What I see is Santi gets thrown off his game when played rough. And every team now knows this so that is how they defend him. He needs space and a winger upgrade opposite him to open his game. And he needs to hit the weight room to gain some upper body strength in the offseason to up his game.
When Santi gets the ball and starts rolling up the field is when I get really excited about his play. He isn't doing that as much this year, and I think a part of that is due to Evander being on the ball more. I still want to see Evander do that as well, because I think he has the ability to take the ball and go, but the coaching staff needs to find ways to get Santi rolling.
Agreed. Everyone we have played this year has done this - physical with him from the start.
But he also looks like a player who no longer has the confidence to dribble and isn't sure what his passing role is when there isn't a cross available. Some of this is on the coaches because they should know that bringing in a small framed guy (he is 5'8", I'm guessing 160 lbs soaking wet) in a league that doesn't control / punish physical play is going to come with some mental challenges when you are constantly getting knocked on your ass and only half of the time is it even called a foul.
During the broadcast, it said Dirgo is the only Timber to play every minute. He's a legend and a superman, but he's also 37 and is going to need to rest a game or two. But the lack of depth there better be focused on next month.
But despite playing every minute, he seems to be improving as the season goes on. I thought last night was one of his best games of the season, he one of my men of the match
Be prepared to be underwhelmed by next month. As WittyUsername says, the Timbers have no cap room right now, until those big contracts come off the books after the season. There may be some Miller-level player tweaking around the edges this summer, but this team, for the most part, is what it is, and is what it will be until then.
I don't think we have the cap space to do anything of consequence next month (I assume you mean bring in a replacement for Ayala capable of starting / giving Chara a rest).
We are handcuffed by big contracts on the bench, guys who are not contributing and likely won't contribute any more than they currently are (Niezgoda, Blanco, Mabs to a smaller extent) and injuries - Y. Chara is some significant cap room not playing, Williamson, Ayala guys who could start or at least be big bench contributors out for the season (and able to spell Chara).
I can't imagine we re-sign Niezgoda, Blanco or Mabs unless for the league minimum next season (and they won't take that as the first 2 could do better elsewhere or just retire in the case of the later 2) That we sold Tuiloma due to cap issues and haven't moved anyone else out tells us that we have no cap room to do anything consequential this summer unless there are trades that go with it.
I thought I heard Ned say they were looking to bring someone in that position this summer. It would probably just be a loan type deal since both Ayala and Williamson should be back next season. We are certainly hamstrung by the cap but still have the SEI thing to use and still can amnesty someone as well.
The only thing I heard from Ned was that he realized that selling Tuiloma without a solid CB replacement was an error and that was top of his list to address, that bringing in Miller was not an adequate replacement since while he could play CB, he is a better fit outside (exactly what we have seen the last month).
Yes, he has huge depth problems at CB, CDM, wing (if you call what we have wingers ... there are legit arguments that we have no wingers other than maybe Asprilla, and just creative mids who can play with width). Boli at least shored up a weak spot at the 9, but that is still lacking quality depth should he be unavailable for a couple of games (I don't consider Niezgoda or Nathan good enough to be a reliable 2nd option ... maybe 3rd or 4th).
Thanks. I don't twitter and look at O-live about once a week at most. If STF doesn't cover it or it is bigger news, then I generally don't tend to see it.
Kind of surprised we have the cash for all of that for the reasons noted above. Makes me think that the reported reasons for selling players isn't always the whole truth (thinking Tuiloma mainly, but Ebo too).
Hit the nail on the head. Nothing is likely to happen until the offseason. But the groundwork better be set early, because this team needs players. With the right moves this team can be good.
Agree with Mabs and Blanco. They are done. No sense in having them take a roster spot.
Niezgoda I would be willing to keep around for a practice player / T2 guy who if our first 3 options at the 9 got injured has shown he can be a placeholder in MLS, but definitely would not be a top 2-3 option.
Oh, totally agree. Same as I said up thread. There is no way he would sign for the league minimum because he can do better elsewhere. But if he wanted to sign for the league minimum and accept whatever role that brought, I'd think about it. Pure fantasy, not going to happen, but I wouldn't say no to that like I would to Blanco and Mabs who we just need to move on from due to age, chronic injury and inability to contribute in the future.
Bingham is a decent backup GK, but I'll be happy when Ivacic is back. It is good to have depth, and Bingham kept us in games when he was called on early, but I don't want to see him play a lot of games going forward.
The defense isn't surprising; it's been good since Paredes has started (minus Mabiala), and it is great to see Bingham step in and play well. Those two saves in succession were excellent. Way to go! Zup and McGraw have been really good all year. Miller, too, has been solid defensively and has been an excellent pick up. They will keep the team in games.
The Timbers thoroughly disrupted SJ and played chaos ball, which is great for scoreless draws, but not good for the eyeballs, except for a few good plays. The problem is not winning balls in good places, it's making the right decisions once they have it. They play so fast and try to make difficult plays and are sometimes selfish.
It was good to see Blanco get some more minutes - he had a couple of nice passes. He puts the defense under a lot of pressure in the final third.
Plusses and Minues:
Plus - Boli makes some good runs and is a good dribbler. Minus - shoulda hit it first time on through ball by Paredes, and doesn't seem to have a left foot.
Plus - Asprilla almost with the game winner; Minus - All the good he did he could probably do in a 15 minute spell off the bench and see if there isn't another player to insert as a starter.
