The stats tell one story. The heartbreak tells another.
The Vancouver Whitecaps signed Welsh journeyman striker Robert Earnshaw on Wednesday. Some 72 hours later, he snuck between the Timbers’ center-backs and nabbed a totally undeserved, stoppage time, game-winning goal.
The last time Vancouver beat Portland, ‘Caps manager Carl Robinson stood in the middle of the field at Providence Park, screaming at Caleb Porter and pumping his fists. This time, he stood on the BC Place turf shaking his head, elation temporarily submerged by bewilderment.
The Whitecaps stole this one. They were out-possessed 66% to 34%. They only barely completed half as many passes as the Timbers, who spent the second half of this Cascadia Derby camped out in Vancouver’s half. The Timbers hit 40 more crosses than the Whitecaps, and yet after 80 minutes of prying followed by a 10-minute onslaught, they finished another March win-less for the third year in a row.
The performance? Good again. The team, even more short-handed than usual, did pretty much everything that could have been asked of them against the typically run-and-gun Whitecaps, who surprisingly decided to shut up shop, shut their eyes, and hope for a result against the Timbers.
But the frustration is creeping in. This is four games win-less for the Timbers. They’ve now dropped three points by conceding stoppage time goals, only one player scored in the entire month, and they cannot finish teams off to save their lives.
It’s too bad, in a way, that this is a results business. Portland is playing good soccer in tough circumstances. They don’t deserve the misery and last-gasp denials that have punctuated their March. How do you coach or manage a game to prevent a shocking mishap like Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers both failing to clear a routine ball in the last minute of a game, or a terrific free kick like the one that scored Vancouver’s first goal?
You don’t. You just have to do better. You just have to win.
Fair or not, that’s sports. And the Timbers haven’t built up enough good will, this season or last, to expect their fans to have oodles of patience. It won’t get any easier when league-leading—and, ironically enough, perennial fast starters—FC Dallas come to town.
There is a heavy air of misfortune around this Timbers start, and we shouldn’t forget, in the grand narrative of tragedy, that Portland didn’t play a perfect game in Vancouver. Far from it, in fact. The Timbers’ attack, until their goal, was bordering on pathetic. Caleb Porter made the decision to pull the ineffective Dairon Asprilla from the starting lineup, and insert Maxi Urruti in the team next to Fanendo Adi. It was a gamble worth taking, even though Porter knows full well that Urruti and Adi have zero chemistry, and Urruti is typically a useless player to begin with.
The result was a toothless attack, with Urruti barely impacting the game, and Adi not hitting his spots. Portland’s offense throughout the majority of the game was crossing the ball incessantly, even though Adi was the only player to aim at the box. The Timbers were short of ideas, with their only bright moments coming courtesy the ever-brilliant Darlington Nagbe and a lively Alvas Powell. But neither player had any end product, and while Diego Chara and especially George Fochive played solid games in the center of the park, both lacked offensive punch.
Despite all their possession, it took Portland until their 82nd minute, and a wonderful combination goal from Nagbe to Rodney Wallace to Adi—the same combo that was so effective against the LA Galaxy—that the floodgates opened.
Porter helped pry the ‘Caps defense apart by inserting Asprilla, who looked rejuvenated by his spell on the bench, and Gaston Fernandez, who had his best outing of the year from a deeper midfield position in place of Fochive. Portland finally started clicking, and clearly should have scored the winner themselves. Asprilla slammed a point-blank header off of the BC Place concrete turf and over the bar, while perhaps the passing move of the season ended with a terrific save from David Ousted on Adi.
But those attacking substitutions also opened up space on the counter for Vancouver’s offense, and that was eventually how the debutant Earnshaw scored the winner. He was kept onside by Alvas Powell, but it was Ridgewell’s failure to make the obvious play and put his foot through the ball that made the goal. The Englishman – who has been great all around for the Timbers – is good for a shocking gaffe about once every five games. This one was costly.
Losing to the ‘Caps hurts, especially when theirs was mostly a muted and gutless fight. Credit where credit is due – Kendall Waston and Pa Modou Kah played nice games – but this was easily the worst team Portland has seen all season. The final score should reflect that when the return leg is played on May 2nd.
Where to now for the Timbers? Onward. Porter has shown a remarkably brave face this season after these early set-backs, one because he has confidence in his team, and second because he has confidence in himself, but even he was clearly dejected after this loss.
The defense – despite what happened in stoppage time of this game – has still only conceded two goals from the run of play all year. He needs to find a way to manufacture offense, which is clearly a grind without Diego Valeri and Will Johnson.
The Urruti – Adi combo clearly isn’t the answer. The Timbers have added Ghanian winger Ishmael Yartey into the mix as well, just in time for Asprilla to have his first worthwhile outing. Yartey should be available next weekend – does he start? Can Fernandez, after a year and a month, finally find a position he likes and some regular playing time?
Porter was, somewhat, playing with house money in March. The Timbers’ mounting injuries, plus their murderous schedule, insured that expectations were tempered. Now, it’s winning time. Two crucial home games loom before Portland hit the road again to finish April.
Things are just coming to a boil again. Portland’s fifth game of last season was that meltdown in the Diego Chara game against the Sounders. It would set the tone for the entire season. After another gut-punch in Vancouver, the Timbers are coming to a tipping point. They need mojo and some points – or those long faces that we’ve become accustomed to seeing after 2015 matches will beget another ugly spring. There can only be so many letdowns before sadness turns to anger.
Ridgewell’s (and Borcher’s) mistake was horrendous but really, it shouldn’t have mattered because we should have had a three goal lead by then. we played pretty damn well, at least until the final ball. the entire team appears to have caught a virus the make crossing the ball impossible. it was weird how badly we did in that aspect of the game.
that said, how shitty was Vancouver? WTF? at home? if they’re that afraid of the Timbers now, what will their set-up look like if we have Valeri/Johnson back in the return fixture?
Urruti’s time is just about up. Fernandez? he played much better, but I’m curious to know if it’s the system or the players around him that leaves him so ineffectual lately.