Sulte had a nice save on… Brent Richards (wtf?). But I was not impressed. Looks really shaky coming off his line.
It was bold to leave the central midfield to two T2 guys in the second half. Game may have looked a little different/better if we had Ayala in one spot or left Paredes on. But nice to give those guys some run.
I don't pay close attention to T2 so I haven't followed his development as a player, but when I saw Sulte come out for warmups last night I was like "dude finally bulked up!". Last time I saw him, when he took over for Attinella, he was a suuuuuuuper-gangly 19 year old, and in the last couple years he's filled out quite a bit. I know that's how growth works, but since I hadn't really seen him it was a nice surprise.
He made a few good saves last night, for sure, but I think he still has some work to do.
I wasn't too impressed with Sulte. He still needs some work to become a legitimate part of the rotation at GK. That being said he is still quite young and needs reps. There were multiple times he came off the line and simply didn't get to the ball. He did have some nice diving saves, but he isn't there yet. He still has time to grow.
I have to say he was put in a terrible situation when he got his first start with the Timbers a few years ago. It was McGraws first start as well, and we had at least one 2nd string (LB or RB? I don't remember) playing.
He had plenty rookie mistakes that you really don’t want a keeper doing, but he’s 21, which is suuuper young for a keeper. He had several really nice saves that I was impressed by, and we don’t win that game without him making those saves. Overall I was happy with him. Not super impressed, but he seemed better than the last time he stepped between the pipes for the first time, and improvement is all I can ask for
Qualified success overall. I didn't expect a clean sheet with those defensive personnel. Much happier in regards to the offense: it felt like just a few weeks ago that a Nathan/Niezgoda combo wouldn't have gotten anything done. But they kept the OC honest and then grabbed that finishing goal. We lost control of the game in the waning minutes there (as does happen in this tournament) and to get bailed out by our offense is a nice change.
Bonilla played well. He seems to be in control of the ball a lot better these days, and put in some good crosses. He got beat on the goal (with Mabiala), but overall, I liked what I saw.
Clegg was excellent. Very good positioning, good distribution short and long and made some plays, including the header. Move him past Mabiala on the depth chart.
On another level than most of what was on the field last night: Paredes, Fogaca, and Loria. Yes, Loria's goal was really well taken with nice interplay involving multiple players, including the whipping boy Niezgoda. Let's face it, Niezgoda works well in the final third. Paredes seems to be everywhere. Fogaca is in form and he needs to be starting.
Moreno's talent is undeniable, but he didn't seem to be going 100 percent. Why not give Loria more run and rest Moreno for Saturday?
Negatives
None, really, because it was a win, except that as folks have mentioned, it was kind of dicey for awhile, and that could be attributed to losing the midfield.
Loria just came back from injury and hasn’t played in awhile, he probably was restricted to only 45 minutes and we didn’t have any other options on the wing
Thrilled to have Blanco back, he looked better than I thought he would, and it was just great to see him back out there. He had energy and fight, two things our could really use more of
Came here specifically looking for details on his performance. Can you say more? It's been a long time since we've seen him on the pitch and, boy, he didn't look at all convincing his last few times out. Glad to hear he's recovered enough to have played this match. I'd love some thoughts on how he looked overall!
I could only catch the first 20 or so minutes so I’m not the best guy to ask, plus my paramount plus stream on my phone was pretty low quality. But for coming back from his long injury I think I was just expecting so much worse. I thought he’d be much less mobile but he had plenty of energy (not all of it but more than I thought he would), and looked up for the game. He wasn’t overly effective or impressive but it was just nice to see Blanco be Blanco. He got a yellow card for a very Blanco-like challenge, and although I didn’t see it, I like hearing that
I imagine he will look very different in MLS play, I’m not taking too much from this game, positively or negatively. Also if I were you I’d take more from other people’s analysis of him than mine
I watched him pretty closely, and what struck me was that he seemed really intent on moving intentionally. He seemed to not flow with the game on instinct, if that makes sense. Which is almost certainly on purpose - I imagine this was like a pitcher's first spring training start, where it's more about shaking the rust off and regaining confidence in the body's motions and capabilities than it is being super effective and influential.
