Farewell and Onwards

An emotional goodbye and another statement win. The Portland Timbers are in the Leagues Cup knockout stages for the second year in a row.

The Colorado Rapids came to Providence Park 4-0 reasons.

That scoreline is very dramatic, but this could have been a very different game if it wasn’t for Maxime Crepeau. He made two incredible point-blank saves in the first five minutes of game time. For the rest of the first half, the Rapids were only able to register one more shot. Portland began to control the game with and without the ball, but they weren’t able to create any quality chances. Well, until the 29th minute. David Ayala hit a perfect diagonal switch to Juan Mosquera, and the Colombian crossed it to Felipe Mora. Mora, the smartest player on the pitch, headed the ball directly into Antony’s path, who nutmegged Zack Steffen (he played at Manchester City!) and gave the Timbers the lead. Antony’s spell on the pitch didn’t last long after that. A crunching challenge from Andreas Maxso two minutes later sent the Brazilian to the ground, but he didn’t leave the pitch until the 34th minute. Santiago Moreno entered the game but Portland didn’t add to their lead before the halftime whistle blew.

They were just saving their goals for the second half. In the 52nd minute, the Timbers scored on another corner kick. Evander delivered the ball to the near post and Cristhian Paredes flicked it on to the back post. Waiting at the back post was Ayala, who scored his first goal for the Timbers with an easy finish. More on this goal later. Goal number three deserves an assist for Jonathan Lewis. The Colorado winger kept the ball from going out of bounds by backheeling it to Mosquera. With the entire length of the field in front of him, Mosquera just kept running. His next pass found Mason Toye who smashed it past Steffen for his first Timbers goal in the 69th minute. But the Timbers needed a fourth. Two minutes later, Evander took two touches outside his own box. The first was off his chest to control the ball, then he swiveled and hit a perfect through ball to Moreno with his second touch. Moreno was free on goal, and it was his turn to smash it past Steffen. With the game completely buried, two more things needed to happen to put a bow on another massive win. First, they had to get Larrys Mabiala on the field. That happened in the 81st minute. Finally, they needed to keep the clean sheet. Both items were accomplished, and the Timbers have won their Leagues Cup group. 

I don’t really have a big picture takeaway from this game, so I’m just going to do a deep dive on Portland’s 2nd goal. I haven’t done one of these in a while, but a Timbers team that can score these types of goals consistently will be absolutely unstoppable from any type of dead-ball situation.

Time to break out the telestrator. The red circle to the far left is the ball because Evander hit it at a very high rate of speed so it looks a little blurry. One red circle is drawn around Cristhian Paredes because he will make first contact with this cross. The arrow is pointed to David Ayala.

Fast forward a couple seconds and Paredes has headed the ball (marked by a very helpful arrow) to the back post. This is the proper way to do a corner kick routine when you don’t have a literal giant (Zac McGraw) on the pitch and several capable aerial threats defending the corner (Bombito, Maxso). Defenders are always focused on the initial cross (or entry ball) during a set piece. Just like how Sam Vines (the “S” in Scorer) has completely lost his mark (Ayala, helpfully labeled “The Goal Scorer” with a nifty red arrow) which allows that player (Ayala, the Goal Scorer) to get to the back post and be right there to head home Paredes’ clever pass and score the goal! Over the years, the Portland Timbers have routinely been victimized by these exact corner kick routines. It was so satisfying to see them repay the favor tonight. The near-post flick is the most effective corner kick routine. It changes the angle of the attack in a split second and is always an instant goal if executed correctly. More of this, please.

Maxime Crepeau is tonight’s Man of the Match after recording his first clean sheet as a Timber. Those two saves in the game’s opening stages were absolutely critical and he ended the night with 4. That includes 6 recoveries, often in heavy traffic. Crepeau has been waiting MONTHS for his first shutout, and it needed to happen tonight. The Portland Timbers have two starting-quality goalkeepers, but only one of them is the undisputed number one for his country. Crepeau has brought his scorching Copa America form back to Providence Park. Tonight illustrated why he isn’t just the club’s starting goalkeeper. He is also a key figure in the locker room. Bravo, Max.

