Photo courtesy of John May.
By Matt Hoffman (@mhoff)
With it being Week 10 in MLS play, we are quickly seguing from “It’s early” to “You Are What Your Record Says You Are” territory. That’s not good news for two teams currently below the red line as the Portland Timbers (3-3-3, 12 points, same as it ever was?) head to Vancouver to play the Whitecaps (3-5-2, 11 points) Saturday (2pm Root Sports.)
For the Timbers, the Liam Ridgewell injury turned out to be a major set-back. The captain returned to action on Sunday and the Timbers subsequently returned to their winning ways with a 2-1 win over Toronto.
For Vancouver it’s just not that simple. The Whitecaps sprinted to a commanding lead before injuries and inconsistent play undid the team. Ultimately Vancouver was able to parlay their record into a first round bye (courtesy of a tie-breaker with Portland), but on the field the injury concerns were simply too much for the Caps team to overcome.
With a healthy roster coming into 2016, the Whitecaps were a trendy pick to make MLS Cup (albeit with some caveats) but given last weekend’s result, surely those predilections are now looking as convincing as Steve Buchemi’s efforts to infiltrate high schools gang culture.
Not so says Aaron Campbell, Prost’s Vancouver correspondent:
The result was due to the inconsistent refereeing that has been rampant this season in MLS. The second [David] Villa goal should never have counted in any league…. The effort was there but with the let down in play by Laba and Jacobson and missed calls there was no way they were winning that game.
The 3-2 result against NYCFC was the Caps fourth game over the course of two weeks. The Caps were also without Kendall Waston who served a suspension but will be available Saturday. I asked Campbell what Waston brings to the Caps:
Waston is the physical element to this team’s defense. That’s not the only important aspect but with Harvey and Aird also missing in the game and having Sam Adekugbe and Jordan Smith starting alongside Parker and Kah it was a receipt for something going wrong. Robinson choose to prioritize squad rotation over putting out the best defense to win the game.
Watch as yellow turns to red. Photos courtesy of John May.
Defensively, Vancouver was a dynamo last year, David Ousted tied Adam Kwarasey for most clean-sheets with 13. Only 36 goals allowed in regular season play, the Caps tied the Sounders for fewest goals allowed.
That hasn’t been the case in 2016 as only handful of teams have allowed more goals this season. As Carl Robinson’s remarks following the loss on Saturday show, the coach is well aware of the issue:
“I think individually we’re not as concentrated as we need to be and our errors are costing us. And when that happens you’re always searching for those answers. Individually, collectively, we need to be better.”
Outsted has his own ideas for the team’s defensive performance: “Defensively as a team we haven’t been good enough,” said Ousted, the Caps’ goalkeeper. “We’re not doing the small and — excuse my language — the [feces matter] side of the soccer ball well enough. Tracking back. Sticking into tackles. These things.
Despite Ousted’s statement, Vancouver is, again, near the top for fouls committed in MLS play and has already had nearly a third of their matches end with the team playing short-handed.
Vancouver’s defensive woes would be more forgivable if the Caps offense could get on track. As opposed to Fanendo Adi (and to a lesser extent Jack McInerney), the Vancouver’s strikers can’t buy a goal. Between one DP striker, a decorated Japanese player and, well, Blas Perez the Whitecaps are spending (presumably as MLS probably doesn’t even disclose financial terms to the IRS) a lot of money, for one goal between them.
In speaking with Chris Gluck, Prost Amerika’s resident Stat Man, agrees that the Caps woes on offense aren’t purely relegated to the scoreboard noting that Vancouver are the fourth worst in overall attacking team performance.
“The Whitecaps are extremely good at creating and making space to score but they don’t have someone who can finish.”
Rivero hasn’t been the same since June of last year, Kudo is struggling to acclimate to the physical nature of MLS and Blas Perez is, like, 50. Just because the team can’t finish off chances means that the Timbers defense will have their way with them.
Portland Timbers owner Merrit Paulson congratulates Jake Gleeson following his performance on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Diego Diaz.
It took a herculean effort by Jake Gleeson last week to hold Toronto to one goal last week. As Gluck notes even a misfiring offense such as Vancouver’s can catch fire in the right circumstances:
“With the way the Timbers played defense (especially on set pieces) against Toronto I could easily see Vancouver lighting up the goal net if Gleeson doesn’t have another standout performance.”
Liam Ridgewell’s return was a welcome sight for a defense which has struggled to find it’s footing this year. Expect Ridgewell to show some rust as hamstrings can be a touch-and-go sort of affair (hence the term “hamstrung”). Jermaine Taylor performed admirably in his absence but the presence of Ridgewell enabled Nat Borchers to have, what his coach called, his best game of the season.
Diego Valeri (8), midfielder, and Fanendo Adi, forward presented with slabs following Sunday’s win. Photo courtesy of Diego Diaz.
With the spine back in place, the Timbers offense is better able to bomb forward, use Adi to hold up, and for the quickness of their wingers to penetrate from the sides. All of this strung together by Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe.
Ben Zemanski made his first appearance of the season and could be a surprise starter if Porter opts to go for a holding mentality, playing in the middle with Diego Chara. Porter could also be licking chops after watching the dismal display against NYCFC last week and opt to pair Nagbe and Valeri in the middle, supported by Chara.
Special thanks to Aaron Campbell (@AaCamp81) and Chris Gluck (@ChrisGluckPWP) who contributed their valued expertise.
