I have to say, the defense looks better with Jimmy Pants in the sticks. I know Max is great, but man, JP has really shown some class when he has gotten the call.
I'm kinda surprised at how not-stellar Crepeau has been, honestly. He's been...ok, but I was expecting a lot more out of him. If Pantemis keeps playing like this, he might take the starting job. And deservedly so.
It was a bad PK shot for sure, but Pantemis guessed correctly or read the approach correctly to make the save. I think it’s great to have two good goalkeepers, especially with international games ahead for Crepeau.
I could watch that Evander free kick on loop for hours. And when I need a laugh, I'll watch that Driussi penalty - taking nothing away from Pantemis, but that was a really comically bad penalty, one of the worst I've seen in a while.
K Miller looked pretty comfortable at left back, and if this game can be a building block to some consistency, particularly with international absences coming up, all of a sudden vibes aren't quite so dire. Still a looooot of fixing to do, but these last two games are good steps along that road.
It appeared to me that JR's penalty was almost identical Driussi's - 2' high and 6' inside the right post. Pantemis' save would have stopped his also. But hey, lucky is good, right?
You are right on that, but Jona's shot was closer to the middle from what I could tell. Makes it brutal for the keeper to smother the ball the way it was hit, because it ends up at his knees on a full dive. Driussi's shot was far enough out for Pantemis to get his arms and chest on it. But yes, there is an element of luck on those shots.
JR's was shot at about a billion MPH, and Driussi's was basically dribbled, at least from what I could see. Also the announcers kept talking about how almost every Driussi penalty is taken to the keeper's right, so it's not like it was hard for Pantemis to guess what he was gonna do; the combo of that and the weak shot made it pretty straightforward for JP to shut Driussi down, and it was fantastic to see how easy he made it look.
Yeah, he blasted that pen. It even looked fast on slo-mo replay.
As for the sides for Driussi, I heard that, too, but then they showed a graphic where it looked about equal. Also, when I heard "to the keeper's right," I assumed that meant from the keeper's vantage point. If that is true, then the shot was actually to the keeper's left (but to the right from Driussi's vantage point). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah I probably need to rewatch, I just remember thinking "that was the weakest penalty I've seen in a while" but now that you mention it JP did fall to his left. Either way I don't think that shot or shot process taxed JP's brain all that much hahahaha
Maybe JR concealed his shot direction a little better than Driussi. It really seemed like Pantemis read Driussi's and reacted, whereas Stuver just guessed.
Jona smacked that thing even harder than an Asprilla penalty. Even if Stuver got in the way I think it's deflecting in or coming back to Jona to dink into an empty net. No way he catches that like Pantemis could with Driussi's weak attempt.
If Stuver got in the way it's almost Looney Tunes, it'd blow a hole right through him and he'd be looking down like WHAT JUST HAPPENED as everyone around him looks through the hole at the crowd behind him.
I like Kamal at LB, but it robs our central defense of almost all of its speed. As good as Zup is at reading the attack, he's slower than Christmas. I'm still holding out hope that we get a DP defender soon.
I will believe it when I see it happen a few more times. I like what I saw yesterday, but I'm not yet convinced it's repeatable after the first third of this mess of a season. I hope I'm proven wrong and I hope that starts (keeps?) happening Saturday.
I wouldn't trade our front four, I like our backline now, and our midfield has vastly improved with Ayala's emergence and some other players' diminished or vanishing roles. We just whupped up on a fifth place team at their place, where they haven't lost in something like five games. That was a convincing win.
The mess of the first third of the season was actually really important as Phil had to work through the roster and see who could play and who couldn't. Right now, it looks like he has his roster and rotation set and it appears to be about 14-15 deep. I like the growth of the team, and the growth of certain individuals, and that is a credit to Phil. I see an upward trajectory.
"Phil had to work through the roster and see who could play and who couldn't."
I guess that's a big part of my problem. Phil was hired in November. He had most of the offseason and a full preseason to figure that out. Once games started, he should have had a very clear idea of who could play and who couldn't, particularly in the system in which he wanted to play.
And yet outside of the opening game and the last second Evander heroics in NYC, the Timbers have mostly looked utterly lost until literally two games ago.
I will give credit to Phil for making the adjustments for last Saturday that he stuck with yesterday, because they clearly helped, and if he sticks with them, I think they'll keep paying dividends. But I can't get past the fact that it took him 12 games to get there, and I fear he'll keep messing with the lineup despite finding something that is working.