He'll probably have a fair few 25-30 min appearances like that while he gets himself back into peak game shape, but if yesterday was any indication, he's doing it the right way and it should pay off. I don't think he'll be the player he was three or four years ago, but he should be a good contributor for sure.
Yeah, Seba looked better than before the last shutdown. Even though he was about a beat slow reacting his legs had more jump - and I saw a little burst a couple of times, which was very cool.
30 minutes was the plan, and he got that and still was in one piece. Cool!
That was...fine! A lovely evening for some not-super-lovely soccer, but job done.
It's always good to see a kid get his first senior team goal, and Clegg celebrated right in front of our section, so we could see how much it meant to him.
I honestly don't think Blanco got up to all that much, and that in itself is totally fine - it was obvious that this is a first baby step back, and he wasn't taking nearly as many risks as he has done in the past. That'll come, and I was glad to see him get through 30 min and still have some life left in him, for sure.
My seatmate last night made this point in a way I'd never thought of before. Does the phrase "here comes Niezgoda with the ball, bearing down on goal" make opposing defenders even remotely nervous any more? I lost count last night of the times he got into a dangerous position only to either overthink things and turn the ball over directly, or try to get out of trouble and send the ball out. I mean, I'm happy he got a goal, but my goodness is he washed.
The OCSC keeper will not want to remember this game. Taking the ball outside his area, basically being knocked into his goal with the ball by a shot...not his best work, for sure.
Not much to be taken from this game overall, big-picture wise - it was a good win on a gorgeous spring evening, and there were a lot more people there than I would have expected, which made for a fun atmosphere.
So in other words, he found his level. Against USL opposition.
I kid (mostly), but the fact that his goal last night was only his second of the season is not great. Hopefully he can take some confidence from last night.
Good one! I do hope he shrugs off the aw shucks routine and gets an alpha mojo going. Getting goals could do that, but certainly assisting can help too.
At least we didn’t do a SJ or Atlanta and get knocked out by the minor league side, so no Cal FC 2.0.
Not much to separate the two sides on the pitch, tho - if you hadn’t known I’m not sure I’d have been confident picking out which was the higher league club. Which is kind of a tell right there, eh?
I also want to see the team be much stronger from top to bottom and dominate the opponent much more often even when playing a lineup of backups and T2 players. Last night the players got it done even though it looked precarious a lot of the time. The thing is, pretty much all the other MLS sides did not perform well in their matches and some lost to the lower level team. What I want to see now is the Timbers having their first choice team rested go to St. Louis and get a damn road win over that team that beat the Timbers on our home ground.
I don't think that many clubs really value the USOC all that highly. Seattle's made it a core part of their identity, which...yay for them? I guess? But otherwise, USOC is kind of a distraction, particularly for teams in the Timbers' situation. It's not a trophy that matters to a lot of fans - I can't speak for how the teams feel about it, but looking at last night's lineups and results I think the clubs probably don't care all that much either.
Obviously, players and teams want to win any game they're playing and any competition they're in, but by and large USOC just seems like something most of MLS doesn't really mind if they crash out of.
Shouldn’t winning be part of every professional organizations core? Those who don’t value USOC are missing the relevance of what that offers clubs, players, and sponsorships. Easiest way to get into champions league competition. The goal should be to win, compete in champions league, and then CWC.
Also- seems as though many on here have the “we are the little brother” syndrome as it relates to SSFC. Different organizations with differing values, vision, and approach.
You can't go 100% with the first team in every competition in a salary constrained league with limited rosters. You have to choose.
"The goal should be to win, compete in champions league, and then CWC."
I don't think their goal is to lose. I think their goal is to do as well as they can with a roster like we saw them run out last night, and if that sees them advance, then maybe strengthen the USOC roster as they go further. And if it sees them lose, I'm not sure they lose a lot of sleep over it, particularly in a year where their league form is absolutely terrible and needs all the first teamers available to turn that around. The league is absolutely more important than the USOC/CCL.
If the Timbers were playing well overall, I'd want them to pay more attention to the USOC, but in this year where they're not even playing at a 1 PPG pace after 9 games, with a very good St. Louis team waiting at the weekend, I'm 100% fine with them prioritizing the league over the cup, lineup-wise.
"Also- seems as though many on here have the “we are the little brother” syndrome as it relates to SSFC. Different organizations with differing values, vision, and approach."
