Not a Missed Opportunity. A Failure.

For the first time ever, the Portland Timbers have lost to the Chicago Fire.

The Timbers looked doomed at the opening whistle. A fast start from Chicago was rewarded by an 8th minute goal. However, Portland then took the momentum back due to the brilliance of Santiago Moreno, who found Franck Boli in the box to make it 1-1 in the 25th minute. That was the first equalizer scored by Portland since Dairon Asprilla’s bicycle against Seattle on April 15th. Chicago nearly took the lead in the 30th minute after Jairo Torres couldn’t capitalize on a 1v1 with David Bingham, who used his positioning to deny the DP winger. The Timbers did have more opportunities in the first half, but Chicago had the better ones.

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The second half was heartbreaking. In the 55th minute, Santiago Moreno almost found Evander on a counterattack but the pass was just out of reach. But there is one moment in the match that still leaves me scratching my head. In the 69th minute, Evander started a golden counterattack with some neat dribbles. With several runners in support, he chose to take it himself. No pass to Boli on his right or Moreno on his left. Just tried to do too much and wasted a perfect opportunity. The Timbers ended up conceding in the 82nd minute after falling asleep on a throw in and allowing Kei Kamara to get his head on a cross. Despite Nathan Fogaca’s heroic bicycle kick at the final whistle, the Timbers couldn’t find the equalizer. 

Moaning and groaning is a part of being a Timbers fan. Before I really dig into this result I want us (both you, the reader, and myself) to acknowledge that complaining about this team is a rite of passage into Timbers fandom. There is always something to whine about. And tonight is a wonderful lesson in what does and doesn’t deserve our ire. 

Let’s start with the striker position. Since Fanendo Adi the Timbers haven’t had a surefire DP quality number 9. I’m not counting Brian Fernandez because he did cool off after his start and he’s actually a winger. Felipe Mora and Jaroslaw Niezgoda both have done solid jobs at the position, but both are prone to cold stretches. Here’s where Franck Boli comes into the picture. He is not perfect. But then again, what striker truly is perfect? Even Raul Ruidiaz, widely considered the gold standard amongst smaller number 9s, is still very wasteful. Boli is not the problem. He’s been a breath of fresh air since he joined the team. He makes the right runs and is always hustling. He created a chance tonight just off his hustle alone. The right thing to complain about is the lack of depth at the striker position. I don’t need to talk about Niezgoda and Fogaca anymore. There is nothing I can say that you don’t already know. At least Felipe Mora is on schedule to return against NYCFC on Saturday. 

Timbers fans love to complain about the referees. This isn’t just a Timbers thing, it’s a league-wide thing. And everyone who watched tonight’s performance from the officials definitely had some choice words for the crew. I get the overturned red card. I really do. Simple VAR check, defender got ball, no red card. By the book, as it should be. But then you get to moments like the penalty shout in the first half. That should go to VAR every single time. Fotis Bazakos was nowhere near the play and immediately signaled for Evander to get up. Refs don’t have to be near every play, but that’s why VAR is there. Disgusting miss from the crew. It doesn’t negate the bad performance from the home team tonight, but you expect the correct calls to be made on the field. That’s the job of the referee. When I watch Timbers games, I take notes on my laptop so I can remember key plays. I keep track of every foul, and if I think a foul call is questionable I label it with a little question mark. With my notes still open, I can count four question marks just on regular spot fouls tonight. Especially Dairon Asprilla’s yellow card. My biggest officiating pet peeve is yellow card mismanagement. With the visitors taking their sweet time to get set up for every corner kick, it shouldn’t be Asprilla who earns the first yellow card of the match. I get why dissent exists. But Bazakos had lost control of the game long before Asprilla received his yellow. If officials can’t control the game, WHY ARE THEY THERE? When a ref is bad they are bad for both teams. Chicago should’ve been awarded a corner after Bingham made a great save on a shot across the net. So the Timbers got away with one. No team should ever “get away with one.” That’s not how the game works. Thierry Henry “got away with” a blatant handball and the country of Ireland has not been the same since. If there is an actual foul, blow the goddamn whistle. 

Tonight, there were plenty of complaints about Evander. I thought he looked off the pace from the start of the match, but his quality alone gives us a leg up. I am once again here to remind you that Evander is not Diego Valeri. His quality comes from his unbelievable passing ability and his vision. He is so good at reading the game and can bring in players at any position on the field. But for the second match in a row, he tried to play hero ball and failed. We all know that he’s better than that. Right he blew that chance in the 69th, I tweeted this out. 

It seemed like Evander was having an off night, and there was no use keeping him on the field with another game in 3 days. Plus a healthy Sebastian Blanco allows the Timbers to have another creative force available on the bench in cases just like last night. Credit to Savarese for making the right sub. 

Timbers fans love to complain about Marvin Loria. I understand the frustration with him. He loves to kick field goals and he’s very reliant on his left foot. But no matter what the game state is, Marvin Loria will run his ass off. He’s an asset to bring in off the bench. With such little depth in the squad, someone who will press and try to make things happen always deserves minutes in my book. I know his technique leaves a lot to be desired. But his hustle and work ethic should always be rewarded with substitute minutes. At least until more reinforcements come in the summer. 

Timbers fans love to complain about the coach. I understand the frustration surrounding Savarese. But I think there are three valid complaints about tonight’s performance. Two are slightly smaller and they pertain to substitution choices. I said earlier that the 71st minute triple sub was 2/3rds correct. Both Asprilla and Evander needed to come off. Franck Boli, on the other hand, had another impressive outing including getting the equalizer. I don’t understand why Savarese insists on keeping him at 70 minutes of playing time per game. He could easily go another 10 and then get subbed off. Especially when the drop-off between him and Jaroslaw Niezgoda is so massive. My other complaint is about Noel Caliskan. I understand why Savarese didn’t want to tinker with the Paredes-Chara midfield. It was key to our clean sheet streak. Paredes looked absolutely gassed last night. And Savarese kept him in for another full 90. Since Ayala went down in St. Louis on April 29th, Cristhian Paredes has played the full 90 in every single MLS match. Tonight was a perfect chance for Noel Caliskan to get his first MLS minutes. Since signing to the first team, he has been confined to the bench unless it’s an Open Cup match (and there were only two of those). I liked what I saw from him in those matches, and any player his age deserves playing time. He can’t play for T2 because he’s with the first team and he can’t play for the first team for some unknown reason. Do I think we win with Caliskan starting over Paredes or even entering as a sub around the hour mark? I don’t have the answer, but it still should’ve happened just for rest reasons alone. 

The big picture takeaway from tonight involves Gio’s tactics. When Gio has a gameplan that tends to work, he doesn’t change it until it fails. Last season, he implemented a back five in the second match against Seattle. For the rest of the season we continued to use the back five until it blew up in the season finale in Salt Lake. Against Seattle on June 3rd, the compact defensive line showed very positive results in terms of limiting opposing shots. Since the Seattle match, the same XI has been playing (minus the Mosquera for Bravo switch due to a yellow card suspension). A high line was very effective against FC Dallas, and against San Jose the next week the high line returned. It took Chicago two minutes to exploit the high line tonight even though it was offsides. In the second half, the Timbers kept their high line for about 15 minutes before finally dropping a little deeper. I wonder what Gio’s NYCFC tactics will be, because it’s not going to be what we saw for most of June. 

Timbers fans love to complain about the front office. Of course, I wholeheartedly agree with any complaints leveled at the suits in the executive suites. Lack of investment continues to inhibit the club when other MLS teams are already announcing game-changing signings. RSL in particular has already filled 2 of their special roster slots before the window has even opened. You have to spend to keep up and a squad this thin needs every reinforcement it can get. Sign another central mid for cover and let Caliskan go back to T2 if he can’t get minutes during this congested part of the schedule. This current squad is not strong enough to make the playoffs. You can’t be bringing on Diego Gutierrez if you’re chasing a goal. Three players at minimum need to be brought in this summer. 

Despite shipping two goals tonight, I thought David Bingham had another solid performance in the Timbers’ net. He still hasn’t done enough to unseat Aljaz Ivacic, and Ivacic could definitely widen the gap between the two if he used his entire box rather than stay within the six most of the time. There is no keeper controversy.

I touched on Santi’s wonderful performance earlier, and I want to dig into it a little more. He created 3 chances, which led the team. He also had 3 successful dribbles, which also led the team. A shame that his best performance in a long while didn’t come with a win. He should take the next penalty this team gets awarded. Despite the loss, I hope he feels a confidence boost, because he was not the problem.

I previously said the Timbers needed to take 7 points from their next four matches in June following the Seattle game. They can no longer beat that target, but they have to beat NYCFC to match it. Following tonight’s loss, the Timbers are now 5-6-8 and are 10th in the West. Sigh. 

`Now the focus turns to NYCFC on Saturday. Zac McGraw had another heroic performance in his last match before he joins Canada at the Gold Cup. While he is the only Timbers player to leave for said tournament, there are plenty of players coming back. Ivacic was on the bench last night (probably jet-lag reasons) and Juan Mosquera watched last night’s loss from the family stand. Felipe Mora is expected to return against an opponent where he previously etched himself into Timbers lore forever. His return doesn’t fix any immediate problems on the field in the short-term, but he’s probably going to be a great option off the bench. The morale boost to the team will also be a huge plus. Believe it or not, NYCFC are worse than Chicago. They are awful away from home. We cannot afford to lose to them again.

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