Plus - Bravo winning a lot of balls and shutting down Espinoza; minus - his long balls (just play it through the midfield).
Plus - Paredes - winning balls and disrupting and being a ball hawk; minus - lack of execution in final third
Overall, this is just another example of how this team operates. They seem to be better than the teams above them but can't put together any goals. As a coach, I would try to change that up somehow, because draws aren't going to move you up the standings.
I think the Timbers played another good game last night. I do feel like we were the better team, but SJ had some real chances in this one. Game was a more open, like the Dallas game and not the slog of nothingness that was early in the season. If they keep playing like this, I think the results will come.
With Bunglehalter taking over USMNT (SMH), Callaghan will be free. He would be a great hire for the Timbers.. MP please get him on board. Gets the most of players, puts them in spots to be successful and focuses on attacking. This would be awesome.
I would really rather not. Dude has no head coaching experience, and I don’t give him much credit for the US winning nations league. He made no brainer decisions with his lineups and just let the players play. Which is great for a national team -- Berhalter needs to do that more in order to be successful, his main weakness is having such a rigid system -- but it’s not ideal with a club team
If it was no brainer decisions, then why didn't Berhalter do it?
No head coaching experience is always going to be a risk, but this guy just coached the heck out of the MNT in two big matches. He still had to instill confidence in the team, and he did so by being a great lineup picker and game and man manager. Hearing former players say this guy inhales video tape and talks tactics with players shows that he knows the game inside and out.
Berhalter being rigid is like Gio being rigid. A few changes to the lineup and look what happens. The team takes off. Gio keeps doing the same 'ol every week, with the same results. So, I give Callaghan a ton of credit for changing some things, mainly putting the best 11 out there, particularly Gio at the 8/10. Berhalter would have kept him on the bench. Someone will snap Callaghan up when his contract runs out. It's a shame that Berhalter is coming back, imo.
Some coaches are good builders, and some are better at just winning games. Some can do both. Callaghan certainly built off what Berhalter was able to create, but showed he knows how to win, and win big.
I mean...he won two games? As much as I want the Timbers to be done with Gio, I'm not sure I'm ready for them to hire a lifelong assistant coach (since 2003!) who has head coached exactly two games.
The Timbers should have higher ambitions than to give a 20 year assistant coach his first shot at a head coaching gig.
First off - Callaghan IS a head coach -- of the United States Mens National Team. So, if he became Timbers coach, it would be his second head coaching gig. Just saying.
That said, I'm not really entertaining thoughts of hiring Callaghan; I just like the fact that the guy came in and kicked Mexico and Canada to the curb. He can coach, and the fact that he has always been an assistant doesn't detract from the fact that he was put in a position to lead and he did -- beyond well. He knocked it out of the park, mainly by inserting Gio Reyna into the 8/10. The conservative approach is to see the data and a large sample size before you know unequivocally that Callaghan is the right pick. Well, that certainly is smart, but you may get lapped by not acting or deciding quick enough.
It'll be interesting to see what happens after the Gold Cup, because I think his contract is up. Will Berhalter keep him around? Will he go somewhere else to capitalize on his success? Maybe he will want to be a part of the US system and see this team through to the World Cup. We'll see if he can coach with the B team in the Gold Cup, and if he is successful, he may go seek his fortune elsewhere.
If he is successful in the Gold Cup, and the Timbers were in the market for a coach, I don't think they would be ambitious enough to pursue him. They would look to the USL probably.
Callaghan did what he needed to do with the USMNT: put the best players on the field and let them play. We have far more talent than either Mexico or Canada, and he just used that to win. I don’t think we looked particularly sophisticated tactically, I actually thought Canada looked better drilled in terms of their spacing and movement (which makes sense given Herdman has been coach a whole lot longer than Callaghan). Point is I think we basically just brute forced our wins by simply having more talent. Which is what he should be doing (and what Gregg doesn’t seem to know how to do), but that doesn’t necessarily translate to the club level when the talent level is far more equal. I’ll be very curious to see how he does in the gold cup, that will be a much better test for his coaching ability
yeah, I mean, no offense to any Canadian readers, but "he beat Canada once" isn't exactly a high bar by which to measure a good coach.
And the Gold Cup will indeed be a better test, particularly given that the roster won't be all A-list talent. If he does well there he might be given a shot somewhere as head coach, but I still think the Timbers should be aiming higher and landing an established coach with a track record of success at a coaching level of MLS or better.
Yes, Moreno at the six, just like Musah, a good dribbler in tight spaces and good passer. Mosquera at RW to stretch the field like Weah, and Eric "Scally" Miller to play good D. Evander in the Gio Reyna role, Paredes to ball hawk and connect. Let's go. (I don't know who fills in for McGraw for international duty. They really need some call ups).
First off Callaghan is not the reason the team played well. He had the team for what.....two weeks. That's not enough time to implement any coaches "system". So essentially what we saw was an extension of probably Hudson/GGG. If anything...Callaghan needs to coach the u20 team or a usl team and show what he can do at a coach. I still think the usmnt has done what they have despite GGG. The talent got them where they are but a good coach would get them playing better than they have. Iran is not even close to our talent. Wales was one of the worst teams in the tournament and we tied. England was the only good game from group and that was a draw. Then we got demolished by the Netherlands. GGG is trash. And our region is trash. This Mexico is the worst since I have been alive and Canada has 4 good players. We have 11 plus a good bench and we struggle with them. So I don't put stock in anything GGG or his staff members have done with this team.
