It looked like a 0-0 draw after less than 20 minutes. Both the Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City were too competent in defense, too tough in central midfield, and too dull in attack to spark a competitive game to life Saturday night at Sporting Park.
The 0-0 result was the Timbers’ third consecutive draw to open the 2015 season, their second scoreless tie of the campaign, and the eleventh straight outing without a win in March under Caleb Porter.
Those are the numbers. Was this a good result? Sure, on the road against a Kansas City team that has rediscovered the bite—if not the creativity—that made them champions in 2013, a draw is nothing to dismiss. Still, it’s not the win that Portland needs to alleviate the pressure that only grows without a victory four weeks into a season.
What’s clear is this: In the short-term, Portland will lean on their outstanding defense. They will cede possession. They will play direct.
The difference between now and the heady first months of the Caleb Porter era are striking. The Timbers’ last trip to Sporting Park was Porter’s first road win as Portland’s manager—a see-saw, come-from-behind, hold-onto-your-hats 3-2 win that was lit up by stylish and free-flowing football.
In those days, Portland were often rushing forward with such gusto that they were leaving the backdoor wide open and giving up chance after chance. Not so anymore—there’s a certain wariness and cynicism about the Timbers’ play that is newfound and most likely here to stay.
It’s important to remember a few things when considering the Timbers’ season thus far. This team is undefeated if you’re happy, win-less if you’re not. There’s a lot of room for interpretation. But Portland’s murderous early season schedule, in which they open with five straight playoff teams, the latter three on the road, jives perfectly with the part of the season that the Timbers have been hammered by injury.
Therein lie the crucial differences between the start of this season and the start of last season. Last year, the Timbers were swinging with their full compliment of players against weak teams like Philadelphia and Chicago and coming up short. This year, it’s a weakened side against some of the top sides in the league.
There’s no need to panic. The game plan was always to tread water and keep afloat until the return of Will Johnson and Diego Valeri—and that was when the Timbers thought that they’d have Ben Zemanski and Gaston Fernandez as key cogs in their team.
Zemanski got hurt and Fernandez has all but disappeared, but the Timbers are surviving. They’re close to impossible to beat. That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement—there is, especially on offense—but you cannot discount the cards stacked against the Timbers in March and early April.
Give Sporting KC credit in this game. They smothered Darlington Nagbe with Roger Espinoza, the midfield enforcer whose return in the off season did more than anything else to rejuvenate a tired team, and Matt Besler and Ike Opara shut down Fanendo Adi.
Without those two, the Timbers have zilch offensively. Against well-drilled defensive teams, it’s going to be hard for Portland to create too much without Nagbe getting into his second gear. Dairon Asprilla continues to be impassive on the wing, and Rodney Wallace hasn’t quite hit his best in the first three games.
The good news is, the defense was nails again. Jack Jewsbury—deservedly getting his due for stepping into central midfield again with remarkable poise and self-confidence—and Diego Chara busted up play all night, and the back line mostly erased Dom Dwyer. Set pieces continue to be of some concern, but two clean sheets in three games doesn’t lie. That unit will continue to be money all year.
If I’m Caleb Porter, I’m just trying to make it to May with some points in the bag, the team’s morale intact, and no more injuries. That’s when Portland expects to have Johnson and Valeri back, and that’s when it hits a stretch of winnable games mainly against Eastern Conference opponents.
Right now, the Timbers only go 13 deep, and hardly that, because Maxi Urruti and Fernandez are jokes. 0-0 on the road at a playoff team is a good result under almost any set of circumstances. But these circumstances? I tip my cap.
In 2013, and for much of 2014, the Timbers were the league’s darlings. Porter was a shooting star, Porterball was a phenomenon, and MLS was loving having competitive soccer at a venue like Providence Park.
It’s different now. The Timbers are no longer the hot new thing. They have less respect from the national media. Expectations are not totally clear. It feels like the team brand went from soccer savants to gritty battlers.
The Timbers in March and April have to give the Timbers in September and October a shot. They owe that to themselves, because this is a playoff team. Their first-choice starting 11—Kwarasey, Powell, Ridgewell, Borchers, Johnson, Chara, Wallace, Nagbe, Valeri, and Adi—should be able to play with anyone in the league.
Of course Portland needs to get a win here and get off the snide. The first Cascadia Cup match against the Vancouver Whitecaps next weekend would be a good place to start. The ‘Caps were kind enough to rest Kah against Orlando City for the big match against his former club, and he should be a lock to gift Portland at least one goal next weekend.
The need to win is not lost on anyone. It’s sports. There’s pressure to succeed both internal and external. But right now, the Timbers’ aren’t trying to win Olympic gold. They’re just trying not to drown, and a well-fought draw in Kansas City is not the result of a drowning team. Yes they haven’t won, but the Timbers are doing just fine.
