Within about 20 minutes it was obvious that Cincy's entire game plan was "go at Larrys as much and as hard as you can". And I don't blame them - it worked, because they know what we all know, that Larrys is not starting quality at this point.
While the Timbers didn't play all that badly, particularly in the first half, I will say that all…
Within about 20 minutes it was obvious that Cincy's entire game plan was "go at Larrys as much and as hard as you can". And I don't blame them - it worked, because they know what we all know, that Larrys is not starting quality at this point.
While the Timbers didn't play all that badly, particularly in the first half, I will say that all I could think of while watching Cincinnati was "this is the way that Gio says the Timbers want to play". Counter after counter, always moving forward with the ball, good pressing on the defensive end. FCC is good at it; the Timbers are not.
There were some encouraging signs on the offensive end on Saturday, for sure, and once the regular defenders come back, that should shore things up back there a bit. there's still way more "what the hell just happened" moments than I would like to see, but at least yesterday I'm pinning a lot of that on the makeshift back line.
Play the kids on Wednesday, and hopefully next weekend we'll see a more complete performance. I'm still not sold on this team being any good, but yesterday showed me that there is a good future in building around Evander, Mosquera, and Moreno. Evander looked a lot more comfortable yesterday, even though I don't think he's at his best yet, which was good to see.
Honestly during parts of this game I thought the performance spoke to the West being a bit tougher than the East. Cincy is a good team that has been finding ways to win but they didn't look stellar--we shot ourselves in the foot more than they dominated the result. I'm not totally sure where I stand on that at the end of the day but I don't feel like there are that many teams that are really scary good in the east. Maybe this is just a weird year though. Honestly think when you look at the matchups, the West games are at a bit of a higher level right now. Cincy has been good but if things continue as they are idk if they're as good as their points indicate, while I think a lot of talented West teams have been underperforming.
Within about 20 minutes it was obvious that Cincy's entire game plan was "go at Larrys as much and as hard as you can". And I don't blame them - it worked, because they know what we all know, that Larrys is not starting quality at this point.
While the Timbers didn't play all that badly, particularly in the first half, I will say that all I could think of while watching Cincinnati was "this is the way that Gio says the Timbers want to play". Counter after counter, always moving forward with the ball, good pressing on the defensive end. FCC is good at it; the Timbers are not.
There were some encouraging signs on the offensive end on Saturday, for sure, and once the regular defenders come back, that should shore things up back there a bit. there's still way more "what the hell just happened" moments than I would like to see, but at least yesterday I'm pinning a lot of that on the makeshift back line.
Play the kids on Wednesday, and hopefully next weekend we'll see a more complete performance. I'm still not sold on this team being any good, but yesterday showed me that there is a good future in building around Evander, Mosquera, and Moreno. Evander looked a lot more comfortable yesterday, even though I don't think he's at his best yet, which was good to see.
Honestly during parts of this game I thought the performance spoke to the West being a bit tougher than the East. Cincy is a good team that has been finding ways to win but they didn't look stellar--we shot ourselves in the foot more than they dominated the result. I'm not totally sure where I stand on that at the end of the day but I don't feel like there are that many teams that are really scary good in the east. Maybe this is just a weird year though. Honestly think when you look at the matchups, the West games are at a bit of a higher level right now. Cincy has been good but if things continue as they are idk if they're as good as their points indicate, while I think a lot of talented West teams have been underperforming.
I agree. With a makeshift backline it seemed like the Timbers were on the crest of a result.