If anything I think we should get the u20 coach. Vargas had that team playing excellent soccer and if the European teams would have released our too players in the u20 squad, we would have made a deeper run.
As for your lineup. Moreno as a 6? Wut. He is not even close to musah or even plays the same position. Musah plays deeper with his squad team as a connecting 8 but also has been on a team that was fighting relegation for most of the year, so he honed his "6" skills by constantly having to defend. Moreno is a winger who is closer to a 10 than a 6. If anything this team should be playing a 3-4-3 and Moreno should be next to Evander. Leaving the channels for bravo and masquera.
Truth be told, I didn't sleep well last night when I put Moreno as a 6. He is a 10. I've always said that. I was just trying to figure out a way to show how Musah worked. He's a really good dribbler and was physical. I loved it - more than I like Tyler Adams there, who is definitely less gifted offensively than Musah.
Moreno is definitely not a winger. He wants to pass and dribble in the middle of the park. He doesn't know what to do on the outside. It's not his thing - you can tell. But yeah, he's not a six either. I was just being a little crazy there.
Your lineup - it seems good on paper, but then I wonder if there are any goals coming. It might liven up Moreno.
I didn't see the u-20s, but I'll take your word for it. We need a new guy with fresh ideas.
The good: 3 clean sheets in a row (following a decidedly horrible performance at SKC)
The bad: 0.333 goals average in the last 3, only 1 win to show for 3 clean sheets.
For as much as people complain about Gio's total lack of defensive game plan, we don't really have much offensively either beyond "get the ball to the Italians" (to borrow a dumb line from a Will Farrell kids movie) -- i.e. just expect that the creators will create. We have multiple guys who will fit that role but 9s who cannot and demand service (Mora an exception, but after being out for 2 years with injuries, my expectations are low that he will ever contribute again). Asprilla has always been an up and down player and as much as I love him when up, he can be frustrating when down because he suddenly loses the ability to possess and repeatedly tries for the amazing that doesn't come off (he has been down lately again). Moreno seems to be following in the same mold. He used to be able to beat guys on the dribble and the passing was often incisive - he now looks a lot like a different body shape of similar skills to Asprilla. Y. Chara obviously doesn't have the durability of his brother (but his injuries are also due to being used differently - hammy injuries that wings tend to get), but even when not injured last year he went through long stretches of being unproductive. Loria, Guzman, and the rest are backup level MLS journeymen.
So offensively it is pretty much Evander (who looks frustrated) and Boli which is easy enough to defend.
We are, offensive talent wise, decidedly average across the board for MLS. While we may have an above average player here or there, they can't do it by themselves (try as they might, and that appears to be the strategy).
Ned has a pretty big reclamation project here, if we are not going to get special "league deals" like other teams to bring in talent that we can't afford on our own and the goal is to spend money on players who are above average but not league stars, it is going to result in being a perpetually average team - 5 points out of 3 games, 2 on the road isn't terrible, but it also isn't sustainable to assume we can get points every game either - 5 is really a "peak" efficiency, 1-1.3 PPG is probably more realistic to average which puts you right in the middle of the table most years.
about Gio's total lack of defensive game plan, we don't really have much offensively either beyond "get the ball to the Italians" (to borrow a dumb line from a Will Farrell kids movie) -- i.e. just expect that the creators
This has always been my complaint about Gio. Too defend first with no attack plan is garbage. Leads to stagnant players and a lack of runs where we just turn the ball over and over trying to go 3v5.
As we have gotten "old" (Chara, Blanco, Valeri before he left) we have fully committed to becoming a defend and counter team. We occasionally have spurts where we possess and take it to the other team for 20-30 minutes (at most), but even that is rarely successful - Seattle at home early in the season perhaps an exception. It usually results in either a stalemate or single goal that we then attempt to defend for long periods, often unsuccessfully.
Fans get sentimental, especially in small places like Portland where the players ingratiate themselves into the community pretty easily, in a matter of months sometimes. It doesn't help because then it pressures the FO to make bad decisions that hurts the team financially, talent wise and limits any manger tactic wise. The next of these challenges will be a graceful end of Diego Chara's career, and if I know Portland fans, they will project constantly that he is getting screwed and they want to see him instead of ______ when his replacements take his place ... but they really don't, they want to see D. Chara of 2012-2021 and he only exists in the past.
Gio is very limited in what he can do with the injuries and age of the roster, but that isn't really an excuse - he chose defend and counter many years ago as our identity which doesn't work with key pieces aging or injured. Every team should be able to do that and we really missed an opportunity for an offensive identity such as we had under Porter. Supposedly we were going "Latin" but that really just suggests dynamic playmakers which we had with Blanco and Valeri, Chara defensively - less passing. more individual brilliance perhaps. I don't think it is working because to truly have the level of talent you need to beat professional players individually costs Evander money or more, every single time.
Also it seems like Evander prefers to move the ball up the field a lot slower so he doesn’t fit the lighting fast counter attack style that we had with Valeri, Blanco and Chara racing up the field.
I feel like the player that makes the team the most threatening offensively is Mosquera and I think we missed him last night (although I agree the defense looks better when Miller is in there). He is young and makes mistakes but I think he is a big difference maker on the team and could become an emotional leader with the effort he puts in. Too bad he will probably transfer before long.