Juan David Mosquera was outstanding tonight. His decision-making was excellent and he registered one assist. If we’re talking hockey assists, he had another one with that cross to Mora to set up Antony’s goal. I don’t have anything else to say. These performances from Mosquera are becoming more and more consistent. A consistent Juan is one of the best right backs in the league.

Miguel Araujo continued to impress with his aggression and his distribution. He’s very similar to Kamal Miller in that regard with the only difference being the dominant foot. Both Araujo and Miller were incredible tonight even though Miller took a little bit longer to get into the game. The last time that Araujo, Miller, and Crepeau shared the field was in Copa America. Araujo got sent off in that game, and since his return the Peruvian has been one of the Timbers’ best players. Center back and central midfield have been the most competitive position battles this season with four starting-quality players for two starting spots. Competition is bringing the best out of these players.

One of those players fighting for a starting role is Cristhian Paredes. For most of the season, I have viewed Paredes as the odd man out in Portland’s midfield. He doesn’t excel at one aspect of the game but is proficient in most areas. That skill-set has allowed him to continue to improve year after year. It seemed like he hit a wall earlier in the season, but he excelled tonight. Not only did he assist Ayala’s goal, he was one of the top pressers and counter-attacking options for Portland. Once again, I don’t think that the starting job is his, but he is supremely valuable as a substitute and a spot-starter. One of those spot starts was tonight, and he was fantastic.

That starting job belongs to David Ayala. He is the best midfielder on the team and it’s not even close. 

This is what a 6 should do. But just existing as a backline shield is not enough. 2 tackles, 2 interceptions, 6 successful ground duels, 3 successful aerial duels (including the goal!), 6/6 accurate long balls, and 89% pass accuracy. I’m running out of superlatives for him. He is Diego Chara’s heir apparent. Period.

Evander had an assist and continued to do everything in the attack. I would like to highlight that assist, because he did an homage to a teammate.

Touch one.

Touch two.

Two touches and a perfect through ball for a free runner. You know who else did that?

Touch one.

Touch two.

Awfully nice of Evander to pay tribute to Marvin Loria tonight. 

Antony scored his 4th goal in his 3rd game against the Colorado Rapids. They didn’t take too kindly to that, because two minutes after his goal he got kicked in the hip by Andreas Maxso. That’s gotta hurt. He ended up leaving the field but returned to the bench for the second half. Phil Neville described his injury as a “contusion.” With at least a week before Portland’s next game, Antony has plenty of time to heal. He’s still a very raw player but has continued to work on his off-ball movement throughout this season. If he keeps finding himself in dangerous places, more goals and assists will come.

Felipe Mora only played one half before getting subbed out. It was the correct decision because he did his job in the first half. No, he didn’t score, but his intelligence and awareness created Antony’s goal. A good shift from the Chilean.

He was replaced by Mason Toye, who scored his first goal for the Timbers in the 69th minute. After the game, he spoke about his brother who lives in Corvallis. “I’ve always liked the Pacific Northwest.” Toye’s contract expires at the end of the season but he has a club option for 2025. If he keeps scoring, the Timbers will probably have to give him a new contract. That’s fine by me.

Santiago Moreno made his second consecutive substitute appearance and scored a goal. He’s probably the most in-form attacker not named Evander on the team right now. He has 4g/4a in his last 9 matches. Imagine that you are a fullback and you just had to spend 35 minutes facing Antony and his blazing speed. Then Antony leaves and Moreno replaces him. Lordy.

Jonathan Rodriguez and Claudio Bravo are sharing their own blurb tonight. Bravo had an outstanding game and Rodriguez struggled. Why is that? Well, I’ve been noticing a few differences in the Timbers’ play over the past couple months. Rodriguez and Bravo have developed a good partnership, but Bravo’s defensive responsibilities are beginning to affect Rodriguez’s attacking output.