I think we’d all like to see the team come out of the gates raring to go. But for whatever reason he basically gave everybody a shot and they either played themselves off the field or on it. And it was fair, meaning guys got a run of games.
Ayala’s case is good coaching in my opinion. He got yanked a couple of times from games due to performance and ultimately just had to build fitness and confidence and look at him now. Two great games in a row. And Phil has to be credited, or the whole coaching staff.
It's not just who is playing but how they are playing. Phil has changed up who is playing and sometimes where they are playing. He hasn't done as much to change up how they are playing. He attributes how they are playing to their attitudes. He talks of courage, bravery, commitment, drive. That has little to do with the team collectively, regardless of who is on the pitch in what formation, not moving off the ball, not closing passing channels, not challenging higher up the pitch, not effectively marking on set pieces, etc. etc.
Statistically, this wasn't a great team performance until we had some moments of individual brilliance. We've got some attackers who play increasingly well together. One could argue that the centerback group is gelling. But we generally lack organization, cohesion, even still.
I'm happy with the W. I'm happy that some players continue to improve. I'm happy that we got a clean sheet, finally. But I don't want to get ahead of myself because we are still overperforming expectations and not actually putting in consistently good 90-minute-plus full-team performances.
Timbers and Thorns below says we've been underperforming quite a bit so far this season. Yes and no. We are underperforming to our roster but overperforming to expected goals and other metrics. Some of the players aren't quite starting quality, whether they're still developing or past their prime. Our depth is somewhat lacking in areas. Some players just don't fit the strategy and tactics. Generally, we're just poorly organized and prepared. Better coaching could adjust to some of our deficits. It looks like Neville may finally be figuring out that our back line is too slow to play a high line. That's one thing. I'm not sure if he actually has figured that out or if it's just how he's set up the last two matches. We'll see.
"I'm happy with the W. I'm happy that some players continue to improve. I'm happy that we got a clean sheet, finally. But I don't want to get ahead of myself because we are still overperforming expectations"
This is ultimately where I land. This roster still isn't 100% great, as we knew going in to this season; I'm glad Phil is finally (Phinally? SORRY) figuring out how to use the pieces he has more effectively, but it still needs 1-2 windows' worth of upgrades I think.
"It looks like Neville may finally be figuring out that our back line is too slow to play a high line."
If nothing else comes from the rest of this season but that, I will begrudgingly say Phil has grown as a coach. I hope, as you say, he actually HAS figured that out and that he doesn't revert to the disastrous high line. Whether that line is three or four, he doesn't have the players to pull that off, and I'm glad he finally came to that conclusion.
Some players are starting to make bigger contributions. Ayala is one of them, and I think Araujo has improved a lot since he arrived. He’s been particularly better in the last two games. And the DPs in Evander and Rodriguez, plus Mora (playing like a DP on offense), have provided key plays at key moments.
I'm skeptical, too, but I think our roster is pretty good (with good subs) and we have been underperforming quite a bit so far this season. I don't know how much to attribute to poor coaching or just an adjustment period. From the sounds of it, there might not be a very high ceiling with Neville.
That was the best I have seen the Timbers playing with a lead and closing out a game in a long time. They stopped the habit of booting the ball downfield and actually had some possession. Really good composure in the last 20 minutes (except for the missed sitters...). Can we get some more of Antony playing like that please?
Yeah, when I saw Williamson and Morena come in to close out a game (??) I thought, "Oh Geez!" because both are below average defensively. But in a way it makes sense because of Williamson's possession and Moreno's speed.
I have to give Williamson some props in this game, he was putting in the effort on defense. If I remember correctly he blocked a shot attempt and was working hard around the box. That is how you get on the good side of any manager.
While I’m not totally convinced of our performance, let’s run down the facts:
We, the worst defense in the league, got a shut out multi-goal win. On the road. In the Texas heat. In a midweek game. Against a team that had scored at home in 20 straight games. While missing our starting left back and keeper. It’s a really great result.
The performance was… shaky at the very least to start. Our defense still has gaps, they found too much space around our 18. If they had more talented attackers they probably would’ve punished us. Pantemis saves us. Second half was better, but they still got to the end line a lot, but put in terrible cross after terrible cross that bailed us out. We didn’t create that many chances until the second half — the Evander goal was our first shot on goal. Then as Austin pushed up more we found space behind them and probably should’ve scored a third.
My man Ayala killed it again, he adds so much in ball progression through the middle which we were struggling with a lot with Paredes out there. Chara doesn’t do it much anymore, so Ayala takes over. And his defense is great as well. I wonder if he gets rotated at the weekend because of short rest, he’s ran a lot, but I’m so happy for him.