Hmm. Who would you say is the biggest difference maker on the team? DChara has always been that to me but I think his influence is decline. The team didn’t look good at all until Paredes started playing consistently. I hope Evander becomes a big difference maker in the future but right now I would put him 3rd or 4th.
Speaking of Evander here is another thought - his game reminds of Williamson. He seems frustratingly casual on the ball at times, seems to over dribble at times, seems lax on defense at times but comes up with creative game changing plays that are beautiful to watch. My thought is I don’t know if there is room in the middle of the field for two players like that. Of course we won’t find out until Williamson gets healthy but it seems like you can afford to have one player like that if everyone else understands they will have to cover defensively to get the creative plays. I am just curious how things would look if they were playing together this season.
Good point and I agree that not much is expected of Evander defensively. We will have to wait and see how they might be on the field together. As much as I like Williamson (and I do like him a lot) think it would not be a good combination.
Well, if Miller starts over Mabiala, we end up with Rasmussen/Bonilla opposite Bravo. Thankfully it will only be 3 games, and I expect McGraw to come back fresh as this will be his first callup.
Its funny that the team is struggling but players are getting the call regardless. Its another reason I'm losing faith in Gio.
Did NOT see that coming. West Point grad and California born. I realize that there is a ton of churn with national teams (listening to Balogun last night after the USMNT game was a trip - very much sounds like a Londoner as he moved there when he was 2) but yeah - didn't see Zac leaving for Nat duty.
Selfishly, I think that any chance we had to attempt to climb back into contention early this summer just evaporated because we will start giving up goals again in the next 3-5 games without Zac.
It is great news for McGraw, but I was not expecting that in any way, shape or form. So now its the Mabiala/Rasmussen show for a few games. That should be...... not fun.
Had to watch the 1st half on a crap stream on my phone, and the 2nd on a worse stream but on my TV. I'd be pissed if the low quality of the stream was worse than the play on the field, but having it blurred out a bit actually made it a little better to watch. Nothing that Apple or PTFC has done this season has made me want to pay the money to watch.
He started his career with the Quakes and played there for six seasons (minus a couple loans) before going to the Galaxy, their biggest rival, and playing well for them.
I thought Evander was very good outside of his shooting. I think he is getting frustrated by the lack of production from the players around him and trying to be the hero himself. I don’t mind some of the shots he took honestly
Yep. There is a lot of hero-ball happening up front and there are really only 2.5 players who seem capable of pulling it off - Evander and Boli. The other 0.5 is Asprilla, when "on". You never quite know what you are going to get with Asprilla but for the last month or so we have had "off" Dairon.
I admit I was annoyed with Evander taking those long shots that were prayers, even if on frame (but he skied all of them). But those are the shots of a frustrated player whose supporting cast isn't good enough and whose offense is sputtering. In the last 6 games we have scored 2 goals, one of them in a 4-1 loss and managed to eek out a win on the strength of that other goal. We are playing boring and not very smart soccer offensively (we give up the ball far too easily, constantly make the wrong pass on counters, rarely get numbers into the box - usually 1, maybe 2 targets against 3-5 defenders in there). I get it that he is frustrated, but he is the 10 - he needs to lead. I just don't think we have the level of talent to his left and right and in front of him for him to succeed, especially since we are attempting to convert a 6 to a 10.
Bingham and the Quakes parted on not the best of terms. Quakes wanted to sign Bingham to a long term contract at the end of the 2016 season, but negotiations dragged out to the middle of the 2017 season and their offer was not near what Bingham was expecting. At which time he informed them he would not resign. The Quakes benched him for the remainder of the season. When he signed with the Quakes rivals to the south, the Galaxy, it made a bad situation worse. Credit to Bingham, he continued to play well for the Galaxy. I feel for him as San Jose is actually his hometown.
The "Advantage Rule" foul does not count towards a team's total foul count.
Evander seems to have games where he lacks motivation. I wonder if that is more of a reflection on Gio versus Evander...
Moreno didn’t have a very good game. I keep expecting him to turn into a dangerous winger but so far this season he has been disappointing.
With our lack of depth the yellow cards mean eventually someone will have to sit a game out and one player short can really hurt this team.
I want Ebo back!
I LOL'd when the AppleTV announcer quoted Gio during the game "If it was up to me, he would still be in Portland".
Is he suggesting this was all Gavin's idea? LOL. I despise GW, but no.
This was Ebo's ask because of how you used him and what you told him his future was Gio. It WAS up to you.
What I see is Santi gets thrown off his game when played rough. And every team now knows this so that is how they defend him. He needs space and a winger upgrade opposite him to open his game. And he needs to hit the weight room to gain some upper body strength in the offseason to up his game.
When Santi gets the ball and starts rolling up the field is when I get really excited about his play. He isn't doing that as much this year, and I think a part of that is due to Evander being on the ball more. I still want to see Evander do that as well, because I think he has the ability to take the ball and go, but the coaching staff needs to find ways to get Santi rolling.
Agreed. Everyone we have played this year has done this - physical with him from the start.
But he also looks like a player who no longer has the confidence to dribble and isn't sure what his passing role is when there isn't a cross available. Some of this is on the coaches because they should know that bringing in a small framed guy (he is 5'8", I'm guessing 160 lbs soaking wet) in a league that doesn't control / punish physical play is going to come with some mental challenges when you are constantly getting knocked on your ass and only half of the time is it even called a foul.