This is not a bad thing, but it is something that definitely happens. Since Rodriguez locked down the starting left wing job, other teams have begun to double-team him on the wing. This has been very effective as of late. It is compounded by Bravo not going forward and giving him support on the left. To contrast this, Moreno doesn’t often face double teams on the right but he always has Mosquera as an outlet. Earlier in the year, I was worried that the Timbers were too reliant on the right side of their attack. You can imagine my surprise when I saw these maps after the game.

Thanks to MLSStat on Twitter for this chart. Portland was very reliant on their left side tonight, but most of their box entries came from the middle. So what does this say about Bravo and Rodriguez. Well, it’s a tale of two halves. Bravo and Mosquera both like to attack, but they can’t attack at the same time because it leaves the defense wildly exposed. So Bravo will often stay back in the first half and only roam into the middle third with the ball at his feet to progress it. This is fine, but it also leaves Rodriguez on an island. During transition moments Rodriguez will have the advantage (look at the goal against the Galaxy for evidence) but without an outlet there isn’t much he can do in possession while facing a double team. But in the second halves of games, Bravo is given more license to get forward and overlap. Rodriguez is still facing double teams but now he has the support that he needs. So how can this minor problem be solved? Evander usually drifts over to the left to provide support, but he isn’t going to overlap like a fullback. Rodriguez plays like an inside forward on the left wing. He doesn’t like to stay wide when he gets on the ball. There are some solutions that I have thought of, but it’s no use getting into them now. Let’s see if the coaching staff will be able to figure this problem out. By the way, neither Rodriguez, Mora, or Evander found the back of the net tonight and the Timbers won the game. That’s only happened one other time this year. Their opponent for that other game? The Colorado Rapids in the season opener.

Larrys Mabiala said farewell tonight to a crowd of adoring fans. I would consider this farewell match a massive success. Defenders don’t often get scoring chances, but Mabiala was able to enter as a substitute and keep a clean sheet. That is good enough in my book. After the final whistle, Mabiala was lifted by his teammates while the Timbers Army serenaded him. Now that he has finished his 19 year playing career, what is he most looking forward to? “Some rest,” he told reporters after the game. I wish him and his family the absolute best going forward. There will always be a spot in Providence Park for Larrys Mabiala.

After his first game in charge of the Portland Timbers, Phil Neville talked to the assembled media. It was a 4-1 victory over these same Colorado Rapids and one message rang clear: “It wasn’t good enough.” Fast forward five months and the same Timbers (albeit with 7 different starters than the team that faced Colorado on that cold February night) beat the Rapids 4-0. The message after the game from the head coach? “It wasn’t a complete performance.” Like his comments after that game in February, Neville is right. And the Timbers didn’t need a complete performance to dismantle a team that’s higher than them in the Western Conference table. But tonight’s match wasn’t a league match. It was a Leagues Cup game.

Congratulations to the Portland Timbers for winning West 5! It wasn’t easy but they did it! However, due to some RIDICULOUS rules, the Portland Timbers have a 50/50 chance of hosting their next Leagues Cup match.

The Timbers got the result they needed last night with FC Juarez’s 2-0 victory in Dallas. Now it all comes down to a Sunday night match in St. Louis. If Juarez wins (normal time or penalties) the Timbers will have to travel to second-placed St. Louis for their next match. But if St. Louis wins (normal time or penalties) the Portland Timbers will host FC Juarez sometime next week. Honestly, I get that hosting priority is decided by cumulative points total, but it’s rather stupid when a team that wins a group could be forced to go on the road. Either way, I am a big St. Louis fan for the rest of the week. A full bracket breakdown will come in the preview of the next match. It’s useless to speculate while the bracket is still empty, but the Timbers have done their job. 

The Portland Timbers have had to earn the respect of the larger world for their entire existence. They have convincingly secured their own survival in this tournament, and now they are positioning themselves for a run. Every player on the roster has been able to contribute, and this entire squad is mentally ready for what lies ahead. The quest continues.