Rodriguez was very very good too, he put in tons of effort on both sides of the ball despite playing lots of minutes recently. And I want to see more of the Antony of the last 20 minutes. Using his speed and getting around defenders. The players in general seemed to be working for each other more. There was passion and fight. While I’m not convinced of the performance, the attitude seems to be getting much better… we’ll see what happens when we play a better team.
Also props to the boys for killing the game off. On every dead ball — throw in, goal kick, corner — our guys took their time, but not enough time to get a yellow. Every time it just deflated the crowd and the Austin team. It’s the dark arts you must have to close out games, and they did it very well
The Timbers were bad at the beginning of the year and were unlucky. They’ve improved and , on cue, their luck with ref calls improved as well. See the hand ball penalty in the previous game. Funny how that works. Final point is that previously when a defensive mistake was made, the opponent had an open path toward goal. Lately, it seems when a mistake is made, a d-back or mid is there to cover that mistake. At least, nine players are tracking back and covering for each other. Last 2 games, opponents in the second half adjusted and have been forcing the ball into the middle or trying give and go’s in the channels which were vulnerabilities for us. We adjusted and it’s not working for them.
The tracking and marking and overall work on defense were very good at Austin, especially in the second half. And you are correct that more players worked to supply defensive cover for other players.
One thing I forgot to mention is that I didn't see the starting lineup and I couldn't figure out who the 9 was (or supposed to be). Well, it was JonRod. He really likes that left wing position, because it seems that he was there much more than central or anywhere else.
No, he was still injured when his wife was having the kid. He was injured to start the year, then came back, then got injured again and had a kid in that time. Now he’s back on the bench, got garbage time last game and wasn’t called on this game. He’s working back still
Yep, Timbers were the better team for much of the game. However, that’s a pretty low bar considering how impotent the opponent looked. The Timbers were lucky Austin couldn’t convert the gifted first half shot in front of goal or convert the penalty. I will say that the Timers have looked slightly better on D the last couple games which is encouraging. I’m intrigued by Kamal Miller at the 3, but it was clear in several instances that he is still learning the position and didn’t get his positioning right.
Interesting game, with a super slow first half which led to a more active second half. The twist that has been put in with K Miller at left back is interesting, as they are technically a 3 back team with Mosquera allowed more freedom to roam forward. I would be curious to see how Mosquera and Miller move forward, and if Chara and Ayala stay home a lot more. It doesn't seem like we have a lot on offense a lot of the time.
This was a good win, against a decent opponent on the road. It felt like the Timbers managed the game, and stole a goal in the first half (what a kick by Evander!). Credit to Neville for stealing a game against another team.
Yeah, our attack looks pretty weak with Kamal at left back. And with both Asprilla and Antony in there it seemed like we couldn't hold the ball for more than 4 passes.
But we still scored 2 goals and got the clean sheet so I'm not compaining!
Antony didn't have a good game up until he drew the penalty. That seemed to wake him up and he started to press Austin a lot. Some of that is that Austen had to push forward for a goal, which opened up space for him, but he just got better.
It shouldn't come to a surprise, but whenever the Timbers commit to defense, the play simply gets better. It was this way for years under Gio, and lo and behold, we are seeing better play with a more compact defensive form.
Agree. It was driving me nuts in the early part of the season watching other teams just waltz down to our 18 unmolested. Even Evander was putting in some good defensive work this game. I think we do have some generally below-average defenders down the middle in Evander and Williamson. Moreno is also not very good defensively and Chara, bless his soul for all eternity, is not what he once was. But frankly, a lot of it is just a mindset, which is what I think you're alluding to. Even if you're not great at 1v1 defending, you can always increase your workrate and make it more difficult for the opposition.
The cherry on top tonight is the Flounders dropping two points at home in the 99th minute to RSL 😁
I have to say, the defense looks better with Jimmy Pants in the sticks. I know Max is great, but man, JP has really shown some class when he has gotten the call.
I'm kinda surprised at how not-stellar Crepeau has been, honestly. He's been...ok, but I was expecting a lot more out of him. If Pantemis keeps playing like this, he might take the starting job. And deservedly so.
pantemis has been excellent while crepeau has been good, but slow, at times.
Yah I keep waiting for Crepeau to bail us out in a game - make that game saving save, but he does seem a bit grounded...
Maybe you missed the late save of Johnny Russell's header in the SKC game?
Crepeau’s delivery of the ball is better.