“ Moreno didn’t have a very good game. I keep expecting him to turn into a dangerous winger but so far this season he has been disappointing.”
#gioball is where promising talent goes to die….
During the broadcast, it said Dirgo is the only Timber to play every minute. He's a legend and a superman, but he's also 37 and is going to need to rest a game or two. But the lack of depth there better be focused on next month.
But despite playing every minute, he seems to be improving as the season goes on. I thought last night was one of his best games of the season, he one of my men of the match
Be prepared to be underwhelmed by next month. As WittyUsername says, the Timbers have no cap room right now, until those big contracts come off the books after the season. There may be some Miller-level player tweaking around the edges this summer, but this team, for the most part, is what it is, and is what it will be until then.
I don't think we have the cap space to do anything of consequence next month (I assume you mean bring in a replacement for Ayala capable of starting / giving Chara a rest).
We are handcuffed by big contracts on the bench, guys who are not contributing and likely won't contribute any more than they currently are (Niezgoda, Blanco, Mabs to a smaller extent) and injuries - Y. Chara is some significant cap room not playing, Williamson, Ayala guys who could start or at least be big bench contributors out for the season (and able to spell Chara).
I can't imagine we re-sign Niezgoda, Blanco or Mabs unless for the league minimum next season (and they won't take that as the first 2 could do better elsewhere or just retire in the case of the later 2) That we sold Tuiloma due to cap issues and haven't moved anyone else out tells us that we have no cap room to do anything consequential this summer unless there are trades that go with it.
I thought I heard Ned say they were looking to bring someone in that position this summer. It would probably just be a loan type deal since both Ayala and Williamson should be back next season. We are certainly hamstrung by the cap but still have the SEI thing to use and still can amnesty someone as well.
The only thing I heard from Ned was that he realized that selling Tuiloma without a solid CB replacement was an error and that was top of his list to address, that bringing in Miller was not an adequate replacement since while he could play CB, he is a better fit outside (exactly what we have seen the last month).
Yes, he has huge depth problems at CB, CDM, wing (if you call what we have wingers ... there are legit arguments that we have no wingers other than maybe Asprilla, and just creative mids who can play with width). Boli at least shored up a weak spot at the 9, but that is still lacking quality depth should he be unavailable for a couple of games (I don't consider Niezgoda or Nathan good enough to be a reliable 2nd option ... maybe 3rd or 4th).
This was from Ryan Clarke who's pretty on top of things:
https://twitter.com/RyanTClarke/status/1667601683579564032
Thanks. I don't twitter and look at O-live about once a week at most. If STF doesn't cover it or it is bigger news, then I generally don't tend to see it.
Kind of surprised we have the cash for all of that for the reasons noted above. Makes me think that the reported reasons for selling players isn't always the whole truth (thinking Tuiloma mainly, but Ebo too).
Hit the nail on the head. Nothing is likely to happen until the offseason. But the groundwork better be set early, because this team needs players. With the right moves this team can be good.
I wouldn't give any of those three the league minimum.
Agree with Mabs and Blanco. They are done. No sense in having them take a roster spot.
Niezgoda I would be willing to keep around for a practice player / T2 guy who if our first 3 options at the 9 got injured has shown he can be a placeholder in MLS, but definitely would not be a top 2-3 option.
Niezgoda's making just over $1M/year. He's not going to be a T2 guy. Best at this point to let him walk at the end of his contract.
Oh, totally agree. Same as I said up thread. There is no way he would sign for the league minimum because he can do better elsewhere. But if he wanted to sign for the league minimum and accept whatever role that brought, I'd think about it. Pure fantasy, not going to happen, but I wouldn't say no to that like I would to Blanco and Mabs who we just need to move on from due to age, chronic injury and inability to contribute in the future.
What did I like? A goalie playing off his line cleaning up messes that Ivacic makes tougher for our defense.
What did I not like? Said goalies inability to have a goal kick not go directly out of bounds.
We've been complaining about Ivacic's distribution since he became the starter but at least he mostly keeps his kicks in bound. Bingham? Not so much.
Bingham is a decent backup GK, but I'll be happy when Ivacic is back. It is good to have depth, and Bingham kept us in games when he was called on early, but I don't want to see him play a lot of games going forward.
The defense isn't surprising; it's been good since Paredes has started (minus Mabiala), and it is great to see Bingham step in and play well. Those two saves in succession were excellent. Way to go! Zup and McGraw have been really good all year. Miller, too, has been solid defensively and has been an excellent pick up. They will keep the team in games.
The Timbers thoroughly disrupted SJ and played chaos ball, which is great for scoreless draws, but not good for the eyeballs, except for a few good plays. The problem is not winning balls in good places, it's making the right decisions once they have it. They play so fast and try to make difficult plays and are sometimes selfish.
It was good to see Blanco get some more minutes - he had a couple of nice passes. He puts the defense under a lot of pressure in the final third.
Plusses and Minues:
Plus - Boli makes some good runs and is a good dribbler. Minus - shoulda hit it first time on through ball by Paredes, and doesn't seem to have a left foot.
Plus - Asprilla almost with the game winner; Minus - All the good he did he could probably do in a 15 minute spell off the bench and see if there isn't another player to insert as a starter.
Plus - Bravo winning a lot of balls and shutting down Espinoza; minus - his long balls (just play it through the midfield).
