Monthly Archives: September 2013
The “awe” factor is gone – LA exposed as normal team as Timbers take three in torrid rain!
It wasn’t pretty, but games like this (wind and rain) plus the tightness that comes with a playoff chase, usually make for hard, crusty, good old-fashioned football. And while I won’t dig into stats I’ll just offer this rhetorical question for your consideration… Throughout the early and middle parts of this season the Galaxy have […]
Setting the stage… PTFC vs LAG
The Portland Timbers Football Club takes on the LA Galaxy Football Club tomorrow in front of a nationally televised audience dead smack in the middle of the NFL… I wonder how those ratings will play out tomorrow… I’m hopeful the TV share will be competitive! For me, and perhaps many others, there simply […]
Making more of less… AJ Baptiste
Making more of less… there has been discussion of late by a few about Baptiste. Simply stated – this is the time for veteran leadership and veteran role playing to help maximize taking three points and it isn’t about a starter like Baptiste under-performing and not starting; complete and utter bollocks. There is no question […]
Portland moving on… next up LA Galaxy
The trail to the playoffs continue as Portland host one of the best overall teams in MLS this next weekend after a glorious (pure football lovers football match) 1-nil win against Colorado! It’s not like this is a Lewis & Clarke expedition in the great Northwest where no-one has played soccer before but it is […]
Time draws near… Timbers take on Rapids on National TV
If you want to know what a playoff game situation will be like in Portland after about 2 years of fluff and stuff tonight should be the night. No room for the tip-toe through the tulips (thanks for that Tiny Tim) bollocks and sound-bites from others tonight – it is what it is – the first […]
Defensive Shots Blocked – A deeper dive into MLS.
In my most previous blog about the Portland Timbers I had noticed an unexpected oddity in the data analysis when peeling back Defensive Blocks by Chivas from game 1 to game 2. I had expected systemic defensive changes (given Chivas moved from a 3-5-2 to a flat-back-four) like increased interceptions and clearances and decreased tackles […]
Tepid Timbers channel poor performance for 1 Point versus changed Chivas USA
Aye… quite tepid indeed; the word most often used last night as the family watched the game at home was lethargic, but thankfully so, there’s no L’s in my alliteration today as they didn’t lose. I’m not sure what happened between the locker room and white lines of the pitch but the translation of what […]
Changes in Chivas will require different channel of attack for Timbers
Portland Timbers travel to LA this weekend and play the “other team” who’s not quite as successful this year as the Goat Parade would like. Before digging into a few pre-match trends of Chivas and Portland here’s some answers that Matthew Hoffman provided (SB Nation The Goat Parade) to some questions I sent him earlier […]
Are MLS Eastern Conference Teams weaker than Western Conference Teams?
Are the Western Conference Teams “better” than their counterparts in the East? Two different views of empirical data for your consideration; the first showing the Rankings for all MLS Teams Possession with Purpose in the Final Third that also includes influence based upon Points in the League Table: Observations: 6 out of the top […]
Complete quotes from the Portland Timbers Official Press Release
As noted last week this will be a continuing offering from me the remainder of this season for those interested… The complete, unedited, un-taken out of context, quotes by those interviewed following the game… Timbers head coach Caleb Porter On the result and the club’s confidence: “I think it’s big. These last several games have […]