I hate that the Timbers have a differing approach than the Sounders, because their approach has been very, very successful. I don't compare the Timbers to the Sounders in terms of big brother/little brother, but I do think the Timbers could do worse than to emulate an approach that has resulted in a shit-ton of success and a baseline expectation of said success. And the "vision" of the Timbers has gotten them...here, so I would argue a better approach is not just desirable, but necessary.
I think the difference here is that unless there’s some extra gear this season’s squad has been hiding the league is gonna be pretty barren; we don’t look like a playoff team at this point.
But to win the Cup we’d just need to win something like three more games against teams which, as you point out, are kinda “meh” about this.
So I think that if the Timbers FO is defaulting to the usual lack of interest in the USOC they’re missing an opportunity (or irrationally optimistic about this squad storming up the table) - or both.
I have a feeling that the USOC squad will evolve - if they win the next round there may be a few more first team bench guys and a few less T2 kids, and if they keep winning it will look more and more like the first team squad.
A lot of "bigger" MLS teams are waiting in this next round - the four CCL teams as well as the four highest-finishing MLS teams that haven't participated up to this point join the comp (Austin, FCD, LAG, LAFC, NYRB, NYCFC, Orlando, Philly).
If the Timbers do want to win, they'll need to up both their game and the squad quite a bit from what we saw yesterday.
Yep your first paragraph is spot on. The goal for this round was to win while resting as many players as possible. As we progress through the competition and the opponents get harder, our lineup will get better to match. In a short cup competition the priority is to win, not play well and dominate a second division team, even though that would be nice and of course is the desired outcome
It’s weird that the “it’s really okay!” reaction to a pretty meh evening against a poor USL side seems to be “hey! Everybody else sucked, too!”
Which is kinda true but also kind of “tyranny of low expectations” lame. Why should that be okay? Shouldn’t the club strive, and we as fans expect, that the squad is better than our peers?
I would love for the Timbers to be strong enough that they can be a top echelon team in the league and also pay just as much attention to the USOC. But they're not, and I would prefer all their playing resources be spent on improving their league standing, and being better than our peers in league play.
I’d like that too. But what are we seeing that suggests that’s happening?
We’re the same squad playing the same tactics that finished below the red line last season, except we’ve got a bunch of starters on the DL, so we’re worse than we were.
I love Seba, but is it realistic to assume his return lifts this group into deep-playoff-run contention?
If it looked like we really were gearing up to be a top-three club? I’d blow off the Cup, too. But I don’t see that. Looks like another scraping-the-red-line season from here…so why not chase the gettable silverware?
"I’d like that too. But what are we seeing that suggests that’s happening?"
I mean, nothing, really. But I want all energies the Timbers currently have dedicated to trying to make first team improvement happen. I know this isn't a good team; I know it's not going to make a deep playoff run. But I'm also one of those people who just don't care about the USOC, because the tournament itself isn't really that big of a deal.
The US just doesn't have the history of top level soccer that makes USOC interesting to me - I know that it's a really old competition, but for the majority of its history, the high water mark of the professional level of soccer in the US was a handful of years of Peak NASL and, arguably, the last 10 years or so of MLS.
Because of that, winning the USOC doesn't really have the cachet of winning Cup tournaments in older, more established soccer countries, which is why I'm not really all that interested in the Timbers winning it just because it's "gettable" in a down year for them in league play. (and as you may be able to tell, I don't really care about CCL either, except for the possibility of an awesomely fun away trip).
For better or worse, US sports focus on league playoffs and league championships, and a similar focus is pretty much what I want for the Timbers - USOC and whatever the Leagues Cup turns out to be are fun distractions, I guess, but for me at least, nowhere near a priority as much as being as strong as possible in the league.
That said, if the Timbers can ride the type of squad they put together for Wednesday into a USOC final, I'm thrilled - I just don't want them going full bore, all out to get it, you know?
Looks like it's at home against RSL in the next round:
https://twitter.com/opencup/status/1651649595871469585
That was probably the best draw out of the other two we could’ve gotten (Galaxy and sounders)
Sulte had a nice save on… Brent Richards (wtf?). But I was not impressed. Looks really shaky coming off his line.
It was bold to leave the central midfield to two T2 guys in the second half. Game may have looked a little different/better if we had Ayala in one spot or left Paredes on. But nice to give those guys some run.
