Santiago Moreno Says There is No Need To Be Upset

The Timbers began the match by making several forays into RSL territory. Their impetus to get the first goal on the board was paid off when Santiago Moreno converted a free header for the early lead. Portland kept riding the momentum and the attack began to flow, but no goal came for the rest of the half. Meanwhile, Diego Chara nearly got sent off when a normal foul went to VAR for a possible red card. It was in no way a red card, and any card should have gone to RSL’s Braian Ojeda, who got away with the worst kind of flop. You would think that Ojeda might have learned his lesson, but instead he went on to elbow Chara in the face in stoppage time. He only got a yellow for the obvious violent conduct, but there was no review. 

RSL brought on Carlos Andres Gomez at halftime and he took over the opening 15 minutes. It looked like the equalizer was coming, but the Timbers got on the board again. Claudio Bravo played in Santiago Moreno, and Moreno squared it to Felipe Mora who lashed it into the north end net. Of course, the Timbers are still the Timbers, so RSL pulled one back via a deflected Brayan Vera shot in the 83rd minute. However, the Timbers held on, and they’re back in the win column.

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Let’s get the bad out of the way first. And once again, the bad deals with the refereeing. I’m so tired of blaming refs. That’s not my job. My job is to look at what the Timbers did over the course of a match and analyze it. When I have to spend any time looking at refereeing decisions, I get angry. I don’t like to be angry. But anyone who watched that game observed violent conduct go unpunished. Evander has been suspended for less. Evander has gotten sent off for less. This is the second violent act against Diego Chara this season that has happened without consequence. Any elbow to the face is an instant red card. Against Dallas, Geovane Jesus elbowed Diego and the referee (Unkel Cracker) went to VAR. Not only did he rescind the red card that was given to Jesus, he booked Diego. Tonight, Diego got booked again for assisting a dive. There’s really no other way to put it, and the VAR official recommending review is also failing at his job. I’m tired of seeing our players get put in actual danger and the referees refusing to do anything about it. Diego Chara echoed that sentiment in the post-match press conference: “I think my foul would never be a red card and they checked VAR anyways. When Ojeda lifts his elbow, they don’t check it. I think the team is worried because they think the referees have been against us the past two games.” If you’re a referee, and DIEGO CHARA is willing to openly say this, you have absolutely failed at your job. Diego understands the art of the foul. He’s a fouling genius. Out of any player in MLS, he understands fouls better than anyone. He knows exactly how to toe the line between aggression and openly dirty. He smiles when he receives yellow cards because he knows he earned it. Miles Joseph took a different approach to describing tonight’s refereeing: “Did you watch the game? I don’t need to answer that.” 

All this ref talk really drains my already limited quantity of brain cells. So let’s talk about the good things! And there are a lot of good things to talk about! If you could pick one player on this team that needed to score a goal, chances are your pick is Santiago Moreno. He did it! He scored tonight! And he played an incredible game outside of it! I could get very nitpicky and talk about how the RSL defense just watched the ball fall from the skies and onto Santi’s head, but being nitpicky is annoying. Let’s appreciate how Santi scored his first goal of the season while his mom was in attendance. “It’s been rough not to score this season but it was great to score in front of my mom. Getting the three points makes it even better.” Santi was reunited with Juan Mosquera on the right side of the Timbers’ formation tonight, and they worked wonders with their combos. He also provided the crucial assist on Felipe Mora’s eventual winner. I could also talk about how he had some symptoms of Nagbe Syndrome in the first half, but I’m not going to do that. Diego Chara had this to say about his teammate post-game: “He’s crucial for us going forward.” To echo Miles Joseph, whatever Diego says is correct.

After a run of middling performances, Juan Mosquera shone again. His work with Santi on the right side showed just how dangerous this team can be when their combos are clicking. He completed 41/45 passes and created two chances, one of which turned into an assist. He also won 2 tackles and made 8 recoveries. Excellent game. Claudio Bravo provided the hockey assist on Mora’s goal, but still looked a little shaky defensively. Gomez’s introduction at halftime led to RSL targeting Bravo, and it seemed to work for the most part. A pretty solid but unspectacular game for the polarizing left back.

Evander didn’t register a goal involvement, but had a great game as well. He showed some great tenacity in defending while his silkiness helped spring attack after attack. He kept his cool and did his job. When he got subbed out in the 72nd minute, he probably left the field knowing he put in a great shift. I don’t really have a ton else to say on him, but he took a backseat to Santi tonight. That’s OK. He doesn’t have to be involved in every good thing the Timbers do. That’s what being on a team is about. He did his job and helped his team get the result they needed. 

