Editorial (April 4, 2019) – The Portland Timbers found defensive stability after they transitioned to five in the back against the LA Galaxy Sunday night.
The Portland Timbers have yet to win a league match in 2019. They have also yet to allow less than two goals in any 2019 league match. But in their 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy, Portland finally looked defensively competent.
Clogging the Middle
Portland’s competence came from head coach Giovanni Savarese moving to a five-man backline, which looked more like a 5-1-2-2 when defending:
Valeri – Ebobisse
Blanco – Guzman
Chara
Villafaña – Dielna – Tuiloma – Cascante – Moreira
Attinella
It seemed that clogging the middle of the field was important for Portland. When defending about thirty yards away from goal, Sebastian Blanco and David Guzman stayed very central, cutting out the influence of the likes of Jonathan dos Santos, Joe Corona, and Sebastian Lleget in the attack. You can see this in the heat map of the Galaxy’s midfield five and Ibrahimovic below:
This heat map shows hold well #RCTID cut out the LA’s attack’s through the midfield. Where Guzman and Blanco collapsed to defend just ahead of Chara, LA’s heatmap goes empty. #LAvPOR pic.twitter.com/zh4r1i6xGi
— Matt Nelson (@LwosMatt) April 3, 2019
By clogging the middle, the timbers were able to minimize the Galaxy’s threat down the middle and, if it weren’t for two needless penalties, would have probably left Carson with all three points.
Another important part of that defensive formation is where Valeri finds himself. I have been very critical of Diego Valeri’s positioning over the past few games, not being high enough to create in dangerous areas. Pulling Blanco and Guzman central and keeping Valeri high on the pitch allowed for the Argentine to stay a constant threat against the Galaxy back line.
Teamwork. #RCTID pic.twitter.com/SVwzvlou15
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) April 1, 2019
Looking at What is Next
This upcoming weekend, the Portland Timbers play against San Jose. The Quakes are the only team that has given up more goals than the Timbers in the league so far with fourteen. They are also tied with Atlanta for the least amount of goals scored with two. This new look system will find much success against the current MLS basement dwellers.
The two goals that San Jose scored were against Montreal and the New York Red Bulls. They both were in the opening minutes and both came through the middle. If Portland can hold the defensive stability they had against the LA Galaxy in San Jose Saturday night, especially during the beginning, then they should expect to have their first shut out of the season.
