Timbers v Manchester City

I was up in Snohomish at the KlaHaYa Soccer Tournament this weekend with a caravan of my Mojos friends,  so this report on the Man City match comes courtesy of my longtime teammate, Mark. 

"One of the early pleasures was the venue.  It was a really beautiful evening in Portland.  Merlo Field was immaculate as a playing surface. At one point Alison and I were at the railing at field's edge, about six feet above the surface. Alison asked whether it was real grass; it looked that unreally perfect.

If one followed the EPL, there were plenty of name players: Patrick Viera, Craig Bellemy, Emmanual Adebayor, Wayne Bridge, Jo, Micah Richards, Stephen Ireland, Joleon Lescott. Notably missing: Carlos Tevez, Kolo Toure, Sean Wright Phillips, Rocque Santa Cruz, Shay Given. I never saw the head coach, Roberto Mancini.

First game impression was that the Timbers could do the mechanics of soccer play almost as well as Man City. Ultimate impression: that the huge difference between the teams is that in the crucial moments the MC players are far more lethal in the final third. That maddening profligacy in front of goal that the Timbers have shown us all season was there last night. The MC players were insanely quick in passing/running movement as they got into the penalty area.

The first goal was a kind of cheap bundling in via Stephan Ireland's gluteus maximus. The second goal by Adebayor was an unstoppable glancing header where he leaped above everyone else. (He's tall and surprisingly lacking in bulk in person.) The third goal by Jo was a terrific, precisely placed worm burner, just inside the near post from 20 yards out.

For the Timbers: Dike played well, but at this level there were guys that could muscle him off the ball. Danso did an excellent job sweeping in the back. Pore was average. Josten had a good chance but was invisible most of the time. Nimo played very well; not intimidated at all. Taka was great and had two really good efforts on goal in the 2nd half. Scot Thompson did his usual overlaps to good effect.

Both teams steadily substituted through the match. Both sides had their best sides out on the pitch for the first half. Unfortunately, their second team was a lot better than ours during the last 45 minutes. At one point from about the 65th minute on, we had our complete worthless trifecta out there: Quavas Kirk, James Marcelin and Mandjou Kieta.  Marcelin only passed laterally or to the rear - big surprise. He doesn't have a creative bone in his body. Kieta looked no better than a decent amateur rec player out there.

Impressions: It was like going to an English 4rd Div match in, say, Bournemouth. People could actually shout friendly, rude stuff to the players and sometimes they would good-naturedly respond (Bellemy did, at least). Without fouling, the MC defenders were more physical and very quick to slide tackle. (There were no cards.) Probably 200 people in MC colors. Their club had fans doing the whole USA tour along with the team. Defender Micah Richards looked like the Incredible Hulk in a MC kit. The dude is muscular!

The TA was not as vocal as at PGE Park. Partly due to the different configuration of Merlo where they were in a wide, very shallow setup behind the west goal.

I did take some snaps and a little video. It was fun. Thanks again for the ticket; Alison enjoyed the spectacle."