Plus - Paredes - winning balls and disrupting and being a ball hawk; minus - lack of execution in final third
Overall, this is just another example of how this team operates. They seem to be better than the teams above them but can't put together any goals. As a coach, I would try to change that up somehow, because draws aren't going to move you up the standings.
I agree with all of your points. I'd like Nathan to start with Asprilla subbing later.
Indeed!
For the sake of offense, go with a front three of LW Nathan, CF Niezgoda and RW Boli. Asprilla could sub for either one of them. Let's go!
I think the Timbers played another good game last night. I do feel like we were the better team, but SJ had some real chances in this one. Game was a more open, like the Dallas game and not the slog of nothingness that was early in the season. If they keep playing like this, I think the results will come.
It was nice to find the match on Apple TV so easily, or at least the second half, very early in the morning in Norway.
With Bunglehalter taking over USMNT (SMH), Callaghan will be free. He would be a great hire for the Timbers.. MP please get him on board. Gets the most of players, puts them in spots to be successful and focuses on attacking. This would be awesome.
I would really rather not. Dude has no head coaching experience, and I don’t give him much credit for the US winning nations league. He made no brainer decisions with his lineups and just let the players play. Which is great for a national team -- Berhalter needs to do that more in order to be successful, his main weakness is having such a rigid system -- but it’s not ideal with a club team
If it was no brainer decisions, then why didn't Berhalter do it?
No head coaching experience is always going to be a risk, but this guy just coached the heck out of the MNT in two big matches. He still had to instill confidence in the team, and he did so by being a great lineup picker and game and man manager. Hearing former players say this guy inhales video tape and talks tactics with players shows that he knows the game inside and out.
Berhalter being rigid is like Gio being rigid. A few changes to the lineup and look what happens. The team takes off. Gio keeps doing the same 'ol every week, with the same results. So, I give Callaghan a ton of credit for changing some things, mainly putting the best 11 out there, particularly Gio at the 8/10. Berhalter would have kept him on the bench. Someone will snap Callaghan up when his contract runs out. It's a shame that Berhalter is coming back, imo.
Some coaches are good builders, and some are better at just winning games. Some can do both. Callaghan certainly built off what Berhalter was able to create, but showed he knows how to win, and win big.
"showed he knows how to win, and win big."
I mean...he won two games? As much as I want the Timbers to be done with Gio, I'm not sure I'm ready for them to hire a lifelong assistant coach (since 2003!) who has head coached exactly two games.
The Timbers should have higher ambitions than to give a 20 year assistant coach his first shot at a head coaching gig.
First off - Callaghan IS a head coach -- of the United States Mens National Team. So, if he became Timbers coach, it would be his second head coaching gig. Just saying.
That said, I'm not really entertaining thoughts of hiring Callaghan; I just like the fact that the guy came in and kicked Mexico and Canada to the curb. He can coach, and the fact that he has always been an assistant doesn't detract from the fact that he was put in a position to lead and he did -- beyond well. He knocked it out of the park, mainly by inserting Gio Reyna into the 8/10. The conservative approach is to see the data and a large sample size before you know unequivocally that Callaghan is the right pick. Well, that certainly is smart, but you may get lapped by not acting or deciding quick enough.
It'll be interesting to see what happens after the Gold Cup, because I think his contract is up. Will Berhalter keep him around? Will he go somewhere else to capitalize on his success? Maybe he will want to be a part of the US system and see this team through to the World Cup. We'll see if he can coach with the B team in the Gold Cup, and if he is successful, he may go seek his fortune elsewhere.
If he is successful in the Gold Cup, and the Timbers were in the market for a coach, I don't think they would be ambitious enough to pursue him. They would look to the USL probably.
Callaghan did what he needed to do with the USMNT: put the best players on the field and let them play. We have far more talent than either Mexico or Canada, and he just used that to win. I don’t think we looked particularly sophisticated tactically, I actually thought Canada looked better drilled in terms of their spacing and movement (which makes sense given Herdman has been coach a whole lot longer than Callaghan). Point is I think we basically just brute forced our wins by simply having more talent. Which is what he should be doing (and what Gregg doesn’t seem to know how to do), but that doesn’t necessarily translate to the club level when the talent level is far more equal. I’ll be very curious to see how he does in the gold cup, that will be a much better test for his coaching ability
yeah, I mean, no offense to any Canadian readers, but "he beat Canada once" isn't exactly a high bar by which to measure a good coach.
And the Gold Cup will indeed be a better test, particularly given that the roster won't be all A-list talent. If he does well there he might be given a shot somewhere as head coach, but I still think the Timbers should be aiming higher and landing an established coach with a track record of success at a coaching level of MLS or better.
If Callaghan were coach -
Fogaca ..... Boli .... Mosquera
.......Evander ..........Paredes
...................Moreno .......
Bravo .....McGraw.....Zup ...... Miller
Yes, Moreno at the six, just like Musah, a good dribbler in tight spaces and good passer. Mosquera at RW to stretch the field like Weah, and Eric "Scally" Miller to play good D. Evander in the Gio Reyna role, Paredes to ball hawk and connect. Let's go. (I don't know who fills in for McGraw for international duty. They really need some call ups).
