Timbers v Sounders April 5, 2014

On Saturday morning I received a message via Facebook from my wife's cousin's husband,  Kevin.    "Are you ready for the Sounders?"  he asked from his digs in Portsmouth England.  Kev's a loyal supporter of Pompey,  Portsmouth's ancient but ill-starred football club.  The loyal fans in this bastion of the Royal Navy know adversity--their club had to be rescued from financial meltdown through a herculean effort by the supporters,  an effort we hope the Timbers Army never has to even imagine.  

The fact that a match between the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders is on the radar screen for folks who have their own fine brand of football to fret and exult over is a sign that we are now truly on a bigger stage.  I wrote back with the flippant reply that "20,000 fans say "yes"!"   And on this Saturday past,  we were ready for the Sounders,  but not perhaps for Clint Dempsey.   

This match gives me heartburn.  Any time Portland and Seattle go to battle,   everyone says it's  a fierce tussle.    But leaving Kenny Cooper (KENNY COOPER!) unmarked on the back post three minutes into the match is not a sign of being ramped up and ready.   I almost suspect the Sounders practiced the concept---"If we get an early corner or free kick, let's have Kenny drift into the back post--it'll be unmarked.  That'll show the Timbers."

I honor the effort the team made after that first mistake (again).   They weren't disheartened and disorganized.   They kept their poise.  They ignored the early strike and the potential insult.  When Chara cruised forward looked,  settled and struck,  I was ecstatic.  Chara has always been one of my favorite players on our side.   He works and works and works--snapping at the heels of the opponents.  And creatively bringing the ball forward into the attack.   In the years we've been in MLS it's clear that Chara is not the shooter--he's the disruptor of opposing teams and the initiator of counter attacks.   This weekend, though,  he smashed expectations with two brilliant strikes from outside the 18 yard box--a point of a attack that the Timbers' precision style doesn't often use.   Each shot was exquisitely placed and from the Sounders' scouting perspective,  totally unexpected.  

The clock ticked on.  Chara's first shot brought us even.   Followed by Valeri's magic spin and shoot in tight quarters to bring us back up.  But then another hiccup in the defense.  Dempsey receives the ball with no one to challenge him just yards from goal and nails the shot.   Kah was to his right,  the closest Timber,   but was nowhere near 'marking'  the Sounder who has to be considered the deadliest risk.  

The clock ticked on.   Chara,  in a second moment of vision and poise,  puts a second strike from 22 or so yards into the net.    And then,   in a tumble of plays which seem to crush the Sounders' chances,   Maxi Urruti steals a ball from the Seattle defense and places an exquisite shot curling to the right but with enough 'english' that it drops into the corner of the net  and makes the tally 4-2 Timbers.   The clock showed us at 56 minutes.   

I have a son in Ashland, a brother in Enterprise,  and they text me when games are on.  They may or may not be able to watch on a big screen somewhere but they are Timbers' diehards.  So we text.   At 72 minutes into this match,  I sent a text  saying   "we can't let down'"  because I was seeing on the field a tendency for our crew to fall back en masse when the Sounders got the ball-- fewer challenges over the fifty yard line-- an organized retreat into defensive mode.  We had numbers back in the box,   but we were giving away momentum and space.   

What happened next needs no explanation.   The Sounders,  ball in our end,  got  a cross to Dempsey,  unmarked,   though Powell was close,  and he made it a 3-4 game.    And within minutes we coughed up a pk  that Dempsey finished for a hat trick and a tie.  

My sense?  Once we took the bunkered point of view,   we were betting that the time would run out before they would dissect our defense.  That's a horrible strategy.  Especially since Caleb Porter substituted offensive players which should have given the message that we were  "goin' for broke"  and not that we were hunkering down.   

I rate this match as one of the most exciting Timbers v Sounders matches in my memory going back to the 70s.   However,  I also rank it as one of the most disappointing.   We had the game in our hands and couldn't focus on how to hold on to it.   We showcased the best and the worst qualities of our team.

Coach Porter (no relation) has to solve this problem.  It's not enough to shut out opponents if we don't score goals.   It's not enough to score goals if we don't shut down opponents.  Yin and Yang.   We have to find balance.  The Timbers deserve it.

What team has ever started out a season and given up three PKs in their first three matches?

When the Portland Timbers faced a dismal second penalty kick in this weekend's match against Colorado,   I began to wonder what the frequency of penalty kicks in a game was really like.   The Timbers have given up four goals in their first three matches and three of them were PKs.   That seems bizarre to me.   So I searched for some statistics on the question.   Penalty kicks have a long history in the game,  though they weren't originally a part of it.   The data suggest that two PKs in a match isn't all that notable.    On the other hand,  they were devastating to our team in the match against Rapids.   

Individual Player's Cup uncovered from 1920s

Occasionally threads from Portland's soccer past are found unexpectedly and a new piece of information gives us a fresh look at the guys who took to muddy pitches nearly 100 years ago.
I recently was contacted by Patrick Donaldson, a Portland business leader,  who had discovered the small, tarnished cup pictured to the left among his grandfather's effects.   Patrick told me "My Grandfather was John Milne 'Jock' Donaldson. He emigrated to the United States on 3/16/1922 on SS Assyria from Dufftown Scotland thru Glasgow to New York to Portland, via train.  He worked as a Street Car Conductor on several lines most notably the Council Crest line. I have pictures of him in uniform and on the street car but not in a soccer kit or on the field (pitch?)."

I've asked Patrick if he'll share one of those images with me so I can add the image of the man to the image of the cup.    The Camerons were, I believe,  a team assembled by the local champion of the game,  Judge George Cameron,  who also funded the cup competition which bore his name.    If Jock Donaldson got off the train in Portland in the spring of 1922,  he must have been a strong player to attract the attention of the Camerons.   The cup would have been given to players on a team winning a League or cup trophy as their individual recognition.   I've heard about these cups but haven't ever seen one before.   

Thoughts after watching Portland and Seattle battle through their preseason match

First off,  I keep finding myself confused when it seems that every team we play is sporting a former Timber player or two.   Kenny Cooper appearing with Seattle yesterday took me completely by surprise; I obviously need to read my pre game pundits instead of just showing up.   I like Cooper but I wouldn't have thought of him as a likely pick by the Sounders.  Just goes to show how little I know.   

As for the game itself.  I needn't comment on the physicality,  the number of fouls and yellow cards.   That seems to be more than adequately covered--both during the game and in the press after.   Not a great surprise.   What I did like was Kalif  beginning to show some real strength and grit inside with the ball--continuing on his form last season.  I liked our new Argentines.   I liked the attack down the middle into the box with three attackers and a last minute squirt of a pass.  I liked Nagbe a lot.  I liked the general intensity.   But  I also worried a little---we seem to be vulnerable to leaving an overlapping back hanging alone in space on the right side.   Happened enough times that I noticed,  times leaving an open cross against the grain and potential vulnerability.  I'm looking forward to seeing which Timbers side hits the field when the season opens.  There are certainly enough choices.