One of the biggest talking points from the Portland Timber’s 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend was the play of Portland fullbacks Jorge Villafaña and Alvas Powell. Neither has been a consistent starter this season, so to see them both start was a surprise to many. Perhaps looking for something to spark the Timbers after losing at home to Seattle the previous week, Timbers coach Caleb Porter decided to start both Villafaña and Powell, both of whom are more attacking fullbacks than the players they replaced.
It worked.
Attacking Fullbacks
Both Villafaña and Powell were solid, if not spectacular defensively and more importantly, they were a constant threat pushing forward down the wings. Previewing the match last week, I wrote about how Vancouver liked to attack with pace down the wings and how I thought Portland would struggle to deal with this. It turned out that in this case the best defense was a good offense.
Both players spent a considerable amount of time in the attacking half. They not only provided increased width to the Portland attack, but their pushing forward forced Vancouver’s outside midfielders to help out more in defense, preventing them from breaking down the wings as quickly in attack. Take a look at the heatmap for both players and how much time they spend in the attacking half, particularly Villafaña.
While it was Powell who actually scored the first goal, Villafaña’s contribution to the third goal provides a better example of the type of play that they exhibited throughout the match. Watch the first few seconds leading up to the goal, and notice how it’s Villafaña making the attacking run down the wing that sets up the play for Wallace’s goal.
Given how well they played last weekend, expect Villafaña and Powell to man the outside back positions again this weekend against San Jose, and expect it to succeed again.
The San Jose Earthquakes are a struggling team and a visit to a rapidly improving Portland side pushing for a playoff berth is likely to only increase their misery. The Quakes are winless in five, drawing against the Galaxy, Sounders, and RSL with a 5-0 loss to FC Dallas and a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia mixed in.
In that stretch, the Earthquakes have struggled to score, just 6 goals in 5 games, and failed to prevent the opposition from scoring, conceding 13 goals. The Quakes allow the 2nd most shots in MLS, giving up 15.2 per game. Though they’ve only conceded 33 goals this season, good enough for 5th best in the league, Portland’s ability to get the ball deep in the opposition’s attacking third by pushing Villafaña and Powell forward allows them to create chances in more dangerous positions, which could cause problems for San Jose’s defense.
While their most recent result was a 1-1 draw with RSL, the ease with which RSL’s fullbacks were able to get forward and attack down the wings should be a concern to Earthquakes fans, especially heading into a matchup against Portland.
Here’s a look at where RSL fullbacks Tony Beltran and Kenny Mansally were active against San Jose:
Despite allowing so much freedom to the Real Salt Lake fullbacks, San Jose was able to escape with a draw. They managed to hold RSL to a single goal, despite allowing 14 shots and 11 chances created. Luckily for San Jose, RSL only managed to put three of those 14 shots on target. Portland averages 49% shot accuracy. If San Jose gives up 14 shots against the Timbers, they could be in for a long night.
Playoff Positioning
With their win last weekend over Vancouver, the Timbers leaped into the 5th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, just a single point ahead of the Whitecaps, who have one game in hand. Of the Timbers remaining 8 games, three are against the Earthquakes, so this matchup could go a long way to determining whether or not Portland makes the playoffs.
If their fullbacks can continue attacking down the wings, creating chances for the Timbers and forcing opposing wingers to defend more than attack, Portland should be able to push on and secure a second consecutive playoff berth. San Jose will look to play the spoiler, but unless they can find a way to improve their all-around form, don’t bet on it.
