Bad Team Loses 1-0 to Other Bad Team

Ugly, ugly, and ugly. Those are the only words that can describe tonight’s soccer game at Providence Park.

Minnesota, missing their two best players, decided to park a big old bus in the first half. The Timbers have been trying to solve it, but nothing has really come of it. The best chance came through Franck Boli, who used some creative dribbling to create an opportunity before Hassani Dotson made a goal-saving tackle. Portland has been pretty decent on set-pieces, with Evander’s delivery providing some decent chances from dead balls. But they haven’t been able to break down a Minnesota backline that is closing every window. On the bright side, both Claudio Bravo and Juan David Mosquera have figured out that balance on the defensive wings.

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The theme of failing to break down the Minnesota defense continued throughout the second half. Evander created some chances for himself and through his set-pieces, but once again nothing came of it. However, the end of this match was truly some sight to behold. The Timbers seemed content to settle for a draw, so they began time-wasting IN THEIR OWN STADIUM. It was promptly punished by Minnesota, who gasped their way into a last-second winner.

This is now back-to-back stinkers for Portland, and this one is probably the worst loss of the season. Yes, fatigue is definitely a factor. Yes, this has been a very busy stretch of games. Maybe when the schedule eases up this team can get back to its winning ways. Maybe the attack can finally gel and not become a living breathing embodiment of the Darlington Nagbe heatmap. This team looked incredibly tired. You have to wonder how much the lack of rotation factored into this. Seven players played the full 90 three times this past week. Ivacic, McGraw, Zuparic, Bravo, Diego, Paredes, and Evander. I understand that the depth at these positions is paper-thin. I understand that they are all among the best players in the team. But only three substitutes were used tonight. Dairon, Santi, and Boli all came off. None of them went the full 90 in any match this week. Eric Miller didn’t come off the bench tonight. Neither did Nathan Fogaca. In a game where the first goal is the likely winner, the Timbers didn’t look incredibly close to scoring one.

Tonight’s most telling stat is 12 shots inside the Minnesota box. That’s an absolutely massive number. This is the map of all the shots Portland took:

Most of these shots were blocked. You could call that good defensive positioning, and that deserves some credit. But one thing that is incredibly concerning is the complete lack of quality first touches tonight. Your first touch is one of the most important things in soccer. It can either give you a massive advantage for your next move or it can entirely kill it. So many first touches were wildly off. Those awkward dribbles gave the defense just the extra amount of time they needed to get into those positions to block those shots. This is a theme that continued from the Salt Lake game. Is it just fatigue? Did this team feel like the Salt Lake game was a fluke and tried to replicate their outstanding performance from just a week ago against Vancouver? There really isn’t any good answer to that question. It’s just mindnumbing.

Evander led the team with 8 chances created tonight. With Minnesota so tightly packed, he had to go to great lengths to create those opportunities. Sometimes, he could only create for himself. A couple near moments of brilliance highlighted his effort tonight. I don’t really think I can say that much more about him, but this long rest between this match and next Sunday’s match will be a welcome one.

Franck Boli had his worst game as a Timber tonight. The first touch issue that infected the whole team was very prevalent in him. He also seemed to show a lack of urgency in the attack that could have led to some better chances for his team to score. I’m not worried about him, but having a stinker in a game like this is not good.

Cristhian Paredes and Diego Chara played another full 90 together, and were superb. The only issue surrounding our central midfield is depth. These two have been playing next to each other for so long and they understand each other’s movements. They must also be looking forward to the long rest this week. And boy, do they both need it.

Dario Zuparic and Zac McGraw had another good showing tonight. McGraw picked up another yellow card (he keeps getting yellow cards for clean tackles, it’s incredible). Zuparic, however, also got a yellow. He will now miss next Sunday’s game in Kansas City serving his yellow card suspension. God help us all, because we know what that means.

Sebastian Blanco made his return to the pitch tonight and got to play alongside Evander for the first time. Giovanni Savarese made it clear in his postgame press conference that they haven’t spent a ton of time training together, but it seems like Blanco will drift wider when Evander is on the pitch with him. Of course, given Blanco’s tender health it will be difficult to envision how many times these two will share the pitch. Just nice to see him return and look dangerous for a bit.

There are only two more players I want to focus on tonight. The first is Aljaz Ivacic. He had an incredible first half, making several key saves. But, his actions in second-half stoppage time will define this game for him. Rather than actively push the ball up the field to try to find a winner, he decided to dribble out of his own box. He didn’t do this just once, he did it twice. There was enough time for the Timbers to create possibly two more chances or at least try to test Dayne St. Clair and try to get a corner. However, he time-wasted, and ended up conceding the late winner.

Claudio Bravo is such an interesting player. He is so good going forward and he is also one hell of a defender. The stats won’t show this, but he made several strong tackles tonight. In the second half, he also seemed to be the most direct attacker. Not to take away from any of the other attackers’ efforts, but it seemed like every single pass Bravo played wanted to be a key pass. He was trying to open up the little space that he could and find the shot. But once again, he got caught napping on Minnesota’s winner. He is still a very good left back. But those mistakes are a part of his game that need to be worked on, because they continue to cost this team in those crucial moments where it matters most.

Following the Austin match, I set a goal of 8 points in the next four matches for Portland. Right now, 3 of those 4 have passed, and they are sitting on 4 points in 3. That goal is now unattainable. Is it due to a lack of rotation and fatigue? Is it due to a seriously congested schedule and a thin squad that can’t cover for any missing starters? Both of those questions sound redundant, but they’re making different points. This upcoming week of rest should be a blessing for Portland. They are now scoreless in two straight matches, and haven’t even looked dangerous in those two. Allowing results like this to occur at home is a travesty. Giovanni Savarese said the game was managed well. Oddly enough, I agree with him a little bit. In terms of substitutes, the real match-changing ones were put onto the field. If a player is still well enough to play, as in Paredes and Chara’s case, they should be left out there. His own players just weren’t sharp enough to find a goal and then keep a clean sheet at home. It is so hard to defend this team after this result, but the summer transfer window needs to be highly prioritized. We knew this team wasn’t strong enough to put together quality performance after quality performance. And that inconsistency is what’s so frustrating. It’s after matches like these that I can’t tell if we’re good or bad. Especially with so much responsibility in the attack given to one player. This is the ugliest loss. Not because we didn’t try or give any effort. We tried and were bad. And we couldn’t even hold on at the end. This is one of those matches that you will look at when the season is over and wonder how it effected our final table placement. Right now, we are 4-4-6 on 16 points. Minnesota has now leapfrogged us in the standings while missing their two best attackers and having to travel here on short rest. Oh well. I don’t want to think about this anymore. On to Kansas City.

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