Portland Gets Run out of Atlanta, Losing 5-1

I’m not here to waste time. Let’s get into this trainwreck.

The first half started off with pain for the visitors, as a world-class strike from Eryk Williamson in the 3rd minute was ruled out. Referee Ted Unkel saw Jaroslaw Niezgoda in an offside position and said he was blocking keeper Brad Guzan’s view of the ball, but it didn’t look anywhere close to being saved. Following that, the Timbers looked somewhat competent until Caleb Wiley hit the front for the home side. The Timbers’ defense collapsed on a counter-attack, and Wiley had nothing but green in front of him to pick his spot and slot it past Aljaz Ivacic. Atlanta kept up their pressure, but it didn’t bear any fruit until Thiago Almada scored a beauty of a free-kick from 30 yards out that left Ivacic with no chance. The second half was the worst half of Timbers soccer I have seen in a long, long time. No clear chances being created combined with an absolute collapse in defense saw the Timbers concede three goals as Atlanta tore apart the Timbers’ backline. I will take this moment to highlight Tega Ikoba. He returned from the Injured List and scored his first Timbers goal, heading home a Diego Gutierrez cross in the 83rd minute. A great moment for both youngsters. Larrys Mabiala, Claudio Bravo, Zac McGraw, Williamson, and Santiago Sosa all entered Unkel’s book. 

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First, let’s focus on the positives. This match should’ve been 1-0 early but Unkel checked his DraftKings and pulled Williamson’s stunner off the board. I can see the reasoning behind it, but even with that reasoning the goal should’ve stood. The first 25 minutes gave the impression that the Timbers would have a chance in this match. They defended solidly (not spectacularly) and were able to progress the ball into the attacking third multiple times. Ikoba became the youngest goalscorer in Timbers history with his 83rd minute header. Gutierrez recorded his first goal involvement for Portland as well. Aljaz Ivacic performed as well as he could have, in my opinion. 

Five in the goals column is a number that leaps off the scoresheet. Against a dominant front four, the Timbers routinely found themselves in bad situations. Even the foul committed by Mabiala that set up Almada’s brilliant free-kick was sloppy and uncalled for. The biggest weakness in playing in a five back is sacrificing an attacker for a chance at a solid defense. Tonight, the Timbers nullified that weakness by not even defending. You can look at McGraw, Dario Zuparic, and Mabiala and see a lack of communication, a lack of pace, and no clear objectives except make the quick tackle. This also goes for Bravo and Mosquera. Bravo in particular had an awful showing. He often tracked too far forward and was beaten behind multiple times. I’m not going to be as hard on Mosquera, as he’s still young and he’s being asked to do a ton for this team right now. Atlanta’s first goal was directly both of their faults, though. They didn’t communicate and a sloppy touch got played right into the path of Almada who only had to square it to Wiley. By the second half, it looked like the three center backs had been run ragged. Mabiala in particular looked like he had no gas left in the tank, while Zuparic kept leaving Giakoumakis unmarked in the middle of the box. Williamson and Diego Chara had a hard time playing through Atlanta’s midfield (a common theme so far in 2023). All of these issues led to 3 easy second-half goals for the home side. McGraw was the center back who got subbed off tonight, and he was the best one on the field (he wasn’t great though, definitely his worst game of the season so far). This team is only four matches into the season, and they already look exhausted. A defensive shake-up is desperately needed ahead of next Saturday’s game against the Galaxy in Portland. 

The woes continue in the attack. Jaroslaw Niezgoda (while I won’t blame him for the ruled-out goal, that was just a bad call) has shown no ability on and off the ball in 2023. Chalk it up to whatever you like, he cannot be playing in competitive matches for this team anymore. Nathan Fogaca is still a T2 player. He should only be coming off the bench because it utilizes his best trait: his hustle. His finishing is not very good at all, lowlighted by a chance in the 65th minute when he had space to take a few touches and shoot but decided to fire the ball clear over the bar. Give him T2 minutes when their season starts back up again. Williamson was once again the best offensive player today, but he had no help. He still is very creative and is incredibly talented on the ball. He was barely noticeable. Same with Diego Chara, who somehow still has the engine to keep the pedal to the metal for 90 minutes. His issues lie in ball progression, where his ability has not been up to par so far this season. Bravo is having issues discovering his form from last year, where he looked like a top-5 fullback in MLS. Both his attacking and defending contributions were abysmal today, lowlighted by multiple stabs at the ball on an island and missing, allowing the attackers (mostly Luiz Araujo) to gallop into the open space behind him. Mosquera was once again a factor on the right, but had very little help aside from Williamson. Santiago Moreno was invisible. He made a couple good tackles but is still not playing at the same level that he was last season. The substitutes provided a spark that did put Portland on the scoresheet. All of the players that started tonight are considered starting-quality in my eyes, with Niezgoda not fitting that label in his play but with his salary. No matter the injuries, this team should be performing at a higher level. Another theme in the attack this year is the inability to string passes together. No one seems to be on the same page. It is incredibly frustrating to see other teams string together promising attacks week after week while simple passes continue to be misplayed. Players are often running into the same spaces, sometimes into each other. It looks like a game of Ultimate Frisbee at times, with players just roaming around with no true purpose behind their movements other than appearing open so the ball can be moved around. No dangerous attacking runs, balls that miss players in the box, and scuttling of the few quality chances that arise. It’s incredibly hard to watch and, at its worst points, soul-crushing. 

