Monthly Archives: August 2014
Clean Sheets Matter!
In a stunning rebound from one of their worst performances all year the Timbers did a great job of smothering the vaunted Vancouver attack while taking advantage of open space with the untimely injury to Pedro Morales. In case you missed it that first goal by Portland came with Pedro on the sidelines. And in […]
Tantalizing or Total Bollocks… You decide – My starting 11
In considering a path forward for the Portland Timbers the remainder of this year there is one thing very clear the back-four need revamped. Now I don’t propose to have ‘the solution’; but here’s a lineup I’ve been pinging about in my grey matter the last few days… recognizing that DEFENSE comes first! Starting Right […]
Portland Timbers – Reality sets in…
I’ll start with where I left off on my pre-match report to begin my post match analysis… “Sometimes what doesn’t happen on the pitch is more valuable than what does happen… What didn’t happen is the Timbers didn’t play defense, didn’t close spaces, didn’t close gaps, and didn’t drop back behind the ball when not […]
All that matters… Win…
In a Nationally televised match-up featuring two of the most popular teams in Major League Soccer the Portland Timbers will be going all-in Sunday afternoon. No reminders needed about the complete balls up in that 4-4 draw earlier this year and gifting Dempsey those two late goals. It’s all hope and belief that the back-four […]
United they stand – Alpha they fall
In case you missed it – and wasn’t the audio and video crap – Portland Timbers traveled down south; way south and took 3 points with a +3 Goal Differential in their first ever CONCACAF Champions League match… Their opponent – Alpha United… I’m not sure about their league or their historical pedigree but the […]
Assistant-Ref Blows… Full-time 1-1…
I’ll not often disparage Professional Referee’s in my analysis but in this past weekend’s game I think it is worthy to comment that if not for a highly inappropriate call by the Assistant Referee this game ends 2-1 in favor of Portland. In a season where every bloody point counts, getting the right calls at […]
Visiting the East Coast of America and the Home of the Revolution…
So the Timbers go into a huge game this weekend against one of the toughest teams at home… or are they? I’m not going to talk about wins and losses at home for New England – instead I’ll try to paint a contrast between what they do well when they win – and what doesn’t […]
Rosy in the Rose City with that convincing win against Chivas?
I’m not convinced it’s all Rosy in the Rose City – and while some might call this a comprehensive win, and get all pumped that Portland took care of business, let’s not forget this was Chivas USA. The bottom line for me was the Timbers should have won and they did win… and they got […]
Pep Pouting in Portland is Past – Shift now to Chivas
Always like alliterations so here’s one more before moving on 🙂 Pretty petty of Pep to punish Porter by not politely shaking his hand, post-match. As a caveat – they did shake hands a bit later apparently. But enough said, time to move on and get refocused on Chivas coming to town and the MLS […]
Back to Square One…
In all my limited time around soccer the most important thing I stressed day in and day out to my players was defense first, defense second and attack third. Now that ‘s not the solution in every case but for the most part you can’t lose if the opponent doesn’t score; the flip side of […]