Neagle’s form will give Portland another headache

“We’ve shaken off that little brother tag for good,” proclaimed many a Timbers fan after their comprehensive elimination of Sounders FC in the 2013 play-offs.

Although the final score was 5-3 on aggregate, that doesn’t really tell the full tale of Portland’s dominance with all 3 of Seattle’s goals coming as consolations once the win was tied up.

The problem was that they had shaken it off, but not for good. In 2014, the Sounders’ superiority came rolling back with an away draw then three straight victories in league and cup.

The inferiority complex quickly returned and will remain until Portland has at least 1/5 of a decade of dominance.

Even Darlington Nagbe gets frustrated at Darlington Nagbe

That quest starts on Sunday when they find themselves somewhat disadvantaged by circumstance. Injuries and international call ups leave Seattle for once unaffected and they have all their top players there – or did so until the DISCO ruled Chad Marshall out.

At worst, Seattle will have the old reliable pairing of Zach Scott and Brad Evans who at least know each others’ and Darlington Nagbe’s game well.

Meanwhile, Portland are still suffering from the absence of their leader and most creative forces in Will Johnson and Diego Valeri. With Osvaldo Alonso not selectable and Johnson being Canadian, we’ll never have the pleasure of watching these two battle Kyle Beckerman for a slot in any international side.

It’s hard to imagine a US side with Johnson parading around being so easily overrun in the closing minutes of a game.

Valeri’s absence leaves Portland far less creative although one upside seems to have been a mild increase in Nagbe’s willingness to take on responsibility.

Still, SHOOT once in a while. There’s a good chance the opposition will be momentarily unable to move with the shock.

But let us not go down the road of discussing which players missing will decide a game. Here are some factors that will be there:

1) Home advantage. Portland are yet to win in Seattle in the regular season, though have done so in play-offs and friendlies.While the big crowd seems to bolster visiting sides who rarely play in such a cauldron, it doesn’t help Portland who are used to such noise. The Timbers have to bring their fans into the game as quickly as possible and silence the home fans.

Don't diminish the effect of home advantageMax Aquino

Don’t diminish the effect of home advantage for Seattle

2) Obafemi Martins. The Nigerian is dancing through the opposition this season and has become unmarkable in one on ones. If Chara thumps him and thumps him early (at the cost of a yellow card), that leaves Clint Dempsey the knowledge that Chara is not risking a second yellow on him. He can then dwell on the ball that split second longer, and turn to see all possibilities.

Lamar Neagle’s form gives him more than one.

3) Form. Seattle’s win in Colorado was a big win because the Rapids had just found their groove. Portland also recorded a good result but that was against a box of chocolates missing all the nice treats, with just the soft centres left. The loss to Orlando was dismal and uncharacteristically devoid of spirit, things you never ever associated with a Timbers team.

Caleb Porter may be feeling the pressure and he’s not used to it. Perhaps some of that has transmitted itself to the team.

Porter has come across as a little under pressure but a win would sweep that all away

4) Who has more to lose? The answer is usually the home team, even in a scenario when you have an extra home game out of the three. Sigi Schmid knows that the side has not picked up any momentum yet and you only get so many chances to win a second game on the trot before the counter resets to zero. However, a loss is unlikely to deliver as significant a mood swing among the fan base as it will in Portland where a type of Rose City fatalism is already emerging.

A draw definitely helps Porter more but a loss will affect him more than a similar result for Schmid. However a win helps Porter more as he has crawled one game nearer having Will Johnson and Diego Valeri back without losing touch with the leaders.

He has more to win. But he probably also has more to lose.