First off Callaghan is not the reason the team played well. He had the team for what.....two weeks. That's not enough time to implement any coaches "system". So essentially what we saw was an extension of probably Hudson/GGG. If anything...Callaghan needs to coach the u20 team or a usl team and show what he can do at a coach. I still think the usmnt has done what they have despite GGG. The talent got them where they are but a good coach would get them playing better than they have. Iran is not even close to our talent. Wales was one of the worst teams in the tournament and we tied. England was the only good game from group and that was a draw. Then we got demolished by the Netherlands. GGG is trash. And our region is trash. This Mexico is the worst since I have been alive and Canada has 4 good players. We have 11 plus a good bench and we struggle with them. So I don't put stock in anything GGG or his staff members have done with this team.
If anything I think we should get the u20 coach. Vargas had that team playing excellent soccer and if the European teams would have released our too players in the u20 squad, we would have made a deeper run.
As for your lineup. Moreno as a 6? Wut. He is not even close to musah or even plays the same position. Musah plays deeper with his squad team as a connecting 8 but also has been on a team that was fighting relegation for most of the year, so he honed his "6" skills by constantly having to defend. Moreno is a winger who is closer to a 10 than a 6. If anything this team should be playing a 3-4-3 and Moreno should be next to Evander. Leaving the channels for bravo and masquera.
Boli
Evander------ Moreno
Bravo--- chara Paredes ---masquera
Mcgraw---- zuparic---- miller
Truth be told, I didn't sleep well last night when I put Moreno as a 6. He is a 10. I've always said that. I was just trying to figure out a way to show how Musah worked. He's a really good dribbler and was physical. I loved it - more than I like Tyler Adams there, who is definitely less gifted offensively than Musah.
Moreno is definitely not a winger. He wants to pass and dribble in the middle of the park. He doesn't know what to do on the outside. It's not his thing - you can tell. But yeah, he's not a six either. I was just being a little crazy there.
Your lineup - it seems good on paper, but then I wonder if there are any goals coming. It might liven up Moreno.
I didn't see the u-20s, but I'll take your word for it. We need a new guy with fresh ideas.
The good: 3 clean sheets in a row (following a decidedly horrible performance at SKC)
The bad: 0.333 goals average in the last 3, only 1 win to show for 3 clean sheets.
For as much as people complain about Gio's total lack of defensive game plan, we don't really have much offensively either beyond "get the ball to the Italians" (to borrow a dumb line from a Will Farrell kids movie) -- i.e. just expect that the creators will create. We have multiple guys who will fit that role but 9s who cannot and demand service (Mora an exception, but after being out for 2 years with injuries, my expectations are low that he will ever contribute again). Asprilla has always been an up and down player and as much as I love him when up, he can be frustrating when down because he suddenly loses the ability to possess and repeatedly tries for the amazing that doesn't come off (he has been down lately again). Moreno seems to be following in the same mold. He used to be able to beat guys on the dribble and the passing was often incisive - he now looks a lot like a different body shape of similar skills to Asprilla. Y. Chara obviously doesn't have the durability of his brother (but his injuries are also due to being used differently - hammy injuries that wings tend to get), but even when not injured last year he went through long stretches of being unproductive. Loria, Guzman, and the rest are backup level MLS journeymen.
So offensively it is pretty much Evander (who looks frustrated) and Boli which is easy enough to defend.
We are, offensive talent wise, decidedly average across the board for MLS. While we may have an above average player here or there, they can't do it by themselves (try as they might, and that appears to be the strategy).
Ned has a pretty big reclamation project here, if we are not going to get special "league deals" like other teams to bring in talent that we can't afford on our own and the goal is to spend money on players who are above average but not league stars, it is going to result in being a perpetually average team - 5 points out of 3 games, 2 on the road isn't terrible, but it also isn't sustainable to assume we can get points every game either - 5 is really a "peak" efficiency, 1-1.3 PPG is probably more realistic to average which puts you right in the middle of the table most years.
about Gio's total lack of defensive game plan, we don't really have much offensively either beyond "get the ball to the Italians" (to borrow a dumb line from a Will Farrell kids movie) -- i.e. just expect that the creators
This has always been my complaint about Gio. Too defend first with no attack plan is garbage. Leads to stagnant players and a lack of runs where we just turn the ball over and over trying to go 3v5.
As we have gotten "old" (Chara, Blanco, Valeri before he left) we have fully committed to becoming a defend and counter team. We occasionally have spurts where we possess and take it to the other team for 20-30 minutes (at most), but even that is rarely successful - Seattle at home early in the season perhaps an exception. It usually results in either a stalemate or single goal that we then attempt to defend for long periods, often unsuccessfully.
Fans get sentimental, especially in small places like Portland where the players ingratiate themselves into the community pretty easily, in a matter of months sometimes. It doesn't help because then it pressures the FO to make bad decisions that hurts the team financially, talent wise and limits any manger tactic wise. The next of these challenges will be a graceful end of Diego Chara's career, and if I know Portland fans, they will project constantly that he is getting screwed and they want to see him instead of ______ when his replacements take his place ... but they really don't, they want to see D. Chara of 2012-2021 and he only exists in the past.
Gio is very limited in what he can do with the injuries and age of the roster, but that isn't really an excuse - he chose defend and counter many years ago as our identity which doesn't work with key pieces aging or injured. Every team should be able to do that and we really missed an opportunity for an offensive identity such as we had under Porter. Supposedly we were going "Latin" but that really just suggests dynamic playmakers which we had with Blanco and Valeri, Chara defensively - less passing. more individual brilliance perhaps. I don't think it is working because to truly have the level of talent you need to beat professional players individually costs Evander money or more, every single time.