With a team full of starting quality players, Giovanni Savarese has to feel a bit of warmth on his airplane seat on the flight back to Portland. His back five back-fired tonight, and it is worth wondering what he has tried to do tactically with this squad amidst the injury crisis. The back five reeks of trying to limit goals and settle for low-scoring draws. What is the attacking identity of this team? It seems like Williamson is the vessel that Savarese is trying to run the offense through, but with a lack of goal-scoring threats it is obvious he can’t do it on his own. Fogaca led the team with two chances created tonight, and maybe he hasn’t fully lost his starting spot due to the lack of creativity currently in the side. That begs the question of the two players with a goal involvement in tonight’s loss: Ikoba and Gutierrez. Ikoba brings a physical box presence reminiscent of Fanendo Adi while Gutierrez looked startable in his brief ten-minute cameo. Both players are buried on the depth chart, but it looks like they are making the most of the injury crisis. But what is the point of their positive outings tonight if Savarese is going to put them on the bench next weekend? Of course, it is too early to speculate on next Saturday’s match against the Galaxy, but you would think that they have already earned more minutes based on tonight’s display. I was calling for Gutierrez to start tonight, but another wasted 60 minutes of Niezgoda was Savarese’s decision instead. Every senior player aside from Ikoba and Gutierrez are known commodities at this point, and I do not understand Savarese settling for another unwatchable attacking performance. 

Now, next week comes with the possibility of Evander’s return, alongside increased training sessions for Dairon Asprilla and David Ayala. Franck Boli should be on his way, but it is still unknown when he will be match-ready. On the whole, Timbers fans are tired and fed up with starting slow with a hope of finishing hot late in the year. To a casual observer, it might look like Savarese is completely fine with dropping points early in the season. Based on today’s performance, it is hard to argue against it. However, I am going to try to do just that. No matter the injuries, the Timbers have had a rough four games to open 2023. SKC has since lost once and drew twice, and have only scored one goal. LAFC had an extra week of rest and and we still only lost by one. St. Louis has won all four of their matches, and are defying everyone’s expectations of an expansion team. No shame in the result, just how that result was earned for STL. And now, Atlanta is finally finding their footing and they turned on the gas tonight as soon as they smelled blood in the water. That’s 2 losses to conference-leading teams, and one to the defending champions. It has been a very tough schedule to open the year, but one number stands out: 10 goals conceded. After a clean sheet in the opener, the Timbers have conceded at least two in their past three, allowing 3+ in both road games. Out of those ten, five have been scored in each half of play. However, a weakness has emerged. The Timbers have allowed two of those goals within the first 15 minutes of the second half, and both goals (Opoku 52’ at LAFC and Giakoumakis 59’ tonight) seemingly put the game to bed. This was an area the Timbers dominated last year, often coming right out of the gate in the second half. This year, the Timbers have scored either in the first 10 minutes or the last 10 minutes of regulation. Evander’s 62’ goal against LAFC is the only outlier. Williamson’s ruled-out stunner would’ve also fit into this pattern. This essentially means that the Timbers leave the majority of regulation without too much threat. Savarese didn’t make his first substitution until the 70th minute tonight, continuing a long trend of seemingly waiting too long to make a switch. Maybe making those substitutions earlier would help the Timbers score in non-garbage time moments. Otherwise matches will quickly continue to slip away from Portland, leaving them to continue to settle for consolation goals when it is already too late. 

Questions about Savarese’s capability as Timbers manager will only continue to get louder, no matter what the injury list looks like. I am not saying those concerns are warranted, but they are certainly increasing in their validity. Depth is still a problem, and my main issue with Savarese is not giving that depth enough of a chance if the starters aren’t performing up to par. The Galaxy await, and while their supporters would love to believe that their club is in the same state as ours, it is just not true. The one thing both sides have in common is underperformance on the field of play. Next week is going to be viewed as a make-or-break match for both fanbases. I am already dubbing it the Pillow Fight of the Week. Will the Timbers be able to land any serious blows? That question will have to wait until next Saturday. They were certainly playing with pillows tonight while Atlanta played like their train whistle that sounds with every goal they score at home. The Timbers simply waited for the train to go by, sitting in their parked cars at a railroad crossing. The goal for next week’s match should simply be trying to control the game and impose their will on their home field. We haven’t seen that so far in 2023, and frustration will continue to grow in Portland (on the field, we’re already mad enough about all the off-the-field issues) until truly positive signs emerge from their play on the field.

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