True! I forgot about that one.
Yeah crepeau has been great. Pantemis had a great game yesterday and was for sure helped by a terrible pk take.
It was a bad PK shot for sure, but Pantemis guessed correctly or read the approach correctly to make the save. I think it’s great to have two good goalkeepers, especially with international games ahead for Crepeau.
Not sure you could call crepeau’s season great.
I could watch that Evander free kick on loop for hours. And when I need a laugh, I'll watch that Driussi penalty - taking nothing away from Pantemis, but that was a really comically bad penalty, one of the worst I've seen in a while.
K Miller looked pretty comfortable at left back, and if this game can be a building block to some consistency, particularly with international absences coming up, all of a sudden vibes aren't quite so dire. Still a looooot of fixing to do, but these last two games are good steps along that road.
It appeared to me that JR's penalty was almost identical Driussi's - 2' high and 6' inside the right post. Pantemis' save would have stopped his also. But hey, lucky is good, right?
You are right on that, but Jona's shot was closer to the middle from what I could tell. Makes it brutal for the keeper to smother the ball the way it was hit, because it ends up at his knees on a full dive. Driussi's shot was far enough out for Pantemis to get his arms and chest on it. But yes, there is an element of luck on those shots.
JR's was shot at about a billion MPH, and Driussi's was basically dribbled, at least from what I could see. Also the announcers kept talking about how almost every Driussi penalty is taken to the keeper's right, so it's not like it was hard for Pantemis to guess what he was gonna do; the combo of that and the weak shot made it pretty straightforward for JP to shut Driussi down, and it was fantastic to see how easy he made it look.
Yeah, he blasted that pen. It even looked fast on slo-mo replay.
As for the sides for Driussi, I heard that, too, but then they showed a graphic where it looked about equal. Also, when I heard "to the keeper's right," I assumed that meant from the keeper's vantage point. If that is true, then the shot was actually to the keeper's left (but to the right from Driussi's vantage point). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah I probably need to rewatch, I just remember thinking "that was the weakest penalty I've seen in a while" but now that you mention it JP did fall to his left. Either way I don't think that shot or shot process taxed JP's brain all that much hahahaha
Maybe JR concealed his shot direction a little better than Driussi. It really seemed like Pantemis read Driussi's and reacted, whereas Stuver just guessed.
Jona smacked that thing even harder than an Asprilla penalty. Even if Stuver got in the way I think it's deflecting in or coming back to Jona to dink into an empty net. No way he catches that like Pantemis could with Driussi's weak attempt.
If Stuver got in the way it's almost Looney Tunes, it'd blow a hole right through him and he'd be looking down like WHAT JUST HAPPENED as everyone around him looks through the hole at the crowd behind him.
LOL exactly!
I like Kamal at LB, but it robs our central defense of almost all of its speed. As good as Zup is at reading the attack, he's slower than Christmas. I'm still holding out hope that we get a DP defender soon.
If you think Zup is slower than Christmas, I'm curious what you think of McGraw, K Miller and Mabiala. Zup is Usain Bolt compared to those three!
Zup only appears to be Usain Bolt because he drops incredibly early. And is always 5 feet closer to goal then others on the back line.
What's to fix? It looks fixed and ready to roll.
I will believe it when I see it happen a few more times. I like what I saw yesterday, but I'm not yet convinced it's repeatable after the first third of this mess of a season. I hope I'm proven wrong and I hope that starts (keeps?) happening Saturday.
All right. I'm convinced, though.
I wouldn't trade our front four, I like our backline now, and our midfield has vastly improved with Ayala's emergence and some other players' diminished or vanishing roles. We just whupped up on a fifth place team at their place, where they haven't lost in something like five games. That was a convincing win.
The mess of the first third of the season was actually really important as Phil had to work through the roster and see who could play and who couldn't. Right now, it looks like he has his roster and rotation set and it appears to be about 14-15 deep. I like the growth of the team, and the growth of certain individuals, and that is a credit to Phil. I see an upward trajectory.
"Phil had to work through the roster and see who could play and who couldn't."
I guess that's a big part of my problem. Phil was hired in November. He had most of the offseason and a full preseason to figure that out. Once games started, he should have had a very clear idea of who could play and who couldn't, particularly in the system in which he wanted to play.
And yet outside of the opening game and the last second Evander heroics in NYC, the Timbers have mostly looked utterly lost until literally two games ago.
