate for Valentin that his predecessors, Jorge Villafana at left and Alvas Powell at right, were upper tier. He’s not there yet.
Nat Borchers: 7. Borchers created Portland’s only goal of the afternoon. Following a set piece opportunity, Borchers returned to defense when a turnover happened. Sensing, paydirt Borchers rushed forward and put his club ahead.
Robbo all smiles after the game.
Liam Ridgewell: 5. He overcame foot blisters. That’s a solid point right there.
Chris Klute: 4. Like Valentin, pretty unremarkable performance in his first Cascadian derby. The defense allowed so many chances and he didn’t do enough to keep the ball away from Vancouver and serve as any reasonable safety valve.
Diego Chara: 4. Overwork, overused, overdone. The flip of the triangle has been to the detriment of Diego Chara and at the end of the game, as every game, Chara was gassed. No one if questioning his effort, more of a deployment as Nagbe and Valeri and other forwards often had to track back. It’s not fair to blame that on Chara, but that’s the sort of decision when you draw the short straw and do away player ratings.
Set up for Portland`s goal
Darlington Nabge: 8. Nagbe completed nearly 90% of his passes (88%) but also won eight of his nine take-ons. Nagbe held onto the ball and created three chances. His quickness is back as evidenced by the fouls and yellow cards he drew. There’s always hype when a player gets his first caps but Nagbe is providing substance to the sizzle.
Diego Valeri: 6. The Timbers are simply a better team with Valeri on the field. Valeri is irreplaceable as evidenced by the prior two games: the lifeless draw in New England without him and the game winner last week against Toronto. Aside from two shot attempts in the second half (one miss, the other blocked), it would be nice to see Valeri getting more shots.
Fanendo Adi: 6. Adi got three shots off, two of which were on target. He wasn’t able to out-work defenders for headers (not entirely his fault). Porter has said that good play and awards are a positive catch-22 with one driving the other. Adi’s performance wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t transcendent either. Adi’s touches were few and when he did have the ball, Vancouver’s defense did all they could to put Adi out of position.
Fraser Aird with a challenge on Darren Mattocks
Darren Mattocks: 4. Mattocks got a bad rap as a guy who put himself ahead of the team and wasn’t a two-way player. If Saturday was indicative of a typical Mattocks shift, then the game has been short-changed. He got back and defended, picked off some passes, made good decisions with the ball (only two incomplete passes), drew some fouls, and even made a few tackles. But that may ultimately be an issue as he got only one shot on goal.
Jack McInerney: 4. Porter may have waited too long to insert him (13 minutes), but there’s little McInerney can do if he can’t get the ball at his feet anywhere near the goal.
Jack Barmby: Incomplete. He played three minutes.
