In one of their most important games of the season, the Portland Timbers put in perhaps their most impressive performance of the 2015 season on Saturday night as they beat Columbus Crew SC by a score of 2-1 in Columbus. It was essentially a must-win for the Timbers, who would have seen themselves fall below the dreaded red line in the standings had they lost to the Crew.
Unlike the previous weekend, when the Timbers came out flat at home and were soundly beaten by the New York Red Bulls, Portland came out on fire against Crew SC, and while there were certainly plenty of opportunities for Crew SC to earn a point, the performance was much improved throughout for the visitors. In some ways, Saturday’s performance was a flashback to 2013 form for the Timbers, and it resulted in a much needed victory after a rough few weeks.
Here are four takeaways from the Portland Timbers 2-1 win over Columbus Crew SC:
1. A mix of high and low pressure
At times on Saturday the Timbers showed the high pressure defensively that they used so often and so effectively in 2013, which has been almost non-existent this season. However, they didn’t press high all game long, picking moments and switching between high pressure and low pressure defending. High pressing, in particular by Diego Chara and Diego Valeri, forced turnovers throughout the match from Crew SC, leading to better and more frequent chance creation than in previous weeks.
The Timbers also sat deeper at times, allowing Columbus to dominate possession for periods of the game, but maintaining solid defensive shape for the most part and not getting caught too far up the field, showing some more of the pragmatism that Caleb Porter has tended to favor this season. The balance worked, as the Crew never really were able to generate chances through the midfield.
2. Balance in the midfield
Speaking of balance, Chara and Jack Jewsbury, in for Will Johnson who missed the game with injury, seemed to find the balance that has been missing for most of this season. Against New York and for much of the season, Johnson and Chara struggled to find the balance of when to go forward and when to stay back between the two of them. Chara and Jewsbury showed that balance on Saturday, and it showed, especially defensively as one of the two sat further back throughout. This allowed Chara in particular to apply more defensive pressure higher up the field, knowing that Jewsbury was in position further back.
Giving Rodney Wallace the start on the left also gave the Timbers more balance between defense and attack than they’ve had with Melano recently. Porter highlighted this in his post-game comments, citing the danger Crew SC provide down the wing, and the need to guard against that threat.
“I knew I’d get fight [from Wallace] in this game, I knew I’d get good defending as well, which is a big part of playing the Crew, the wingers have to defend their outside backs, I thought he did a really good job on Afful, tracking him,” said Porter.
3. Back to basics for the attack
Three things worked brilliantly for the Timbers in the attack: Diego Valeri being Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe being direct and aggressive, and getting the ball to Fanendo Adi’s feet facing goal. Valeri was a constant threat, forcing two particularly good saves from Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark and constantly winning the ball in midfield and driving the attack forward. It was the Valeri that Timbers fans have come to expect, and the one that’s been absent for most of this year. Nagbe too was in great form, being direct with the ball and taking on defenders, taking three shots and creating three chances, including a delicious assist for Adi’s first goal.
At times Nagbe perhaps was a bit slow to release the ball, running himself into dead ends on a couple occasions, but Timbers faithful will much prefer an over-aggressive Nagbe to a passive one.
Saturday was also a reminder of the type of service that Fanendo Adi thrives on. Despite his size, Adi isn’t the prototypical hold-up forward, and he’s not great in the air. Sure, Adi is decent at winning long balls and holding it up for teammates, but he’s at his most dangerous receiving balls to his feet as he moves towards goal. Both Adi’s goals against Crew SC were the types of chances Adi excels at: balls on the ground for Adi to run on to and take a shot from. Adi’s brace puts him on 12 goals for the year, breaking the Timbers single season record.
4. Liam Ridgewell should not be a designated player
The last takeaway is more big picture than game specific. Liam Ridgewell should not be brought back for the 2016 season, at least not as a designated player. It’s not that Ridgewell is a bad defender, he’s not. But he’s also not a great defender. Multiple times in recent games Ridgewell has either gotten beaten by a man he was marking or just completely failed to mark the man he should’ve been on.
It has also become increasingly noticeable that either because he’s being coached to do so (which would be an entirely different problem), or for some other reason, Ridgewell has been playing an alarming number of long balls forward in recent games. At times this season Portland has relied on the long ball as a team, bombing the ball forward to Adi and going route one. Against Columbus, the Timbers were direct, moving the ball forward quickly, but rarely simply bombing the ball forward, except for Liam Ridgewell.
Again, Ridgewell isn’t a bad player, he’s probably even above average as an MLS defender. But the Timbers aren’t paying Ridgewell a designated player salary to be just “above average.” They’re paying him to be elite, and he’s not.
While Saturday’s result kept the Timbers in a playoff spot, they’re far from secure in that position, just one point ahead of San Jose, albeit with a point in hand. The Timbers return home next weekend to take on Sporting Kansas City. A win against SKC could see the Timbers jump as high as fourth in the Western Conference, while a loss could drop them below the red line.