I don't pay close attention to T2 so I haven't followed his development as a player, but when I saw Sulte come out for warmups last night I was like "dude finally bulked up!". Last time I saw him, when he took over for Attinella, he was a suuuuuuuper-gangly 19 year old, and in the last couple years he's filled out quite a bit. I know that's how growth works, but since I hadn't really seen him it was a nice surprise.
He made a few good saves last night, for sure, but I think he still has some work to do.
I wasn't too impressed with Sulte. He still needs some work to become a legitimate part of the rotation at GK. That being said he is still quite young and needs reps. There were multiple times he came off the line and simply didn't get to the ball. He did have some nice diving saves, but he isn't there yet. He still has time to grow.
I have to say he was put in a terrible situation when he got his first start with the Timbers a few years ago. It was McGraws first start as well, and we had at least one 2nd string (LB or RB? I don't remember) playing.
He had plenty rookie mistakes that you really don’t want a keeper doing, but he’s 21, which is suuuper young for a keeper. He had several really nice saves that I was impressed by, and we don’t win that game without him making those saves. Overall I was happy with him. Not super impressed, but he seemed better than the last time he stepped between the pipes for the first time, and improvement is all I can ask for
Agree on the midfield comment, too. Paredes was in control in first half, and game started slipping away during second half.
Qualified success overall. I didn't expect a clean sheet with those defensive personnel. Much happier in regards to the offense: it felt like just a few weeks ago that a Nathan/Niezgoda combo wouldn't have gotten anything done. But they kept the OC honest and then grabbed that finishing goal. We lost control of the game in the waning minutes there (as does happen in this tournament) and to get bailed out by our offense is a nice change.
Positives:
Bonilla played well. He seems to be in control of the ball a lot better these days, and put in some good crosses. He got beat on the goal (with Mabiala), but overall, I liked what I saw.
Clegg was excellent. Very good positioning, good distribution short and long and made some plays, including the header. Move him past Mabiala on the depth chart.
On another level than most of what was on the field last night: Paredes, Fogaca, and Loria. Yes, Loria's goal was really well taken with nice interplay involving multiple players, including the whipping boy Niezgoda. Let's face it, Niezgoda works well in the final third. Paredes seems to be everywhere. Fogaca is in form and he needs to be starting.
Moreno's talent is undeniable, but he didn't seem to be going 100 percent. Why not give Loria more run and rest Moreno for Saturday?
Negatives
None, really, because it was a win, except that as folks have mentioned, it was kind of dicey for awhile, and that could be attributed to losing the midfield.
Loria just came back from injury and hasn’t played in awhile, he probably was restricted to only 45 minutes and we didn’t have any other options on the wing
Thrilled to have Blanco back, he looked better than I thought he would, and it was just great to see him back out there. He had energy and fight, two things our could really use more of
Came here specifically looking for details on his performance. Can you say more? It's been a long time since we've seen him on the pitch and, boy, he didn't look at all convincing his last few times out. Glad to hear he's recovered enough to have played this match. I'd love some thoughts on how he looked overall!
I could only catch the first 20 or so minutes so I’m not the best guy to ask, plus my paramount plus stream on my phone was pretty low quality. But for coming back from his long injury I think I was just expecting so much worse. I thought he’d be much less mobile but he had plenty of energy (not all of it but more than I thought he would), and looked up for the game. He wasn’t overly effective or impressive but it was just nice to see Blanco be Blanco. He got a yellow card for a very Blanco-like challenge, and although I didn’t see it, I like hearing that
I imagine he will look very different in MLS play, I’m not taking too much from this game, positively or negatively. Also if I were you I’d take more from other people’s analysis of him than mine
I watched him pretty closely, and what struck me was that he seemed really intent on moving intentionally. He seemed to not flow with the game on instinct, if that makes sense. Which is almost certainly on purpose - I imagine this was like a pitcher's first spring training start, where it's more about shaking the rust off and regaining confidence in the body's motions and capabilities than it is being super effective and influential.
He'll probably have a fair few 25-30 min appearances like that while he gets himself back into peak game shape, but if yesterday was any indication, he's doing it the right way and it should pay off. I don't think he'll be the player he was three or four years ago, but he should be a good contributor for sure.
