Eh, I've wanted Gio gone since early 2021, so I"m not the most objective judge, but I'm not sure I'd call him "adaptable". He hasn't said it publicly in a while, but at first he was very insistent that Portland were a counterattacking team. Which they were, until they very much weren't. And now I wouldn't say they''re so much "adaptable"…
Eh, I've wanted Gio gone since early 2021, so I"m not the most objective judge, but I'm not sure I'd call him "adaptable". He hasn't said it publicly in a while, but at first he was very insistent that Portland were a counterattacking team. Which they were, until they very much weren't. And now I wouldn't say they''re so much "adaptable" as "desperately seeking some sort of identity".
This season's injuries haven't helped, but throughout 2021 and 22, the Timbers would try counterattacking, get shut down (not uncommon, or unique to the Timbers, once teams figure out that's what's going on), and then they'd...have no plan B. So they will try crosses, they'll try cutbacks, they'll try most everything, and sometimes it works and often it doesn't.
One of my criticisms of Gio is in that lack of a plan B; it's fine to want to be a counterattacking team, but there has to be a coherent plan B to fall back on if that doesn't work, and the Timbers don't seem to have one. That leads to a lot of scrambling around to try to figure out what to do and how to attack/play offense, and to frequent poor play when they can't.
Combine that with the persistent defensive sloppiness that has been another hallmark of recent Gioball, and that's why, even when the Timbers play as well as they did Saturday in stretches, I'm not convinced that Gio is the long-term answer as this team (hopefully) evolves into the post-Blanco and post-Chara(s) era.
I've sometimes thought the same thing. Notoriously there was that stretch back in 2021 where we didn't score for something like 4 games and that had me begging for a backup plan.
However, its nuanced. Gio might not be able to instill an entirely different, alternate style but he has had quite a few instances of good halftime adjustments that paid off.
Rifer had a sentiment a few months back that encapsulates the problem here: MLS (and especially the timbers) really seems to prefer being secretive and not cater to us nosey folks who want to know about stuff. We don't get the inside scoop and so we have to just extrapolate
But, like, playing style is visible. We don't need inside scoop to know they were once trying to be a counterattacking team; we don't need underlying numbers to see that they can't play any other style with any coherence. We can see that play out to varying degrees of success on the pitch.
Half time adjustments are important when things aren't working, but what's more important is being able to impose your style on an opponent from the very start as much as possible. And if a team doesn't have a style that works, that'll never happen.
Eh, I've wanted Gio gone since early 2021, so I"m not the most objective judge, but I'm not sure I'd call him "adaptable". He hasn't said it publicly in a while, but at first he was very insistent that Portland were a counterattacking team. Which they were, until they very much weren't. And now I wouldn't say they''re so much "adaptable" as "desperately seeking some sort of identity".
This season's injuries haven't helped, but throughout 2021 and 22, the Timbers would try counterattacking, get shut down (not uncommon, or unique to the Timbers, once teams figure out that's what's going on), and then they'd...have no plan B. So they will try crosses, they'll try cutbacks, they'll try most everything, and sometimes it works and often it doesn't.
One of my criticisms of Gio is in that lack of a plan B; it's fine to want to be a counterattacking team, but there has to be a coherent plan B to fall back on if that doesn't work, and the Timbers don't seem to have one. That leads to a lot of scrambling around to try to figure out what to do and how to attack/play offense, and to frequent poor play when they can't.
Combine that with the persistent defensive sloppiness that has been another hallmark of recent Gioball, and that's why, even when the Timbers play as well as they did Saturday in stretches, I'm not convinced that Gio is the long-term answer as this team (hopefully) evolves into the post-Blanco and post-Chara(s) era.
I've sometimes thought the same thing. Notoriously there was that stretch back in 2021 where we didn't score for something like 4 games and that had me begging for a backup plan.
However, its nuanced. Gio might not be able to instill an entirely different, alternate style but he has had quite a few instances of good halftime adjustments that paid off.
Rifer had a sentiment a few months back that encapsulates the problem here: MLS (and especially the timbers) really seems to prefer being secretive and not cater to us nosey folks who want to know about stuff. We don't get the inside scoop and so we have to just extrapolate
But, like, playing style is visible. We don't need inside scoop to know they were once trying to be a counterattacking team; we don't need underlying numbers to see that they can't play any other style with any coherence. We can see that play out to varying degrees of success on the pitch.
Half time adjustments are important when things aren't working, but what's more important is being able to impose your style on an opponent from the very start as much as possible. And if a team doesn't have a style that works, that'll never happen.
embrace the chaos, because you get goals like the second one. Guys just being creative.
Oh, for sure, and I'm not dogmatic about THERE MUST BE A STYLE AND IT MUST NEVER BE DEVIATED FROM. It's fun to watch something come from nothing.
But if all the Timbers do is play chaosball, that's not exactly sustainable long-term. There has to be some underpinning of a system to fall back on.