Sebastian Blanco got the start on the left wing tonight, and is still one of the best attackers on the team. He was only able to play for 57 minutes, and it’s becoming clearer that this will probably be his last season with the team. I have only one request regarding him: give him a proper send-off. If I were to create a Mount Rushmore of Timbers players, Blanco has a spot right next to Diego Valeri, Liam Ridgewell, and Diego Chara. He needs a day in the sun so we can properly thank him for all the effort and goals he has given to this club. 

Zac McGraw returned to partner Dario Zuparic in the backline tonight. McGraw is such an important player to the Timbers this season. He is violent in the tackle when he needs to be, but he also displays an incredible silkiness for a player of his size. We sorely missed him in the past two games, and I’m so proud of his development over the past two seasons. Another great outing from the Bash Bros (nickname subject to change if I can think of a better one, suggestions welcomed). 

Cristhian Paredes looked a lot more comfortable tonight. He didn’t light the world on fire, but he was solid. Definitely worthy of praise but not a man of the match award. Besides being the victim of an elbow to the face, Diego Chara continues to amaze me. One tackle from tonight stands out in my mind. I don’t have the exact minute in my notes, but he snuck up on an unsuspecting RSL attacker and just robbed him in broad daylight. I can’t say enough about him. It would just add to all of the heaps of praise that has been given to him in the 12 years he has been in Portland. Build the statue. 

Time for a positional battles update, and I’m going to start with the goalkeeper position because it’s less messy. This is the second match in a row that David Bingham has taken the starting role. I’m beginning to think that Bingham might be the starter for the foreseeable future. By picking Bingham, Miles Joseph is giving us an insight into his tactical preference. In build-up, Bingham has been pushing up in between the center backs to act as another field player when the Timbers are playing out from the back. I do believe Aljaz Ivacic can do this, but Bingham is better than him at distributing. His distribution was very good tonight. Plus he’s still a good shot-stopper. He made several good saves tonight. Do I have an issue with Bingham earning the starting job? No. Do I feel bad for Ivacic? Yes, but he can always work harder in training to win his spot back.

The striker position is now messy, but in a very good way. Felipe Mora scored in his second consecutive game tonight, and every Timbers fan is so happy for him. Franck Boli, meanwhile, got the start and didn’t score. That’s very mean of me to say, as Boli did do several good things today. However, he hasn’t scored since July 1st. He has missed time due to injury, but as a striker you have to score goals. We know that Boli has quality. Diego Chara, once again, has a perfect quote to sum this situation up: “Both him (Mora) and Boli are great players with different abilities.” There doesn’t need to be a #1 option at striker because the Timbers already have two. It’s just a matter of figuring out which one fits the tactical plan for each match. 

I thought Bryan Acosta had a solid substitute appearance, and it was the right time for Larrys Mabiala to enter the game. I’m saving my thoughts on Yimmi and Dairon for the Seattle preview. Since the Timbers won tonight, let’s talk about THE STANDINGS!!!!!

Tonight, the Seattle Sounders did us a favor. So did St. Louis and the LA Galaxy. Instead of 5 points back of the playoff line, we are now 4 points back. We continue to straddle the line between “dead” and “not dead.” That’s a good thing, but it does worth questioning what a playoff berth this season would mean for this club. I have the answer: it means everything for the players. Sure, some fans might engage in some casual snobbery and say that making the playoffs doesn’t matter if we’re going to get bounced in the first round. Counterpoint: who cares? These players are trying to drag themselves out of the hole that they’re in, and they still deserve our full support. There’s a pretty big match coming up on Saturday, and both teams involved will want to win not just for their own seasons but to fully humiliate their opponent. Let’s see what happens then before making a true judgement of our playoff chances.

After their refusal to eat the bread of this week’s Jimmy John’s confection (calling Jimmy John’s a confection is the most I have ever exaggerated in any article I have ever written), they did eat the turkey. Now it’s time for another slice of bread, and one that would be so delicious if they eat it. I don’t want them to just eat it, mind you. This slice of bread deserves to be ripped apart into tiny pieces and devoured with the hunger of a person who hasn’t had a slice of bread in months. It’s only a couple of days between now and a trip up north, but that trip isn’t very far. Tonight’s result will only feed into the confidence of these players. And Miles Joseph has just managed this team to a good win, his first as the interim. Alas, the Timbers can’t rest. We’re onto Seattle. 

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