Why Can It Never Be Easy?

*Cover photo credit to Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers*

It was a wild Sunday afternoon in Kansas City. The Portland Timbers broke their 3-game losing streak, but it wasn’t easy.

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The Portland Timbers refuse to run from the grind. After a fairly OK opening 13 minutes, Erik Thommy carried the ball to the edge of the box with no pressure. He found William Agada, who shot the ball. It was deflected up and over an outstretched Maxime Crepeau for a 1-0 lead to the hosts. 13 minutes later, Cristhian Paredes found Jonathan Rodriguez behind the KC defense who squared the ball across goal to Antony. Antony put it in the back of the net, but the goal was called off due to Rodriguez being offside. After that, the cracks in the Timbers defense continued to show. Two set pieces were their doom to close the first half. The first was a 38th minute corner kick that an unmarked Dany Rosero thumped past an onrushing Crepeau to make it 2-0. And with the last kick of the half, SKC executed a very good free kick routine. Thommy put a ball into the back post which was squared across the box by Tim Leibold to a wide open Agada to make it 3-0 at halftime. Unacceptable.

Two changes were made at halftime. Santiago Moreno and Juan Mosquera came off and Claudio Bravo and Felipe Mora came in. But the Timbers were still on the back foot, and it looked like utter doom was coming when Bravo tackled Thommy in the box in the 60th minute. However, Agada was unable to put the resulting penalty kick on target and the Timbers suddenly had life. Two minutes later, Bravo sent a cross into the box for Mora and Leibold fouled him. The penalty drought was over. Evander scored the penalty and it was now 3-1. Three minutes later, the Timbers were attacking again. Evander wriggled out of trouble, combined with Antony, and sent a cross towards the back post. Rodriguez, now a winger after Mora came on, controlled it with his chest and squared it to Mora. Mora’s off-balance attempt crossed the line. 3-2. The push for the equalizer continued, and it finally came in the 81st minute. Evander chipped a cross towards Paredes who fired a header towards the bottom third of the goal. Melia redirected it right into the path of Eric Miller, whose first MLS goal was the crucial equalizer smashed into the goal from a tight angle. After the equalizer, the Timbers were keen to not repeat the mistakes they made against Vancouver last week. The final 20 minutes were end-to-end, but the Timbers held on. A huge recovered point on the road.

If you offered me a draw before this game started, I would have been fine with it. Today’s starting XI was gutsy but needed. Diego Chara was dropped for David Ayala, and Miguel Araujo made his first start of the year in place of Dario Zuparic and the injured Zac McGraw. But I’m not going to talk about the tactics today. In his postgame press conference, Phil Neville was entirely focused on the mentality of the team. I completely agree with him.

But tactics/player availability can solve for one thing in the  attack right now. I’m going to focus on the disallowed goal in the first half because it featured something I haven’t noticed in a long time. The Timbers are averaging 1.17 offsides per 90, which is 24th in MLS. In order to get called offside, you have to be aggressive in the attack. You have to be looking to get in behind the defense to be called offsides. On that long Paredes diagonal, Jonathan Rodriguez wanted to get in behind on the left. When he did, he was able to find Antony making a box-crashing run. Yes, the goal was wiped out because Rodriguez was offsides. But the Timbers aren’t taking enough risks in attack. The teams with the most offsides/90 in MLS are RSL, Columbus, Cincy, Philly, and Miami. All of those teams have good attacks because they are willing to take risks. Ayala, Araujo, Kamal Miller, and Paredes are willing to play long balls over the top but very few attackers are willing to make those runs in behind so those balls rarely get played. In the second half, we saw players willing to get in behind on the wings. 

