1. Dominance fails: The Timbers were heavily dominant in Thursday’s match. They had 64 percent possession while outshooting Orlando 26 to 2. But despite the disparity in both shots and possession Portland only managed to draw. This match served as another troubling testament to the Timber’s lack of effectivity when faced with a solid backline. One of the biggest reasons for this lack of effectivity was Orlando’s ability to crowd  Portland out of the box. Although the Timbers often had possession of the ball in the offensive third Orlando always denied them the most meaningful space by positioning several defenders in the box. The Timbers tried to counteract this by distributing the ball out wide. The Timbers did this well and managed to pull Orlando’s defense out wide, but the defenders remained staunch centrally denying the Timbers the most important space. This trend persisted throughout the first half with the Timbers constantly on the verge of a breakthrough. Then, the goal late in the first half only contributed to Orlando’s defensive persistence and they started to deny Portland any space, even out wide. As the second half wore on, Portland looked more frustrated offensively, despite scoring a late equalizer. The second problem that the Timbers exhibited on Thursday, was an ineffective performance by the Timbers attacking trio of Fernandez, Blanco, and Valeri. As commentator Jon Champion correctly pointed out, the Timbers were oozing threat, but strangely enough, opportunities rarely came to fruition. Despite showing great movement and concise passing, the Timbers rarely managed to turn these aptitudes into a clear cut chance. Responsibility must be borne by Fernandez, Blanco, and Valeri. The single goal was a feeble output considering the Timber’s dominant performance. The trio had some excellent runs and interplay, but they always seemed to be forced into less threatening positions by Orlando’s excellent defense. Their shots often missed the target entirely. It’s no secret that the Timbers rely on Blanco, Valeri, and Fernandez for most of their offensive production, so  performances like these are problematic. Dominance and possession have failed to hand the Timbers an expected win for two consecutive weeks. These two disappointing draws have made it clear that the Timbers should revert to a more counterattacking style.
2.   Fernandez mini drought continues: It’s been approximately 345 minutes since Brian Fernandez last scored. It seems that after a quick start, Fernandez has slowed down a bit. Fernadez made history by scoring in each of his first seven Timbers appearances and seemed to be exactly what the Timbers needed. But as of late he’s cooled down a bit, failing to score in his last four appearances. Many thought the match against Orlando would be an excellent opportunity for Fernandez to get back on the scoreboard. However, this did not come to fruition and Fernandez walked away from the game empty-handed aside from an assist. Fernandez was by no means bad against Orlando but he wasn’t his usual dominant self. He often drifted in and out of the match and struggled to find space behind the center backs. This performance was very characteristic of Fernandez during the last few matches: energetic, hungry, but the final breakthrough that was so prevalent in his first seven games seemed to be missing. One can attribute this slow down in part to the matches in which Fernandez was playing. Both the matches against LAFC and NYCFC were very defensive affairs in which Fernandez was not given much service. The same can be said of the game against Colorado considering the Timbers were playing a man down. In three of the four matches Fernandez was underserviced so it’s hard to place all of the blame on him for not scoring. But despite this reassuring fact, it is still a bit troubling that Fernandez has cooled down. It could be that with more film on Fernandez, MLS coaches have found a blueprint to stop him from scoring. It may also be possible that the excitement of being at a new team wore off and he’s playing with less inspiration. There are a multitude of reasons for Fernandez’s mini drought but let’s just hope he manages to end it against Seattle.
3. Timbers lose more momentum: After beating both LAFC and NYCFC away, spirits were high. Fans felt that the Timber’s momentum was only improving, resulting in playoff places and high seeding. The home matches against last-placed Colorado and fair to middling Orlando were supposed to increase this already growing momentum. Contrary to expectation, this did not happen. The first draw against Colorado was frustrating but wasn’t all too worrying because the Timbers were fatigued and fielded a weakened squad. Yet against Orlando, the Timbers played a starting lineup and were still stifled. Whenever you underperform in a match that you should win, it damages the team’s psyche. If this happens in two consecutive matches, it is even more harmful. The fact that both of these draws happened at home is also not to be ignored. These two draws give opposing teams a blueprint for stifling the Timbers at Providence Park. This blueprint involves lying deep while absorbing pressure. It has proven to be highly effective in the last two games, which is especially troubling considering 11 of the Timber’s last 14 matches take place at Providence Park. Luckily we have a big rivalry match that can help them regain it. Dominance fails: The Timbers were heavily dominant in Thursday’s match. They had 64 percent possession while outshooting Orlando 26 to 2. But despite the disparity in both shots and possession Portland only managed to draw. This match served as another troubling testament to the Timber’s lack of effectivity when faced with a solid backline. One of the biggest reasons for this lack of effectivity was Orlando’s ability to crowd  Portland out of the box. Although the Timbers often had possession of the ball in the offensive third Orlando always denied them the most meaningful space by positioning several defenders in the box. The Timbers tried to counteract this by distributing the ball out wide. The Timbers did this well and managed to pull Orlando’s defense out wide, but the defenders remained staunch centrally denying the Timbers the most important space. This trend persisted throughout the first half with the Timbers constantly on the verge of a breakthrough. Then, the goal late in the first half only contributed to Orlando’s defensive persistence and they started to deny Portland any space, even out wide. As the second half wore on, Portland looked more frustrated offensively, despite scoring a late equalizer. The second problem that the Timbers exhibited on Thursday, was an ineffective performance by the Timbers attacking trio of Fernandez, Blanco, and Valeri. As commentator Jon Champion correctly pointed out, the Timbers were oozing threat, but strangely enough, opportunities rarely came to fruition. Despite showing great movement and concise passing, the Timbers rarely managed to turn these aptitudes into a clear cut chance. Responsibility must be borne by Fernandez, Blanco, and Valeri. The single goal was a feeble output considering the Timber’s dominant performance. The trio had some excellent runs and interplay, but they always seemed to be forced into less threatening positions by Orlando’s excellent defense. Their shots often missed the target entirely. It’s no secret that the Timbers rely on Blanco, Valeri, and Fernandez for most of their offensive production, so  performances like these are problematic. Dominance and possession have failed to hand the Timbers an expected win for two consecutive weeks. These two disappointing draws have made it clear that the Timbers should revert to a more counterattacking style.

