Timbers Stumble in Vancouver, Lose 1-0

It was a first half to forget for Portland. An inability to progress the ball was the defining feature of the first 45 minutes, lowlighted by a 71% pass accuracy on only 90 attempted passes. The Timbers were also held shotless. However, none of that could be parlayed into a lead for the hosts. Their closest opportunity did find the back of the net but was ruled offsides almost immediately. The second half brought Evander’s first action since March 11. Franck Boli also made his second Timbers appearance. But even those substitutions couldn’t give the Timbers a shot on goal. Vancouver ended up getting their eventual winner after a Julian Gressel cross got chested home by substitute Brian White from point-blank range. 

I certainly can’t call what I saw tonight soccer. Soccer involves a team of players. There was no other team on the field in BC Place besides the hosts. Let’s start with some really ugly numbers. The Timbers passed the ball 337 times tonight. Only 68 of those passes went into the final third, and only 51.5 percent of those 68 were completed. On the whole, 71.5% of their 337 passes were completed. That is ugly. But one other number is far uglier. Throughout the 90+ minutes of game time, the Timbers only had 8 touches inside the Vancouver box. 8 TOUCHES. INSIDE THE VANCOUVER BOX. Somehow, the Timbers had 0.88 xG. That came from the only two shots they had in this game. Santiago Moreno’s effort was blocked, but Juan David Mosquera had a 0.84 xG chance that he painfully skied over the bar from point blank range. If Mosquera scores that, at least we have a tie to talk about. But even if that ball finds the back of the net, there are too many issues to talk about with this team and the troubles they have going forward. 

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This is the average player positions map from tonight’s game. All the starters are shown in purple. Somehow, we had a 4-2-3-1 shape in the first half. Zac McGraw said in the post-game press conference that the goal was to limit Vancouver’s chances in the first half. While they didn’t do a great job of it, the map does speak to that. The most curious aspect of that, however, is Diego Gutierrez’s positioning right next to Diego Chara. His performance there highlighted how much Eryk Williamson was missed in the squad. There was no true ball progressor in the midfield tonight. Once Evander and Niezgoda came on at halftime to replace Gutierrez and Tega Ikoba, you can see a 4-3-3 form take shape with Moreno and Evander as dual 8s. That did lead to a little bit of forward movement, but the final ball was never there. Franck Boli did look dangerous when he entered, but he can only do so much with such a lack of service. 

Let’s begin with the four gold stars from today. Aljaz Ivacic is the unquestioned Man of the Match. We all knew his first start against Atlanta was a fluke and that he was let down by his backline, and today he kept the Timbers fully in the game until Vancouver’s goal. That goal wasn’t his fault, as 4 bodies should be able to mark one guy. But they didn’t. Ivacic is playing out of his mind right now and in my opinion should be the frontrunner for Goalkeeper of the Year. Zac McGraw is a soldier. Not only because he graduated from West Point, but he is constantly throwing himself at any ball in his hemisphere. I am so glad he is finally getting the game time he deserves. He is already a captain in my eyes. But, of course, there is the man who actually wears the armband. Diego Chara did not miss a beat tonight. He hit 86% of his passes. He won possession 5 times. He is ageless and Tom Brady should’ve called him for his fitness secrets instead of Ichiro. Eric Miller had a great game tonight as well. With Mosquera playing farther up the pitch, Miller put in another great shift at right back. His effort stood out both on the pitch and on the stat sheet, completing 87% of his passes which led all players who played the full 90+. 

I thought Evander was a breath of fresh air off the bench, and I am so mad that he got injured. Those extra training sessions and matches he missed were crucial to build more chemistry with his teammates. He still shows so much quality and he should be good to start next week. To anyone who thinks he isn’t showing effort or doesn’t care, I urge you to recalibrate your expectations. He is learning a new position, with teammates who aren’t fully healthy yet, in his first season playing in a new league, and he’s already had to deal with a hip problem. Expecting him to immediately come in and turn this team around is a tall order, and it is worth reminding that he is only 24. He hit 94% of his passes tonight. He is not the problem.

There are plenty of other problems though. Chief among them is Portland’s continued problems with set pieces. I have set-piece fatigue. Ivacic was the hero tonight on the 12 corners Vancouver had. I have no solutions or answers on defending set-pieces. That is above my pay grade. 

The person who is getting paid to coach the team, however, is in a very rough spot. The Timbers have had a hard schedule to open the season, and they have been without most of their key contributors for every game. The ones who have returned aren’t fully healthy yet, and you can see the attack stumble without their presence. I could have taken this opportunity to talk about the players who were subpar/outright bad tonight, but I’m not going to do that. This team’s lack of depth is partially to blame for tonight’s flaccid result, but sometimes different measures can be taken to solve for that. I understand that the plan was to stand pat in the first half and go for the win in the second, but there are still questions I have that weren’t fully answered. Why was Niezgoda the first off the bench rather than Boli? What is being done in training to build chemistry in the attack? Tonight was not Savarese’s finest hour, by any stretch of the imagination.

One other problematic note was Claudio Bravo’s presence on the bench. In the post-game press conference, Savarese said, “Bravo had some hamstring tightness. He could’ve played but it was a gamble. We decided to play it safe.” 

I agree with playing it safe, considering the current injury situation. The last thing I want to see is another key name on the injury report. Justin Rasmussen had an average showing tonight, and he is not a player who can be relied upon every week. That’s another thing to keep an eye on during this week’s training sessions.

We all know what is coming next week. An in-form Seattle is set to migrate south and invade the Rose City. The Timbers now sit on 5 points in 7 matches with a pitiful 1-2-4 record. Next week should be treated like a cup final. Nothing can turn around a season like a good old-fashioned fishing trip. Based on tonight, however, it looks like that fish might pull us into the ocean. 

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