Out of Wind

On a humid day in Chicago, Illinois, the Portland Timbers took the field on a pitch that didn’t even pass HOA standards. That’s not an excuse for their 2-1 loss at the hands of the Chicago Fire. But it was a real “welcome to the league” moment for new head coach Marti Cifuentes.

Recap

The first 15 minutes were awful.

We can start with the first 15 seconds. The Timbers got the opening kickoff, and David Da Costa immediately had a heavy touch get recovered by Philip Zinckernagel. The Danish winger moved the ball to Robert Lewandowski, who played a blind pass to Robin Lod running right down the middle of the pitch. Fortunately for the Timbers, Lod took a heavy touch and Pantemis was able to scoop up the loose ball. It was only a sign of things to come.

In the 8th minute, the Fire were trying to build play from the back. They progressed the ball into the middle third before a long ball down the right flank allowed right back Leandro Barroso to gain possession in the final third. The Portuguese defender sent a low cross into the box that Brandon Bye cleared at the back post. But the flag was up, so the play didn’t matter. The clock ticked over into the 9th minute, and James Pantemis was ready to take a long goalkick. 

This goalkick floated over to the left flank of Portland’s attack where Jimer Fory and Kevin Kelsy jumped together for the header. Chicago center back Sam Rogers queued up behind the two green shirts, and won the header without having to take a giant leap into the air. That header was redirected to Dje D’Avilla, who quickly moved the ball to Andrew Gutman. The left back had plenty of open space, and chose to emulate Caleb Williams by attempting a deep ball right up the middle for an onrushing Lod. Kamal Miller, caught between Zinckernagel and Lod, couldn’t recover in time as the Finnish midfielder had acres of space to run into. Lod beat Pantemis with a calm finish into the left side of the net. 1-0 Chicago, 9th minute. The Timbers conceded another goal within the first 15 minutes of a game. Horrendous.

However, they decided to one-up themselves in the 14th minute. Some header pinball occurred in the middle third before Gutman decided to go long again. He found Maren Haile-Selassie streaking down the left wing. Finn Surman was able to get underneath the ball, but he whiffed a clearance and suddenly Haile-Selassie was through on goal. However, Surman recovered along with Miller, so the Swiss winger had to cut inside. He played a blind ball back to the left wing, and Zinckernagel won a footrace to keep the play alive. A desperate cutback cross was played, but Surman wasn’t able to clear it effectively. Instead, his clearance went right to Lod. After a brief pause, Lod found Lewandowski around the penalty spot. A desperate tackle attempt from Miller didn’t win the ball, but it did prevent the legendary Polish striker from having a golden shooting chance. Lewandowski chose to try and open up an angle for himself with his right foot, but the shot was blocked. The loose ball squirted between Da Costa and Diego Chara to find Haile-Selassie again, this time on the right post. Under pressure, the Swiss winger found D’Avilla alone at the top of the box. This story is now familiar. One touch to settle, one touch to send a low drive towards the near post. It went right through Pantemis’ hands and Chicago’s lead was doubled. 2-0 Fire, 14th minute.

Conceding one goal in the first 15 minutes is bad enough. So the Timbers decided to do it twice. Moreover, the game state had now completely changed. Chicago could sit back and let Portland do the majority of the leg work, saving their challenges for when things became a little too close for comfort. So the Timbers kept moving the ball down the field, but were unable to get the final pass correct, much less the final shot. That didn’t stop Lewandowski from nearly making it 3-0 in the 17th minute. However, the Polish striker completely whiffed a golden chance created by a quality feed from Barroso. Chicago continued to have their way with Portland’s left side. Either Fory was repeatedly getting beaten by balls over the top, or Kristoffer Velde was losing the ball. That’s what the remainder of the first half felt like, barring a 34th-minute chance created by Kelsy that slammed off of Antony’s left foot from a great position.

Velde was able to get one first-half chance when Da Costa played him in behind Chicago’s defense in the 41st minute. But the shot came from a difficult angle and slammed off the near post. Halftime arrived with the Timbers outshooting Chicago 6-4, but mostly through speculative efforts. None of Portland’s 6 first-half shots were on target.

The onus was clearly on the Timbers to get back into the game during the second half. That didn’t stop Chicago from getting the first major chance. In the 48th minute, some good buildup play progressed the ball to Lewandowski on the left side of the box. His curling shot was palmed away by Pantemis, just out of Anton Saletros’ reach. Antony registered Portland’s first shot on target in the 56th minute by stinging a shot from distance only for it to be parried by Chris Brady. The Brazilian winger recovered the second ball, but promptly lost it in a duel with Saletros. The Timbers basically put their foot on the ball for the remainder of the second half. However, a brief counterattacking opportunity opened up in the 78th minute, only for D’Avilla to win the ball and drive right through the heart of the pitch before playing a through ball out wide to substitute winger Puso Dithejane. The South African’s low effort went wide of the far post. So Chicago could have had 4 goals by now, but their inability to finish was holding them back. The other substitute winger, Jonathan Bamba, played a long diagonal to Lod in the 81st minute. This resulted in a similar chance to Velde’s 41st minute effort, except the Finnish midfielder put his shot on target and forced Pantemis to make a close-quarters save. However, Kelsy drew a foul in the 84th minute to set up a long free kick from the left channel.

The Timbers are slowly becoming reliant on set pieces. I want to see if that trend continues over the next week. It certainly was true in the 85th minute when Ariel Lassiter’s free kick found Brandon Bye’s head at the back post. The play was very similar to the one that Kamal Miller scored from in Seattle, but Bye was able to keep his header across the face of goal and onto the waiting head of Surman, who finally got his first Timbers goal to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Suddenly, the Timbers could steal a point. But the final 9 minutes of the game only featured one Portland shot (Omir Fernandez’s blocked effort in the 4th minute of stoppage time). The Timbers enjoyed their most field-tilting section of the game, but couldn’t do anything beyond send a couple of tantalizing crosses that either got cleared or blocked. Fory preserved the 2-1 scoreline with an excellent chase-down tackle on Bamba during the 3rd minute of stoppage time. The result spoke for itself: a 2-1 Timbers loss on the road against an Eastern Conference opponent.

A Questionable Choice

There’s a lot of ways to explain tonight's result. Lack of Leagues Cup rotation, a quick turnaround following a pretty long trip, a piss-poor field that got ripped to shreds due to an NFL game, or just the fact that the Chicago Fire are a better team than the Portland Timbers right now. But there was one tactical decision that did concern me given all of the previously listed factors.

I remain mystified as to why Marti Cifuentes decided to utilize a high man-to-man press tonight. To be clear, I don’t have a problem with the Timbers pressing in general. Cifuentes’ system will become a tangible part of Portland’s identity in the coming weeks and months. But I thought the Timbers’ already limited energy would have been better utilized in a frantic counterpress instead of a strict man-to-man marking system during Chicago’s buildup phase.

The Fire exploited these 1v1 battles throughout the first half hour of this game. In fact, whenever there was a ball played into space (from a Portland foot or a Chicago foot) the Fire always won the race. Having said that, Chicago didn’t exactly light up Portland’s defense aside from that first half hour.

That’s because scoring two goals in the first 14 minutes allows you to take your foot off the gas. Portland was completely game-stated due to their inability to start a game on the front foot. These slow starts are now a blaring fire alarm. If this team continues to find it impossible to 1) avoid conceding first and 2) avoid beating themselves then their playoff tickets will get lost in the mail.

I understand that Cifuentes has an identity that he wants to impress upon this team. And I believe that this identity of high pressing and counterpressing will work out in the long run. Tonight’s game, if anything, was an example of the bottom of the range of effectiveness that this identity can have. The Catalonian head coach has barely been here for a week. Of course there are going to be slight growing pains. Overreacting to one game in particular is a waste of time. However, if this problem continues to persist, and the Timbers continue to surrender goals within the first 15 minutes because of it, then it’s OK to start creeping towards that panic button.

Duels/Box Tilt

We’re going to start with box tilt tonight. Chicago won the box tilt battle 27-26. But the numbers don’t tell the full story. Every single one of the Fire’s box touches felt much more dangerous than Portland’s because Chicago was actually able to open up the game through direct attacks. The Timbers were at their most successful (progression-wise) when they were attempting long balls into the channel. At worst, they’d force defenders to make a play on the ball, which would turn into a throw-in or high regain. I do believe that Portland’s commitment to patient buildup (which read as passivity in the second half) will be much more effective in the long run if those long balls from deep are attempted earlier in the game. Think of it as “establishing the run” in reverse.

It didn’t really feel like the Timbers won the duel battle tonight, but I think it was an effect of the game state. This stat also doesn’t take Chicago’s long-ball dominance into account. If there was a duel to be won, the Timbers were usually competitive. But if separation was achieved, the Timbers were toast.

Player Ratings

James Pantemis: 6

His two biggest saves (in the 48th and 81st minutes) occurred after the Timbers were already 2-0 down. The Canadian goalkeeper does share some blame for that second concession. If you are able to get your hands on the ball in that situation, you have to punch it away. It’s Pantemis’ first game back from a 3-match absence due to a concussion. He’ll have to be at his best for the two remaining games during this week.

Brandon Bye: 6.8

The veteran right back was the only field player who got a full rest against Tijuana. He wasn’t at his best during this game, and I think his 51st minute yellow card was indicative of that. A simple pass from Surman turned into a heavy touch, and Bye had to make a tackle to prevent a breakaway. But he did add another assist with his head. It’s his third assist of the season, and none of them have come from his feet. 

Finn Surman: 7.2

At long last, Finn Surman has scored a goal for the Portland Timbers. It would have been nice if that goal had an equally positive result to pair with it, but Surman’s header was merely atonement for the role he played on Chicago’s second goal. He’s made a goal-causing error in 2 of his last 3 games. He’s the team’s minutes leader by far, without needing to count the World Cup games he participated in. And that minutes tally includes all three Leagues Cup games, with two of them not necessary for a Surman start (in hindsight and in real time).

“It was a little bit of a relief,” Surman said post-game about his goal. “It’s been a long time coming, and that moment was pretty cool. The result puts a bit of a cloud over it, so that’s disappointing.”

It would be unthinkable to think about resting Surman on Wednesday, but it’s a realistic idea considering his heavy (and kind of unnecessary) workload. This match schedule has been absolutely brutal.

Kamal Miller: 6.8

The Canadian center back had the toughest job on the pitch tonight. He was responsible for the gaps opened up by Fory’s inversions. However, his effort could not be questioned. Chicago fans were upset that Miller wasn’t disciplined for a hard challenge on Lewandowski in the 12th minute. Going forward, I think that the right back should be the fullback that has inversion duties instead of the left back. Surman is more adept at covering open space than Miller is. 

Jimer Fory: 6.9

Fory’s first half was dreadful. His second half was a big improvement.

If you are being tasked with inverting, your primary duty after a turnover is to pressure the ball. The first half became a tale of “Velde loses ball, Fory can’t pressure immediately, long ball down Portland’s left side, desperate recovery runs.” I do enjoy when Fory gets forward, but I think he’s better utilized as one of the rest defenders throughout the majority of the game. Case and point: his excellent chase-down tackle in second-half stoppage time. 

Diego Chara: Fountain of Youth

Just watch this, please and thank you.

I don’t need to say much more than that. Humid day, tough opponent, doesn’t matter. 39/40 passes completed, 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 recoveries, 2 fouls drawn, 6/7 ground duels won. Two more years, two more years, Diego Chara.

Cole Bassett: 6.5

The defensive question marks still continue, especially with Bassett’s task of man-marking D’Avilla during the press. However, I’d like to highlight a positive of Bassett’s performance today: his field and tactical awareness.

Throughout the first half, Bassett was the more mobile central midfielder. He was rotating constantly and doing whatever it took to keep Portland’s attacking shape. I feel like more time learning Cifuentes’ system is going to be really productive for him. It already looks like he’s got the basics down. Having said that, I wouldn’t be too upset if he got rotated for Wednesday’s game against San Diego. The heavy workload started to catch up to him early in the second half, and it made sense that he was part of Cifuentes’ first substitution window in the 61st minute. 

David Da Costa: 6.8

Despite being on the field for 18 fewer minutes than his fellow DP, Portuguese Dave had 3 more touches than Velde. How did he use those touches? Mostly in a safe manner, opting to keep possession unless a threatening run was being made. Portland’s attackers had a poor outing when it came to off-ball runs, and Da Costa’s desire to find those runs forced him to recycle the ball more than he probably would’ve liked. Velde’s 42nd-minute post is proof of that concept. If the run exists, Da Costa will try to find it.

Antony: 6.5

The concept of how a player relates to space is illustrated by Antony’s strengths and weaknesses. And one play in particular combines them into a single, easy to digest sequence. His 56th-minute shot was Portland’s first attempt on target during the game. The Brazilian winger had plenty of space and chose to aim a speculative shot towards the goal frame. I don’t have a problem with that choice. Antony is a “big-space” player. He thrives when there is space to exploit and struggles when space closes around him. The rebound of that shot goes into a crowd of players at the top of the box. Antony wins the ball, but loses it almost immediately. Velde and Da Costa are tight-space players who are usually looking for the open space players when play opens up. The Timbers were never able to get into a counterattacking groove during this game (mostly due to exhaustion) so Antony’s strengths weren’t able to be properly utilized. It’s why he’s the most effective as a substitute. 

Kristoffer Velde: 6.3

I’m getting pretty tired of watching Velde get locked up by opposing fullbacks.

You’re probably aware that the Norwegian winger loses the ball a lot. Would it surprise you that he leads the league in possession lost per game? This stat comes courtesy of Sofascore, which puts Velde's average of turnovers per game at 22.2. That’s an average of 2.8 more than the player in second place: Philadelphia fullback Frankie Westfield. Lots of good MLS players are on this list: Joaquin Pereyra, Timo Werner, Zinckernagel, Rodrigo De Paul, Lionel Messi, Sebastian Berhalter, Carles Gil, even Newcomer of the Year frontrunner Guilherme! By the way, that’s the top 10 in order. So why am I more concerned about Velde when he’s keeping this level of company?

Because he’s a volume producer, and the majority of his production is counter-balanced by a ton of incomplete dribbles. He recently had a streak of 4 assists in 4 consecutive games, yet two of them were from corner kicks. His inconsistency is starting to become an issue, especially with his status as the team’s centerpiece player.

When Velde is playing like a force magnifier, he is at his best. But tonight he was trying to be the singular force, and the team suffered. He’s beginning to earn the ire of multiple fanbases around the league, with Chicago fans booing him every time he touched the ball. Probably because he spent a fair amount of time on the ground in the first half, looking for fouls that were both correctly and incorrectly called. Let’s see how he does against San Diego on Wednesday.

Kevin Kelsy: 6.6

The Venezuelan striker was actually trying to make things happen, with several signals for runs in behind getting ignored by his teammates. He tried a bike in the 12th minute, but didn't get it right. He probably should've had an assist in the 34th minute, but Antony couldn't control the ball with his left foot. Despite these positives, he made a bad giveaway in the 40th minute. He was lucky it didn't turn into something worse. 

Kelsy played the entire 90, and was joined up top by Janssen in the 76th minute. Portland's play was largely focused on the wings by that point, so no major connection could be observed between the two strikers. Encouraging to see that Cifuentes isn't afraid to ditch the structure if the Timbers are chasing a result. 

Joao Ortiz: 6.9

Ortiz needs to start against San Diego. 

He completed 24/26 passes, with the only two incompletions coming from long balls. He made 4 ball recoveries, including a nifty recovery in the 87th minute to win a goalkick. I think his last two outings warrant a start, especially with Bassett in need of a rest.

Ariel Lassiter: 6.8

The Costa Rican winger was solid, but looked a little tired. His dead-ball delivery was spot on again, as evidenced by his hockey assist on Surman's goal. He'll probably be back in the starting lineup against San Diego. 

Vincent Janssen: Box Office?

Look, he tried a bicycle kick and got a yellow card. He may have only touched the ball 13 times, but he made all of those touches count. I really like him as a supersub striker. 

Jose Caicedo: 6.8

The big Colombian midfielder made an instant impact off the bench by getting an interception with his first touch. I think he'll be starting against San Diego.

Omir Fernandez: MORE MINUTES, PLEASE

He had to play wingback today. And it worked.

Fernandez is a “tight-space” player with quick feet and the soccer IQ to always pop up where he's needed. 3 out of his 10 touches were in Chicago's box. He should be one of the first players off the bench over the next month. 

Coach Rating: 4

For the first time, tonight's coach rating takes the previous game into account. 

I understand the urge to try and get all of your starters on the same page in your first match in charge of your new club. I really do. In a normal scenario, it would be encouraged. But given the complete lack of stakes in the Tijuana game, and the bigger impetus for a result in Chicago, the decision to go full strength on Thursday is pretty ludicrous in hindsight. Cifuentes praised the effort of his exhausted players after the game: “I value the fact that we finished strong, the guys were honest, and we put pressure on at the end.” In theory, this is the period where the team would have been the most tired. But they didn't stop trying. Cifuentes has to be proud of that. 

The decision to press aggressively was bad for this game, but good for the long-term. Losing a game on the road to an Eastern Conference team is hardly an unfamiliar result. It's just annoying that the schedule has worked out like this. 

Cifuentes was upset about some of the individual errors that caused the team's early concessions. But it was his outlook on the concessions that was oddly encouraging. “My job is to create a structure that sustains those individual mistakes.” It is going to take some time to fully implement that structure. He was upset at the condition of the field, calling it “amateur quality.” It is pretty disappointing that the Fire have to share a stadium with a NFL team, but construction has already begun on a soccer-specific stadium located in downtown Chicago. This will probably be Portland's only trip to Soldier Field. I hope it is, because the new stadium is going to be spectacular.

Table Time

The Western Conference isn’t very good, y’all. Houston was able to get into first place for one night after beating the Galaxy on Saturday, but Vancouver snatched the top spot right back with a 2-0 victory in Seattle.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the first back-to-back Cascadia Cup winners of the 2020s. If anyone deserved to win it this year, it was them. It’s almost Judgement Day in regards to the upcoming expiration of their lease at BC Place. Read Alex Bowen’s informative account of the situation for more, uh, information.

CONGRATULATIONS to the 5eatt1e Sounders, losers of SEVEN STRAIGHT MLS games. I didn’t think it was possible. But they stayed strong and kept pushing the boundaries of what could be done on a soccer field. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch Brian Schmetzer’s post-match presser yet, but I’ll do it soon. I’m actually trying to stay on top of what Portland’s playoff rivals are doing, not paying attention to any sinking ships or floundering fish.

Tonight’s defeat drops Portland to 10th place in the West, still tied on points with the aforementioned floundering fish. San Diego was able to taste victory at LAFC, but star winger Anders Dreyer will miss Wednesday’s game due a late second yellow card deep in second-half stoppage time. That’s pretty funny. LAFC fans are on the verge of mutiny because their team is in 3rd place with a +15 goal differential. Dark times in Southern California, I guess.

Six points separate the Timbers from 5th placed Dallas. There’s going to be a fair amount of moving and shaking in the Western Conference this week, and it makes Wednesday’s game against Los Plasticos a must-win. No pressure.

Final Whistle

Yeah, yeah, there wasn’t a Timbers hat trick even after my lofty guarantee. Maybe I should just predict one ahead of every game now. It’s gonna hit eventually, right?

The temptation to overreact is, well, very tempting. However, the main issue remains the same problem that has plagued the Timbers in 2026: their habit of conceding goals in the first 15 minutes of a game. They have allowed the most “first quarter” goals in MLS this year. It absolutely has to change. There's no excuse anymore. Phil Neville couldn't fix it. Jack Cassidy couldn't fix it. Now it's Cifuentes’ job to solve.

Cross-conference matchups, especially on the road, are not the most important games on the schedule. If you're the home team, you need to win. But as the road team, unless you're playing a real bottom-feeder, a draw is always an acceptable result. The Timbers nearly got a draw in this game due to their final 9 minutes of fury. They end their travels to the Eastern Conference in 2026 with an 0-1-2 record and a -3 goal differential. No blowouts! Just one sloppy midweek draw, a humid 2-0 loss, and a humid 2-1 loss. The Timbers won’t travel for an Eastern Conference game until the first year of the calendar switch.

Because of the rarity of cross-conference matchups, MLS’ two conferences are like separate leagues. My soft spot for the Chicago Fire hasn’t changed. I’m rooting for them to win the Eastern Conference. Only time will tell if the Hugo Cuypers-Lewandowski swap will be worth it in the long run, but they’ve won 5 games in a row including their flawless Leagues Cup league phase. Yesterday’s win was the Fire’s 100th victory at Soldier Field, and they accomplished that feat against a team that they had never defeated at home before. That’s pretty cool. I guess you have to be happy for them.

It’s OK to be dismayed about another Timbers road loss. But Wednesday and Saturday are far more important. “I think it’s important that the team never gives up and shows that mentality,” Cifuentes said post-game. And they nearly rescued a point as well, but it just wasn’t meant to be. 

“We conceded an early goal. It was disappointing, but the team showed this resilience, this character, and these are the areas I want to focus on at the moment.” The Timbers didn’t have a proper training session before this game. Their tactical work was done in the film room, which may have contributed to their disjointed play. Surman said that Cifuentes has been trying to “drip-feed” the nuances of his system little by little. Although the schedule is doing them no favors, they’re back at home now. Mentality nearly got them a draw tonight. And the mental strength of these players will have to remain strong as they get into the final stretch of the brutally congested schedule. Time to put this one behind them and prepare for San Diego. The climb continues.