Depth shines through: The MLS season is tiring. There’s no way around that. It’s 34 games plus open cup and possibly playoffs.  All of this results in 3 game weeks which can be extremely taxing. Injuries and fatigue are almost a guarantee. This unquestionably applies to the Timbers who just started a run of 5 matches in 15 days on Sunday. However,  the Timbers have the antidote to this: depth. On Sunday they started 5 bench players and 4 of them impressed. Out of these four impressive players, Farfan was the best. Throughout most of this season, he has been left out of the full-back conversation, but Sunday’s performance might’ve just entered him into it. Farfan was youthful and aggressive which resulted in him having the joint-most tackles on the pitch. He did this while remaining composed and solid and restricting wide space. Farfan’s performance was a reminder of how capable the young defender is. Dielna has struggled a lot this season and has already been labeled a “bust”, but his solid display in New York gave us reason for hope. Throughout the game, Dielna remained calm and was seldom caught out of position which is a shortcoming that most fans are accustomed to when watching him. This unexpected calmness helped him end the match with 2 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 6 clearances – a very substantial stat sheet. Renzo Zambrano didn’t quite fulfill his task of replacing Chara, but he definitely held his own.  Zambrano held his position well and was very effective at limiting the space in and around the box. On the other side of the ball, Zambrano was tidy and effective, completing 89 percent of his passes. The final impressive bench player was Flores. Flores never has the most noticeable impact on a match but he always does the small yet important things well. Like Zambrano, he held his position defensively and despite his size, he managed to win three aerial duels. Offensively he was the more proactive of the holding mids, completing 29 passes and one key pass. The Timbers depth has really started to play a big part in their season and has provided fans with optimism for both the present and future.  

Three streaks ended: The Timbers ended three long-running streaks on Sunday. The first was a win without Chara in the starting lineup after 22 matches, the second was New York’s unbeaten streak at home which had lasted 10 matches, and the third was New York’s unbeaten streak in all competitions which had endured for 14 matches. The 22 games winless without Chara was presumably the most important broken streak on Sunday. The Timbers have always been heavily reliant on Chara due to his energy, aggressiveness, and overall tendency to impose himself in the center of the park. Without him, the Timbers have frequently looked lost.  However, against NYCFC they deviated from this trend and partook in a hard nosed, gritty win. As Chara ages, finding ways to perform without him will become more and more important. Hopefully, this performance is a sign that the Timbers are starting to get less dependent on the hard-nosed Columbian. There’s always a sense of satisfaction when you knock a streaking team off their high horse, but this is a lot more important than just satisfaction. Besting an in-form team is always a very tough task and really says a lot about the Timbers mindset and level of play. A win against NYCFC is also a huge confidence booster for the Timbers. This confidence will be key when they navigate a tricky slew of games in the next two weeks, which includes both LAFC and Seattle. The psychological value of breaking a streak can never be underestimated and it seems that this match will only amplify Portland’s already growing confidence.Defensively Solid: Going into the match on Sunday, it was clear that one of the biggest challenges facing the Timbers would be defensive aptitude. NYCFC was on a hot streak offensively, having scored 18 goals in their last five matches. They were missing two of their best offensive players but despite this, the Timbers remained wary of NYCFC’s offensive threat. This wariness was only amplified by the fact that the Timbers were starting without Chara, Moriera, Villafana, and Tuiloma. But despite these worries, the Timbers managed to execute a game plan that landed them a clean sheet and three points. One big facet of this game plan was full-back play. In the few matches preceding the NYCFC match, the fullback duo of Villafana and Moreira had risen to prominence. Both fullbacks are very attack-oriented and often provide the Timbers with much-needed width offensively. However, there is a downside to their playstyles. Moriera and Villafana have a tendency to get caught out and leave the Timber’s flanks exposed. Savarese realized that this would be detrimental to the Timbers more defensive game plan in a tough environment against New York. So instead of playing Villafana and Moriera, Saverese played Farfan and Valentin, two defensively oriented full-backs. This choice paid dividends as both defended well and limited New York on both sides of the pitch. This conservative, stingy defense meant that the center mids and defenders could focus on their defensive responsibility instead of covering for the full-backs. The second effective aspect of the Timbers defensive game plan was a tight, well-executed defensive shape. They made sure that New York rarely had a chance to break the lines by making the two banks of four as tight as possible. NYC tried to bait the Timbers out but they didn’t budge and continued to maintain their shape. This made NYCFC heavily reliant on crosses which only worked occasionally because the Timbers exerted a strong presence in the box. The man who said “defense wins championships” was not mistaken and if the Timbers keep on playing as they did on Sunday, fans have a lot to be excited about.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton