Portland travels to Texas without Diego Chara to square dance with an equally as desperate Austin FC. Will this visit go better than the Timbers’ last to the Lone Star State? Come chat through whatever happens in the match thread!
Don’t look now but Timbers are one of the hottest teams in the league. But teams near them on either side of line have games hand and have better goal differentials (except Galaxy with -10 vs. -9). Wild ride ahead.
If Moreno can clean up his finishing, he can play anywhere in Europe. Heck, maybe even w/o the finishing. What the heck is he doing in MLS? (meant rhetorically). Selfishly, I wish we could pay him big money and lock him down, but that would not be in his best interest.
Because he's inconsistent? Some guys go to MLS to showcase themselves for a move to one of the big 5. I think a usl player just moved to Euope...Norway, I think. But not Molde. Some folks have pointed out that from mls a young player can skip the secondary European leagues to England, Germany, etc. I think that was Santi and his former agent's plan. If he could put it together than yeah - big bucks await. There's also the Eredivisie. But as you said, he needs to clean up parts of his game.
His passing is amazing (all in the middle!) - the through ball to Mora in the first half that was just off, the pass at 36 minute in the box that was out of this world, the ball to Boli, the juggling over the defender's head, the winning of balls. That's why he's a midfielder to me - not quite a finisher (yet). Such a joy to watch.
Considering our history, a real quality winner in Texas. Definitely could’ve been nicer and quite honestly could’ve been at least two or three more goals on the board for us. Boil with an absolute mess was very sad for him certainly keeps him at the bottom of the Striker pecking order, I was super nervous not seeing Chara either in the lineup or on the bench. But honestly really impressed with Paredes as our lone CDM. And his wing mates in the middle played solid to control the midfield. Moreno playing some pretty physical defense is pretty sweet to see as well. Evander being Evander isn’t exactly always what I like to see, but in this current set up that Miles Joseph has, it all seems to be working pretty decently so for me, that’s a huge kudos to Joseph. All in all solid, coaching performance solid player performances. Really nice and quite frankly not some thing I thought was going to happen to be above the playoff line at this point, or at all this season.
Yes, second half we were in control due to midfield. Moreno was owning it and unfortunately, MJ went "defensive" with Acosta sub and took Moreno out of the midfield. It really threw everything out of whack and we white knuckled it the rest of the way.
The only player that seemed to disappoint me up until the final goal was Y Chara. I was going to say that I thought his performance was subpar and then he delivered that beautiful cross played perfectly on the chest by Mora who fed Evander through for the shot. It was just beautiful so for that singular play, I give Chara a pass for this game though quite honestly the rest of it not so good in my eyes and I was thankful when they subbed him off.
I agree with that. Chara seems off. He is a step slower than he used to be it feels like. Evander just bosses the midfield. I don’t want him as a 10 I want him pulling the strings making the late run into the box. Plus he is ridiculously strong on the ball.
This might end up being the most important win of the year. An away win against direct competition in a state we almost never win at, and without Diego Chara. If that doesn’t boost team morale I don’t know what will
Love Boli as a super sub for him. He’s much quicker and does more defense, so he’s perfect for defending and countering, which is what we need when he comes on. He damn near gets a goal every time he’s on the field, even though this wasn’t his best outing. Love the striker rotation we have going on right now
I do worry about having only two actual strikers right now. I understand loaning out Nathan but he would be useful right now. Boli is fresher than Mora, I think, so we'll see on Wed. Hopefully they can make it to the end of the season still standing up.
Asprilla was great tonight. Best all around game from him I've ever seen. I think it was because the midfield was taking care of possession and he didn't have to do some of that work. He could just concentrate on wing stuff. Better coaching too.
The last 20 minutes or so was unnerving, to say the least. We almost threw away three points. But we hung on. Bingham was a disastter today, imo. Also the back line really struggled. And then you get stuff like the seond goal. Could also have made it easier on ourselves if we had done a better job of finishing - Boli's shot and then Santi's two chanes. That said, we won on the road. And we scored first. And then scored another beofre Austin pulled one back. There's been some progress the last few eeks. Still don't think MJ belongs here next season but he's doing his best to prove himself. So credit to him.
Bingham made a brilliant initial save on the second goal, the backline really let us down. His distribution in the first half was terrible and it bugs me to no end, but he was completely spotless in the second half
Too much "near post" positioning - not necessarily bad but he hugs the post a la Meola. Tends to push away balls rather than catching them. Comes off the line a bit too much at times. Just too slow and unathlletic. He's a sweeper keeper and those types went extinct about50 years ago.
Definitely haven’t always been a Bingham fan, but I thought his performance tonight was definitely good enough. That goal wasn’t technically on him. He made a great save to start things off. It was just a great line breaking play. And as others have said, the Timbers back line got a little nervous at the end, but fortunately, I pulled it together and pulled out the win
Buuuuuttttt gio wasn't duuuuu problem duuuuuuuuu. Said he should have been removed last year. This just proved is was right. Again, and again and again. Goodnight
Yes, because you were literally the only Timbers fan in existence who thought - nay, who KNEW - that Gio was the problem. Your insight was invaluable as the rest of us stumbled through our ignorant lives, not understanding what was going on and just hoping for a light in the darkness to lead us.
Nice win. Honestly thought this was going a different way in the first 35mins. Held tight and got just enough going forward. Not sure how long new coach bounce will last, but it's a lot more fun to watch.
Thought asprilla did a great job killing it in the corner. And parades running like a mad man at the end so they couldn’t get a solid cross. I thought they did okay at the end.
Yeah but individual brilliance. It's like a couple guys get the idea and the rest just like wait to be saved. Poor Parades - guy did work today with barely any support, defensively from his midifeld partners.
One thing I did not like about that sub zup had to come off but the Austin guy gets to come straight on because their guy was injured? Would have been a really harsh beat to give up a goal while down a man.
Acosta for Yimmi. Might be a bit too early to try and kill off this match. But we really need to stop Austin from just running rhough the midfield. To Bryan: please don't screw up.
Very good combo play. Right at the moment Yimmi struck the ball, I was thinking if he could move just a bit inside and get a better angle to get the ball into or near the box...
Pretty crappy half in terms of play but luckily Austin is pretty bad as well and can’t capitalize. Got a scrappy goal. Would love to see us play with more possession, and I don’t think we can do that with our current midfield. I wouldn’t mind bringing on Acosta for Yimmi and putting Santi out wide, even though I like Santi in the middle. Puts Paredes higher up the field and a better ball playing defensive midfielder to help with the build out. But at the same time I wanna see what this midfield can do on offense...
I don't know about Acosta as a ball playing defensive midfielder...though he will certainly provide more of a defensive presence in the midfield. If we could score a quick one to cushion the lead - and hey, not like Austin's defense compares to Nahville - then maybe that helps keep Santi in the middle. Or we count on Austin to keep missing from all over the park.
Watching a replay of Mora's goal, it's amazing that when Asprilla started making the run, Mora slipped into the box and nobody marked him, from the original cross, and he was still open on the ricochet.
We’ve played better in the last 10 minutes, but if there was five minutes left in the match and not the half, this would fall into the ‘smash and grab’ category!
We have no attack whatsover. This is classic Gio ball. On the road, mind you. So par for the course. Was nice of the guys to let us (and them!) have some fun last Sunday.
Pretty good stuff- and we didn't even have to listen to Taylor...
1. Above the line, baby. We’re gonna win MLS Cup!
2. Did we have ANY possession in the attacking half the first 30’. Bingham kept us alive. Some bad giveaways in our half.
3. Stover has hideous hair. Like if Adolf Hitler went decon.
4. Capt. Obvious says Boli NEEDS to bury that.
5. I’ve come to love Dairon Asprilla. Athletic chaos merchant. MLS version of Darwin Nuñez.
Don’t look now but Timbers are one of the hottest teams in the league. But teams near them on either side of line have games hand and have better goal differentials (except Galaxy with -10 vs. -9). Wild ride ahead.
If Moreno can clean up his finishing, he can play anywhere in Europe. Heck, maybe even w/o the finishing. What the heck is he doing in MLS? (meant rhetorically). Selfishly, I wish we could pay him big money and lock him down, but that would not be in his best interest.
Because he's inconsistent? Some guys go to MLS to showcase themselves for a move to one of the big 5. I think a usl player just moved to Euope...Norway, I think. But not Molde. Some folks have pointed out that from mls a young player can skip the secondary European leagues to England, Germany, etc. I think that was Santi and his former agent's plan. If he could put it together than yeah - big bucks await. There's also the Eredivisie. But as you said, he needs to clean up parts of his game.
Josh Wynder moved from USL to Benfica and Jonathon Gonzalez moved from USL to Real Sociedad. Both play with their B team currently
His passing is amazing (all in the middle!) - the through ball to Mora in the first half that was just off, the pass at 36 minute in the box that was out of this world, the ball to Boli, the juggling over the defender's head, the winning of balls. That's why he's a midfielder to me - not quite a finisher (yet). Such a joy to watch.
That's a great point. People overlook his ability to get the ball back.
Considering our history, a real quality winner in Texas. Definitely could’ve been nicer and quite honestly could’ve been at least two or three more goals on the board for us. Boil with an absolute mess was very sad for him certainly keeps him at the bottom of the Striker pecking order, I was super nervous not seeing Chara either in the lineup or on the bench. But honestly really impressed with Paredes as our lone CDM. And his wing mates in the middle played solid to control the midfield. Moreno playing some pretty physical defense is pretty sweet to see as well. Evander being Evander isn’t exactly always what I like to see, but in this current set up that Miles Joseph has, it all seems to be working pretty decently so for me, that’s a huge kudos to Joseph. All in all solid, coaching performance solid player performances. Really nice and quite frankly not some thing I thought was going to happen to be above the playoff line at this point, or at all this season.
Yes, second half we were in control due to midfield. Moreno was owning it and unfortunately, MJ went "defensive" with Acosta sub and took Moreno out of the midfield. It really threw everything out of whack and we white knuckled it the rest of the way.
The only player that seemed to disappoint me up until the final goal was Y Chara. I was going to say that I thought his performance was subpar and then he delivered that beautiful cross played perfectly on the chest by Mora who fed Evander through for the shot. It was just beautiful so for that singular play, I give Chara a pass for this game though quite honestly the rest of it not so good in my eyes and I was thankful when they subbed him off.
I agree with that. Chara seems off. He is a step slower than he used to be it feels like. Evander just bosses the midfield. I don’t want him as a 10 I want him pulling the strings making the late run into the box. Plus he is ridiculously strong on the ball.
This might end up being the most important win of the year. An away win against direct competition in a state we almost never win at, and without Diego Chara. If that doesn’t boost team morale I don’t know what will
This week is huge. Nice start to the week.
Above the line! Nice job boys!
Mora was excellent.
Don’t look now, but we are above the line.
Not sure why he is being pulled. We need him 90 minute fit.
Love Boli as a super sub for him. He’s much quicker and does more defense, so he’s perfect for defending and countering, which is what we need when he comes on. He damn near gets a goal every time he’s on the field, even though this wasn’t his best outing. Love the striker rotation we have going on right now
Suspect we see the opposite mid week.
There's a game on Weds, that's probably a part of why he came out.
I do worry about having only two actual strikers right now. I understand loaning out Nathan but he would be useful right now. Boli is fresher than Mora, I think, so we'll see on Wed. Hopefully they can make it to the end of the season still standing up.
Realistically, I think that Fogaça is no better than just plopping Dairon at striker. According to Transfermarkt, Antony has played some striker too.
Agree. 3 games in 7 days. Need something like 120+ minutes out of both Boli and Mora Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday.
just saw that - duh
Whatever else you say about Asprilla - and you can say a lot -, he always puts in the effort. He'll remain a useful player until he loses a step.
He's such a wildcard. Just freakishly athletic and incredibly bold.
Asprilla was great tonight. Best all around game from him I've ever seen. I think it was because the midfield was taking care of possession and he didn't have to do some of that work. He could just concentrate on wing stuff. Better coaching too.
The last 20 minutes or so was unnerving, to say the least. We almost threw away three points. But we hung on. Bingham was a disastter today, imo. Also the back line really struggled. And then you get stuff like the seond goal. Could also have made it easier on ourselves if we had done a better job of finishing - Boli's shot and then Santi's two chanes. That said, we won on the road. And we scored first. And then scored another beofre Austin pulled one back. There's been some progress the last few eeks. Still don't think MJ belongs here next season but he's doing his best to prove himself. So credit to him.
Bingham made a brilliant initial save on the second goal, the backline really let us down. His distribution in the first half was terrible and it bugs me to no end, but he was completely spotless in the second half
Bingham was a disaster?
Did you see the first half, for starters?
Hwas not good. He's also not a starter in this league. He's not Joe Nasxo level but the league is also past that level, anyway.
He seemed solid to me. What did you see?
Too much "near post" positioning - not necessarily bad but he hugs the post a la Meola. Tends to push away balls rather than catching them. Comes off the line a bit too much at times. Just too slow and unathlletic. He's a sweeper keeper and those types went extinct about50 years ago.
Definitely haven’t always been a Bingham fan, but I thought his performance tonight was definitely good enough. That goal wasn’t technically on him. He made a great save to start things off. It was just a great line breaking play. And as others have said, the Timbers back line got a little nervous at the end, but fortunately, I pulled it together and pulled out the win
I'll point the finger at Acosta, who let Driussi run through the midfield. I was waiting for him to break a sweat after he came on.
Buuuuuttttt gio wasn't duuuuu problem duuuuuuuuu. Said he should have been removed last year. This just proved is was right. Again, and again and again. Goodnight
God, it must be SOOOO hard being the only one who knows anything surrounded by all us soccer idiots. I feel for you. Thank you for enlightening us.
Yes, because you were literally the only Timbers fan in existence who thought - nay, who KNEW - that Gio was the problem. Your insight was invaluable as the rest of us stumbled through our ignorant lives, not understanding what was going on and just hoping for a light in the darkness to lead us.
C'mon.
You can always tell when he’s had a little too much to drink during games unfortunately
Nice win. Honestly thought this was going a different way in the first 35mins. Held tight and got just enough going forward. Not sure how long new coach bounce will last, but it's a lot more fun to watch.
Elite game management from Asprilla and Mosquera at the end, that was key
Nice win! In Texas, no less
Our left side, we always let them get the ball and cross it, game after game. It frustrates me to no end.
I know. Both sides really. That seems to be Gio ball.
We really have no idea how to kill off this match. Austin is just walking into the 18 and firing away. Just dumb luck that they can't finish.
Thought asprilla did a great job killing it in the corner. And parades running like a mad man at the end so they couldn’t get a solid cross. I thought they did okay at the end.
Yeah but individual brilliance. It's like a couple guys get the idea and the rest just like wait to be saved. Poor Parades - guy did work today with barely any support, defensively from his midifeld partners.
Tough Zup didn't feel that
Not sure I want players to "man up" in a collision of heads, though.
Not saying that, he just always is fine after a collision, it's pretty wild.
Take them both off. Not worth the risk to their health. That was bad.
Zup looks OK I guess but there's way too much latitude given to head injury treatment in-game.
One thing I did not like about that sub zup had to come off but the Austin guy gets to come straight on because their guy was injured? Would have been a really harsh beat to give up a goal while down a man.
Wasn't that weird???
come onnnnnnnnnnnnnn Franck you gotta bury that
Mosquera on. More speed on the back line. Anyone else think we need another goal?