Yeah, Seba looked better than before the last shutdown. Even though he was about a beat slow reacting his legs had more jump - and I saw a little burst a couple of times, which was very cool.
30 minutes was the plan, and he got that and still was in one piece. Cool!
That was...fine! A lovely evening for some not-super-lovely soccer, but job done.
It's always good to see a kid get his first senior team goal, and Clegg celebrated right in front of our section, so we could see how much it meant to him.
I honestly don't think Blanco got up to all that much, and that in itself is totally fine - it was obvious that this is a first baby step back, and he wasn't taking nearly as many risks as he has done in the past. That'll come, and I was glad to see him get through 30 min and still have some life left in him, for sure.
My seatmate last night made this point in a way I'd never thought of before. Does the phrase "here comes Niezgoda with the ball, bearing down on goal" make opposing defenders even remotely nervous any more? I lost count last night of the times he got into a dangerous position only to either overthink things and turn the ball over directly, or try to get out of trouble and send the ball out. I mean, I'm happy he got a goal, but my goodness is he washed.
The OCSC keeper will not want to remember this game. Taking the ball outside his area, basically being knocked into his goal with the ball by a shot...not his best work, for sure.
Not much to be taken from this game overall, big-picture wise - it was a good win on a gorgeous spring evening, and there were a lot more people there than I would have expected, which made for a fun atmosphere.
RE Niezgoda -
He was good last night. Ask your seatmate what he thought of Niezgoda's cross that Moreno almost put in, or the nice assist on Loria's goal.
So in other words, he found his level. Against USL opposition.
I kid (mostly), but the fact that his goal last night was only his second of the season is not great. Hopefully he can take some confidence from last night.
Good one! I do hope he shrugs off the aw shucks routine and gets an alpha mojo going. Getting goals could do that, but certainly assisting can help too.
At least we didn’t do a SJ or Atlanta and get knocked out by the minor league side, so no Cal FC 2.0.
Not much to separate the two sides on the pitch, tho - if you hadn’t known I’m not sure I’d have been confident picking out which was the higher league club. Which is kind of a tell right there, eh?
I also want to see the team be much stronger from top to bottom and dominate the opponent much more often even when playing a lineup of backups and T2 players. Last night the players got it done even though it looked precarious a lot of the time. The thing is, pretty much all the other MLS sides did not perform well in their matches and some lost to the lower level team. What I want to see now is the Timbers having their first choice team rested go to St. Louis and get a damn road win over that team that beat the Timbers on our home ground.
It was interesting that most MLS clubs had similar results in this round—few dominant performances.
I don't think that many clubs really value the USOC all that highly. Seattle's made it a core part of their identity, which...yay for them? I guess? But otherwise, USOC is kind of a distraction, particularly for teams in the Timbers' situation. It's not a trophy that matters to a lot of fans - I can't speak for how the teams feel about it, but looking at last night's lineups and results I think the clubs probably don't care all that much either.
Obviously, players and teams want to win any game they're playing and any competition they're in, but by and large USOC just seems like something most of MLS doesn't really mind if they crash out of.
Shouldn’t winning be part of every professional organizations core? Those who don’t value USOC are missing the relevance of what that offers clubs, players, and sponsorships. Easiest way to get into champions league competition. The goal should be to win, compete in champions league, and then CWC.
Also- seems as though many on here have the “we are the little brother” syndrome as it relates to SSFC. Different organizations with differing values, vision, and approach.
You can't go 100% with the first team in every competition in a salary constrained league with limited rosters. You have to choose.
"The goal should be to win, compete in champions league, and then CWC."
I don't think their goal is to lose. I think their goal is to do as well as they can with a roster like we saw them run out last night, and if that sees them advance, then maybe strengthen the USOC roster as they go further. And if it sees them lose, I'm not sure they lose a lot of sleep over it, particularly in a year where their league form is absolutely terrible and needs all the first teamers available to turn that around. The league is absolutely more important than the USOC/CCL.
If the Timbers were playing well overall, I'd want them to pay more attention to the USOC, but in this year where they're not even playing at a 1 PPG pace after 9 games, with a very good St. Louis team waiting at the weekend, I'm 100% fine with them prioritizing the league over the cup, lineup-wise.