Santiago Moreno is a good soccer player. But he’s not a good fit for what the Timbers want to be right now. In the first half, he was a black hole. His best attribute is his agility and dribbling ability, and his first touch was letting him down once again today. Last week I wasn’t fully convinced about dropping him, but now I am. He played his best soccer after being benched last year and he needs a serious wake-up call. He wasn’t aggressive in defense, he wasn’t aggressive without the ball in possession, and he was extremely poor when he did get the ball. Neville made the right choice with that halftime sub today. With Rodriguez, Antony, and Mora in the attack, you have three players who are willing to get in behind and make dangerous runs. Moreno isn’t doing anything productive as of late, and he needs a serious wake-up call this week. 

The other halftime sub of Juan Mosquera was a little confusing. I didn’t think Mosquera had a bad first half, but I did some more thinking and I realized how low my bar for him had fallen. Sure, he wasn’t the worst player on the pitch, but it’s still way too easy for opposing teams to attack down the Timbers’ right. I can pick out one moment in particular where I thought Mosquera was done dirty. Early in the first half (the exact minute is not in my notes) the Timbers were attacking down the left side. Mosquera was wide open on the right, pushed high up exactly where he wants the ball. Evander didn’t find him. More on Mosquera’s early exit later.

I think the Timbers have found their best attacking trio out of the players currently on the roster. Rodriguez arrived as a versatile attacker who could play as a striker or a winger. For the team to be the most dangerous, he has to be a winger. Antony has earned his starting spot in 2024. He is the most direct winger between himself and Moreno. Mora can turn anything into a goal, and he’s building up to full match fitness. I think another striker will be needed in the summer, but for now the Timbers have a dangerous attacking trio.

Evander continues to be the straw that stirs the Timbers’ attack. Today, he took a huge step in terms of his Timbers journey. With Chara’s planned absence (Neville confirmed in the post-match presser his benching was planned for rest), Evander took the armband for the first time today. He was only notified of it yesterday, and he was surprised. But he embraced the occasion, scored a penalty, and was instrumental in the second-half comeback. Neville sees Evander as a leader, and was impressed with his conduct in the locker room at halftime. According to the head coach, the Brazilian was talking with his teammates and encouraging them during the break. The myths about Evander continue to spread while the player himself is refuting those doubters on the field. “He’s lazy.” “He isn’t doing enough.” Today, his leadership and his effort on the pitch coupled with his obvious skill brought the Timbers back into this game. A fine performance from today’s captain. In 2024, he has 3 goals and 1 assist in 5 games. He has also created 15 chances, blocked 3 shots, and completed 83% of his passes. That pass completion number is important because it illustrates his willingness to take risks in attack that the team desperately needs. He’s been the Timbers’ best player in 2024 so far.

The other Brazilian, Antony, is second in that list. His hustle and willingness to work hard impresses me so much. He looked tired towards the end of this game, and subbing him for Dairon Asprilla was the right move from Neville. But he has locked in a starting spot in this Timbers team, and it should be completely safe. 

Miguel Araujo made his first start in the backline, and his aggression and passing range really stood out. He nearly created the winner in the 84th minute after his long ball was perfectly placed for Rodriguez to take it the distance. However, Rodriguez hesitated, and the shot was saved by Tim Melia. Araujo didn’t impress last season in his limited starts, and was training at right back at the beginning of 2024. However, I was really impressed with him today. Sometimes that aggression can draw him out of position, but he has the passing range and veteran mentality to make several more starts for this team. The center back position is far from settled, but Araujo made a good case for himself today. 

Eric Miller was playing out of position for every game in 2024. He’s not a left back, but he put his best foot forward. KC’s first goal was created by Miller and Ayala’s hesitation to challenge Erik Thommy, and that was a mental mistake that the Timbers could ill afford. But the second half was different. With Claudio Bravo entering at halftime, he returned to the right side of defense and put in another excellent shift. It was capped off by his first MLS goal. Now that Bravo is back, the right back competition will heat up once again. I think Miller can win the job, but it’s going to be a tough contest between him and Mosquera. 