Santi's gonna want that one back.
He's had two great chances in the last few minutes he has disappointed on.
Back line and Bingham just completely asleep there.
Oh, too casual from Evander, as Cobi said
And it was going all so well.
welp
Acosta for Yimmi. Might be a bit too early to try and kill off this match. But we really need to stop Austin from just running rhough the midfield. To Bryan: please don't screw up.
what was it you were saying about Bingham not catching? oof
Very good combo play. Right at the moment Yimmi struck the ball, I was thinking if he could move just a bit inside and get a better angle to get the ball into or near the box...
What a touch from Mora, and a great ball from Yimmi! Deserved goal, we’ve been the much better team this half
Mora gets much more involved in the buildup than Goda or Nathan. Even Boli does his part.
Who is this team? Nice stuff.
Evander!
That was a beautiful goal
Evander spent the morning watching the wrong football. Little lower.
Talk about a late challenge. Like no way Wolff was getting to that ball. hank god Santi was able to avoid getting taken out.
How many times has Evander lost the ball/given it away tonight? I think I'm counting 8 so far and i haven't been watching that close
Well, true, but honestly all of our guys gave up the ball 8 times each in the first 30...
Pretty crappy half in terms of play but luckily Austin is pretty bad as well and can’t capitalize. Got a scrappy goal. Would love to see us play with more possession, and I don’t think we can do that with our current midfield. I wouldn’t mind bringing on Acosta for Yimmi and putting Santi out wide, even though I like Santi in the middle. Puts Paredes higher up the field and a better ball playing defensive midfielder to help with the build out. But at the same time I wanna see what this midfield can do on offense...
I don't know about Acosta as a ball playing defensive midfielder...though he will certainly provide more of a defensive presence in the midfield. If we could score a quick one to cushion the lead - and hey, not like Austin's defense compares to Nahville - then maybe that helps keep Santi in the middle. Or we count on Austin to keep missing from all over the park.
He’s not elite on the ball by any means but he does the job. Paredes is a little too frantic
Watching a replay of Mora's goal, it's amazing that when Asprilla started making the run, Mora slipped into the box and nobody marked him, from the original cross, and he was still open on the ricochet.
That's classic Timbers defense.
Yep, MLS after dark. But we scored first so it's all good. Gets us further to a result.
HAHAHA....awesome. Weather the storm, sneak one in. Good work from Asprilla and a lucky bounce.
Also a nice low cross from Moreno. I'll take it.
Mora earning that armband!
I don't know where that came from but I'll take it!
Shit defending?
but that's the Timbers' job!
That's why we recognize it so easily 😉
We’ve played better in the last 10 minutes, but if there was five minutes left in the match and not the half, this would fall into the ‘smash and grab’ category!
"Money Moreno is what they're starting to call him in the Rose City"
Are they? I have literally never heard that.
They think it’s 2022.
Sounds like something one of the guys said to a reporter as a joke just to see if they'd run with it.
A ‘swingin’ on the flippity flip’ situation? That would be amazing.
I’ve also never heard it. Reminded me of the ‘Logo Lizard’ moment from a Blazers game a couple years ago.
If you called him Money Moreno a few months ago it may have been pejorative. Glad to see him out there engaged and producing.
No lmao
Moreno's shot was wide open if he'd gone far post
Got some decent counter stuff going on right now. Oh that long pass was sooo close to being perfect. At least the back line is getting a breather.
Breaking news: Timbers took a shot! WTG, Evander! ;-)
We did something! That was cool! Great switch from Evander to start it, man it would’ve been great for Moreno to bury that
We have no attack whatsover. This is classic Gio ball. On the road, mind you. So par for the course. Was nice of the guys to let us (and them!) have some fun last Sunday.
Can we talk about how useless Y Chara is at this point?
...at this point?
We are playing a classic "no Diego Chará" game here.
Hey remember how fun the LAFC game was