"Also- seems as though many on here have the “we are the little brother” syndrome as it relates to SSFC. Different organizations with differing values, vision, and approach."
I hate that the Timbers have a differing approach than the Sounders, because their approach has been very, very successful. I don't compare the Timbers to the Sounders in terms of big brother/little brother, but I do think the Timbers could do worse than to emulate an approach that has resulted in a shit-ton of success and a baseline expectation of said success. And the "vision" of the Timbers has gotten them...here, so I would argue a better approach is not just desirable, but necessary.
I think the difference here is that unless there’s some extra gear this season’s squad has been hiding the league is gonna be pretty barren; we don’t look like a playoff team at this point.
But to win the Cup we’d just need to win something like three more games against teams which, as you point out, are kinda “meh” about this.
So I think that if the Timbers FO is defaulting to the usual lack of interest in the USOC they’re missing an opportunity (or irrationally optimistic about this squad storming up the table) - or both.
I have a feeling that the USOC squad will evolve - if they win the next round there may be a few more first team bench guys and a few less T2 kids, and if they keep winning it will look more and more like the first team squad.
A lot of "bigger" MLS teams are waiting in this next round - the four CCL teams as well as the four highest-finishing MLS teams that haven't participated up to this point join the comp (Austin, FCD, LAG, LAFC, NYRB, NYCFC, Orlando, Philly).
If the Timbers do want to win, they'll need to up both their game and the squad quite a bit from what we saw yesterday.
Yep your first paragraph is spot on. The goal for this round was to win while resting as many players as possible. As we progress through the competition and the opponents get harder, our lineup will get better to match. In a short cup competition the priority is to win, not play well and dominate a second division team, even though that would be nice and of course is the desired outcome
I think even Seattle has cooled on it. I can’t say I care much how seriously the Timbers take it.
I was looking forward to another shootout loss for the Sounders at Tukwila, but they got bailed out with a pk call at the death.
It’s weird that the “it’s really okay!” reaction to a pretty meh evening against a poor USL side seems to be “hey! Everybody else sucked, too!”
Which is kinda true but also kind of “tyranny of low expectations” lame. Why should that be okay? Shouldn’t the club strive, and we as fans expect, that the squad is better than our peers?
In the league, absolutely. In the USOC? /shrug
I would love for the Timbers to be strong enough that they can be a top echelon team in the league and also pay just as much attention to the USOC. But they're not, and I would prefer all their playing resources be spent on improving their league standing, and being better than our peers in league play.
I’d like that too. But what are we seeing that suggests that’s happening?
We’re the same squad playing the same tactics that finished below the red line last season, except we’ve got a bunch of starters on the DL, so we’re worse than we were.
I love Seba, but is it realistic to assume his return lifts this group into deep-playoff-run contention?
If it looked like we really were gearing up to be a top-three club? I’d blow off the Cup, too. But I don’t see that. Looks like another scraping-the-red-line season from here…so why not chase the gettable silverware?
"I’d like that too. But what are we seeing that suggests that’s happening?"
I mean, nothing, really. But I want all energies the Timbers currently have dedicated to trying to make first team improvement happen. I know this isn't a good team; I know it's not going to make a deep playoff run. But I'm also one of those people who just don't care about the USOC, because the tournament itself isn't really that big of a deal.
The US just doesn't have the history of top level soccer that makes USOC interesting to me - I know that it's a really old competition, but for the majority of its history, the high water mark of the professional level of soccer in the US was a handful of years of Peak NASL and, arguably, the last 10 years or so of MLS.
Because of that, winning the USOC doesn't really have the cachet of winning Cup tournaments in older, more established soccer countries, which is why I'm not really all that interested in the Timbers winning it just because it's "gettable" in a down year for them in league play. (and as you may be able to tell, I don't really care about CCL either, except for the possibility of an awesomely fun away trip).
For better or worse, US sports focus on league playoffs and league championships, and a similar focus is pretty much what I want for the Timbers - USOC and whatever the Leagues Cup turns out to be are fun distractions, I guess, but for me at least, nowhere near a priority as much as being as strong as possible in the league.
That said, if the Timbers can ride the type of squad they put together for Wednesday into a USOC final, I'm thrilled - I just don't want them going full bore, all out to get it, you know?
I was soo sad the flounders didn't crash out with them :(
SD gave them a great run for their money