I will give credit to Phil for making the adjustments for last Saturday that he stuck with yesterday, because they clearly helped, and if he sticks with them, I think they'll keep paying dividends. But I can't get past the fact that it took him 12 games to get there, and I fear he'll keep messing with the lineup despite finding something that is working.
I think we’d all like to see the team come out of the gates raring to go. But for whatever reason he basically gave everybody a shot and they either played themselves off the field or on it. And it was fair, meaning guys got a run of games.
Ayala’s case is good coaching in my opinion. He got yanked a couple of times from games due to performance and ultimately just had to build fitness and confidence and look at him now. Two great games in a row. And Phil has to be credited, or the whole coaching staff.
It's not just who is playing but how they are playing. Phil has changed up who is playing and sometimes where they are playing. He hasn't done as much to change up how they are playing. He attributes how they are playing to their attitudes. He talks of courage, bravery, commitment, drive. That has little to do with the team collectively, regardless of who is on the pitch in what formation, not moving off the ball, not closing passing channels, not challenging higher up the pitch, not effectively marking on set pieces, etc. etc.
Statistically, this wasn't a great team performance until we had some moments of individual brilliance. We've got some attackers who play increasingly well together. One could argue that the centerback group is gelling. But we generally lack organization, cohesion, even still.
I'm happy with the W. I'm happy that some players continue to improve. I'm happy that we got a clean sheet, finally. But I don't want to get ahead of myself because we are still overperforming expectations and not actually putting in consistently good 90-minute-plus full-team performances.
Timbers and Thorns below says we've been underperforming quite a bit so far this season. Yes and no. We are underperforming to our roster but overperforming to expected goals and other metrics. Some of the players aren't quite starting quality, whether they're still developing or past their prime. Our depth is somewhat lacking in areas. Some players just don't fit the strategy and tactics. Generally, we're just poorly organized and prepared. Better coaching could adjust to some of our deficits. It looks like Neville may finally be figuring out that our back line is too slow to play a high line. That's one thing. I'm not sure if he actually has figured that out or if it's just how he's set up the last two matches. We'll see.
A clean sheet to me means a great deal of cohesion and organization.
"I'm happy with the W. I'm happy that some players continue to improve. I'm happy that we got a clean sheet, finally. But I don't want to get ahead of myself because we are still overperforming expectations"
This is ultimately where I land. This roster still isn't 100% great, as we knew going in to this season; I'm glad Phil is finally (Phinally? SORRY) figuring out how to use the pieces he has more effectively, but it still needs 1-2 windows' worth of upgrades I think.
"It looks like Neville may finally be figuring out that our back line is too slow to play a high line."
If nothing else comes from the rest of this season but that, I will begrudgingly say Phil has grown as a coach. I hope, as you say, he actually HAS figured that out and that he doesn't revert to the disastrous high line. Whether that line is three or four, he doesn't have the players to pull that off, and I'm glad he finally came to that conclusion.
Some players are starting to make bigger contributions. Ayala is one of them, and I think Araujo has improved a lot since he arrived. He’s been particularly better in the last two games. And the DPs in Evander and Rodriguez, plus Mora (playing like a DP on offense), have provided key plays at key moments.
I'm skeptical, too, but I think our roster is pretty good (with good subs) and we have been underperforming quite a bit so far this season. I don't know how much to attribute to poor coaching or just an adjustment period. From the sounds of it, there might not be a very high ceiling with Neville.
With time one can hope they'll learn to communicate on the pitch and thus pull off more effective and frequent attacks.
That was the best I have seen the Timbers playing with a lead and closing out a game in a long time. They stopped the habit of booting the ball downfield and actually had some possession. Really good composure in the last 20 minutes (except for the missed sitters...). Can we get some more of Antony playing like that please?
Yeah, when I saw Williamson and Morena come in to close out a game (??) I thought, "Oh Geez!" because both are below average defensively. But in a way it makes sense because of Williamson's possession and Moreno's speed.
I have to give Williamson some props in this game, he was putting in the effort on defense. If I remember correctly he blocked a shot attempt and was working hard around the box. That is how you get on the good side of any manager.
While I’m not totally convinced of our performance, let’s run down the facts:
We, the worst defense in the league, got a shut out multi-goal win. On the road. In the Texas heat. In a midweek game. Against a team that had scored at home in 20 straight games. While missing our starting left back and keeper. It’s a really great result.
The performance was… shaky at the very least to start. Our defense still has gaps, they found too much space around our 18. If they had more talented attackers they probably would’ve punished us. Pantemis saves us. Second half was better, but they still got to the end line a lot, but put in terrible cross after terrible cross that bailed us out. We didn’t create that many chances until the second half — the Evander goal was our first shot on goal. Then as Austin pushed up more we found space behind them and probably should’ve scored a third.