Also it seems like Evander prefers to move the ball up the field a lot slower so he doesn’t fit the lighting fast counter attack style that we had with Valeri, Blanco and Chara racing up the field.
I feel like the player that makes the team the most threatening offensively is Mosquera and I think we missed him last night (although I agree the defense looks better when Miller is in there). He is young and makes mistakes but I think he is a big difference maker on the team and could become an emotional leader with the effort he puts in. Too bad he will probably transfer before long.
Hmm. Who would you say is the biggest difference maker on the team? DChara has always been that to me but I think his influence is decline. The team didn’t look good at all until Paredes started playing consistently. I hope Evander becomes a big difference maker in the future but right now I would put him 3rd or 4th.
Speaking of Evander here is another thought - his game reminds of Williamson. He seems frustratingly casual on the ball at times, seems to over dribble at times, seems lax on defense at times but comes up with creative game changing plays that are beautiful to watch. My thought is I don’t know if there is room in the middle of the field for two players like that. Of course we won’t find out until Williamson gets healthy but it seems like you can afford to have one player like that if everyone else understands they will have to cover defensively to get the creative plays. I am just curious how things would look if they were playing together this season.
Evander is a 10, you don't expect much defense from him, Williamson was playing as a 6/8, in that spot you have to defend and was obvious when didnt.
Good point and I agree that not much is expected of Evander defensively. We will have to wait and see how they might be on the field together. As much as I like Williamson (and I do like him a lot) think it would not be a good combination.
Well buckle up, friends: It's Mabs Mabs Mabs in July:
https://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/2023/06/portland-timbers-defender-zac-mcgraw-called-up-to-canada-mens-national-team.html
Was anyone here prepared for our west point grad getting called up to CANADA?!
Absolutely LOVE this for Zac. I hope the rest of the world gets to see his talent!
Absolutely HATE this for us. We cannot afford Mabiala to be starting. I desperately hope agio plays Miller at CB over Mabs but I doubt it
Well, if Miller starts over Mabiala, we end up with Rasmussen/Bonilla opposite Bravo. Thankfully it will only be 3 games, and I expect McGraw to come back fresh as this will be his first callup.
Its funny that the team is struggling but players are getting the call regardless. Its another reason I'm losing faith in Gio.
Did NOT see that coming. West Point grad and California born. I realize that there is a ton of churn with national teams (listening to Balogun last night after the USMNT game was a trip - very much sounds like a Londoner as he moved there when he was 2) but yeah - didn't see Zac leaving for Nat duty.
Selfishly, I think that any chance we had to attempt to climb back into contention early this summer just evaporated because we will start giving up goals again in the next 3-5 games without Zac.
wow - congrats!
We are cooked.
It is great news for McGraw, but I was not expecting that in any way, shape or form. So now its the Mabiala/Rasmussen show for a few games. That should be...... not fun.
Had to watch the 1st half on a crap stream on my phone, and the 2nd on a worse stream but on my TV. I'd be pissed if the low quality of the stream was worse than the play on the field, but having it blurred out a bit actually made it a little better to watch. Nothing that Apple or PTFC has done this season has made me want to pay the money to watch.
Anyone know why SJ fans were booing Bingham?
Do fouls that are not called to play advantage count as fouls on the scoresheet?
Yes, SJ had only two shots on target, but they had two that clanged off of the crossbar and post.
I think Evander thinks he is better than he actually is. He is turning into a black hole in terms of shot selection.
He started his career with the Quakes and played there for six seasons (minus a couple loans) before going to the Galaxy, their biggest rival, and playing well for them.
I thought Evander was very good outside of his shooting. I think he is getting frustrated by the lack of production from the players around him and trying to be the hero himself. I don’t mind some of the shots he took honestly
Yep. There is a lot of hero-ball happening up front and there are really only 2.5 players who seem capable of pulling it off - Evander and Boli. The other 0.5 is Asprilla, when "on". You never quite know what you are going to get with Asprilla but for the last month or so we have had "off" Dairon.
I admit I was annoyed with Evander taking those long shots that were prayers, even if on frame (but he skied all of them). But those are the shots of a frustrated player whose supporting cast isn't good enough and whose offense is sputtering. In the last 6 games we have scored 2 goals, one of them in a 4-1 loss and managed to eek out a win on the strength of that other goal. We are playing boring and not very smart soccer offensively (we give up the ball far too easily, constantly make the wrong pass on counters, rarely get numbers into the box - usually 1, maybe 2 targets against 3-5 defenders in there). I get it that he is frustrated, but he is the 10 - he needs to lead. I just don't think we have the level of talent to his left and right and in front of him for him to succeed, especially since we are attempting to convert a 6 to a 10.
Totally agree.
Bingham and the Quakes parted on not the best of terms. Quakes wanted to sign Bingham to a long term contract at the end of the 2016 season, but negotiations dragged out to the middle of the 2017 season and their offer was not near what Bingham was expecting. At which time he informed them he would not resign. The Quakes benched him for the remainder of the season. When he signed with the Quakes rivals to the south, the Galaxy, it made a bad situation worse. Credit to Bingham, he continued to play well for the Galaxy. I feel for him as San Jose is actually his hometown.
The "Advantage Rule" foul does not count towards a team's total foul count.
Evander seems to have games where he lacks motivation. I wonder if that is more of a reflection on Gio versus Evander...
I assumed the SJ fan hate directly relates to his days with the Galaxy, which they consider their biggest rival.