Kamal Miller has had 3 different center back partners and 2 different goalkeepers so far in 2024. He wasn’t great today, but the inconsistency around him shares some of the blame for it. I want to see more from him on set pieces, specifically. But he’s a great passer and the team really needs that right now. He’s the only center back who is undroppable right now, but the team needs to find who his long-term partner is.

` Cristhian Paredes had big shoes to fill today, and I thought he did an OK job. I think he needs to be better in terms of picking the right spots to make a challenge, but his long passing was sorely needed. David Ayala is dripping with ability, and he needs all the game time he can get. He exited in the 54th minute for Diego Chara after receiving a knock. I hope it’s not too serious. This team needs a fully healthy Ayala going forward.

Not a great outing for Crepeau on paper, but he made the saves he needed to and was largely hung out to dry on SKC’s 3 goals. I’m going to draw attention to the second goal in particular. No Timbers defender was going for that ball, so Crepeau had to come off his line to challenge for it. High-risk, high-reward, and it didn’t work. He was let down by his team in that instance. The Timbers have to get better on set pieces before facing the set-piece masters that LAFC are. The far post beat the Timbers twice today. Unacceptable.

HELLO CLAUDIO! I MISSED YOU! After the game ended, I realized what Claudio Bravo means for the Timbers. Today he shut down the left side and gave away a penalty. But that type of risk-taking (NOT THE PENALTY) is what the Timbers need right now in both attack and defense. Bravo is so confident in his own ability that he takes risks that other players wouldn’t. The Timbers need Bravo’s confidence to permeate through the entire team.

Phil Neville continues to be incredibly candid in his post-match press conference. “Being totally honest, I was questioning whether these players were going to be Portland Timbers players,” he said about his thoughts at halftime. “I told them that I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore.” Through his first month-and-a-half as Timbers manager, he strikes me as a disappointed father. “I’m not going to put up with it anymore” is exactly what an upset dad would tell his kids after they routinely knock over a lamp sitting on a table. The 2024 Timbers are routinely knocking over lamps and sometimes they’re able to put the broken lamp back together. In order to leave his stamp on this team, he has to continue to work with them to cut out the mistakes that have plagued them in 2024 and in years past. He spoke about how he wants the team to win more duels and be more aggressive defensively. While the first half was putrid, Neville praised the second half. Neville also wants the team to focus on the basics, specifically heading the ball and staying with runners. “If the team can do the basics, we can challenge for the top four.” I agree with him, but like the head coach I need to see it first. So many of these games have been a tale of two halves. If the Timbers can work on cutting out their defensive mistakes while working on being more direct and taking more risks in the attack, they can be a top four team in the Western Conference. But after seven games, where are they in the table?

The fall continues, but the losing is over. Now the focus turns to breaking a 4-game winless streak. Today, the Timbers woke up after a missed penalty single-handedly kept them in the game with a chance. Which is why next week’s game against LAFC will be even more crucial than today’s draw. LAFC excels at all the things the Timbers are struggling with (set pieces, transitions, breaking down a strong defense) so it’s going to be a perfect proving ground to see how many of Neville’s words and teachings are sticking. But the Timbers have erased multiple goal deficits in back to back weeks; something that looked impossible last season. So some things are getting better. But in order to become a complete team, two things must be accomplished. They have to ignore the grind and stop creating these holes to dig themselves out of. In order to ignore the grind, they have to conquer the far post. If they can do these both of these things over the next couple of weeks, they can establish themselves as a top-four team in a crowded West. 

In my recap of the Philadelphia loss, I set a target for the Timbers. Let’s check back in to see how that target is progressing.

That’s 1 point in 2 games, and the schedule gets even harder from this point forward. Bravo returned two weeks ahead of schedule, but the Timbers are about to play both MLS Cup participants in the next three weeks. My previous statement above remains true, and my expectations haven’t been lowered in the slightest. This team can play good soccer, but they need to be able to do it on a consistent basis. A home game is the perfect launchpad to establish consistency.

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