My man Ayala killed it again, he adds so much in ball progression through the middle which we were struggling with a lot with Paredes out there. Chara doesn’t do it much anymore, so Ayala takes over. And his defense is great as well. I wonder if he gets rotated at the weekend because of short rest, he’s ran a lot, but I’m so happy for him.
Rodriguez was very very good too, he put in tons of effort on both sides of the ball despite playing lots of minutes recently. And I want to see more of the Antony of the last 20 minutes. Using his speed and getting around defenders. The players in general seemed to be working for each other more. There was passion and fight. While I’m not convinced of the performance, the attitude seems to be getting much better… we’ll see what happens when we play a better team.
Also props to the boys for killing the game off. On every dead ball — throw in, goal kick, corner — our guys took their time, but not enough time to get a yellow. Every time it just deflated the crowd and the Austin team. It’s the dark arts you must have to close out games, and they did it very well
Hey—a legit, nice win! We have very few wins this year, and they range from meh to scandalous. Good to see. Hopefully it pays forward.
The Timbers were bad at the beginning of the year and were unlucky. They’ve improved and , on cue, their luck with ref calls improved as well. See the hand ball penalty in the previous game. Funny how that works. Final point is that previously when a defensive mistake was made, the opponent had an open path toward goal. Lately, it seems when a mistake is made, a d-back or mid is there to cover that mistake. At least, nine players are tracking back and covering for each other. Last 2 games, opponents in the second half adjusted and have been forcing the ball into the middle or trying give and go’s in the channels which were vulnerabilities for us. We adjusted and it’s not working for them.
The tracking and marking and overall work on defense were very good at Austin, especially in the second half. And you are correct that more players worked to supply defensive cover for other players.
One thing I forgot to mention is that I didn't see the starting lineup and I couldn't figure out who the 9 was (or supposed to be). Well, it was JonRod. He really likes that left wing position, because it seems that he was there much more than central or anywhere else.
Not one mention of Bravo not playing??? What the heck is is that all about???
He's been recovering from injury.
I know that he was injured but came back from that. Then, he was out due to his wife having a baby. I don't know why he's out now.
No, he was still injured when his wife was having the kid. He was injured to start the year, then came back, then got injured again and had a kid in that time. Now he’s back on the bench, got garbage time last game and wasn’t called on this game. He’s working back still
Yep, Timbers were the better team for much of the game. However, that’s a pretty low bar considering how impotent the opponent looked. The Timbers were lucky Austin couldn’t convert the gifted first half shot in front of goal or convert the penalty. I will say that the Timers have looked slightly better on D the last couple games which is encouraging. I’m intrigued by Kamal Miller at the 3, but it was clear in several instances that he is still learning the position and didn’t get his positioning right.
Interesting game, with a super slow first half which led to a more active second half. The twist that has been put in with K Miller at left back is interesting, as they are technically a 3 back team with Mosquera allowed more freedom to roam forward. I would be curious to see how Mosquera and Miller move forward, and if Chara and Ayala stay home a lot more. It doesn't seem like we have a lot on offense a lot of the time.
This was a good win, against a decent opponent on the road. It felt like the Timbers managed the game, and stole a goal in the first half (what a kick by Evander!). Credit to Neville for stealing a game against another team.
Yeah, our attack looks pretty weak with Kamal at left back. And with both Asprilla and Antony in there it seemed like we couldn't hold the ball for more than 4 passes.
But we still scored 2 goals and got the clean sheet so I'm not compaining!
Antony didn't have a good game up until he drew the penalty. That seemed to wake him up and he started to press Austin a lot. Some of that is that Austen had to push forward for a goal, which opened up space for him, but he just got better.
It shouldn't come to a surprise, but whenever the Timbers commit to defense, the play simply gets better. It was this way for years under Gio, and lo and behold, we are seeing better play with a more compact defensive form.
Agree. It was driving me nuts in the early part of the season watching other teams just waltz down to our 18 unmolested. Even Evander was putting in some good defensive work this game. I think we do have some generally below-average defenders down the middle in Evander and Williamson. Moreno is also not very good defensively and Chara, bless his soul for all eternity, is not what he once was. But frankly, a lot of it is just a mindset, which is what I think you're alluding to. Even if you're not great at 1v1 defending, you can always increase your workrate and make it more difficult for the opposition.