Here are five reasons why the Timbers have struggled, and how they might be able to turn their season around.
1. Injuries
Every
team gets injured, but the Timbers have dealt with the injury bug early
and often. This season has seen injuries at every position, from
players that have never played in Portland (Jose Adolfo Valencia) to
some of last year’s stalwarts (Futty Danso, Kalif Alhassan, Rodney
Wallace, David Horst, etc). So far, the Timbers haven’t been able to
catch a break.There isn't much solution to staying injury-free other than making sure players aren’t rushed back too early and sustain more long-term damage.
2. Where is Nagbe?
While second-year player Darlington Nagbe showed glimpses of his immense talent last season, his rookie year was marred by injuries and a slow start to the year. This season, Nagbe has already bested his scoring mark from last season with three goals. All three goals came from when Nagbe was playing in the center of the field. Despite Nagbe’s success in the middle, he has started three games at outside midfielder.
Ten minutes into the Timbers match vs Real Salt Lake, John Spencer moved Nagbe off the wing and into an attacking center-mid role. All Nagbe did was score two first-rate goals and play his best soccer as a professional. Despite this, Nagbe hasn’t played in the central of the midfield since.The best solution would be to stick Nagbe underneath the strikers and let him create. This would also make it easier on either Jack Jewsbury or Lovel Palmer, as they are better when playing a holding midfield position.
3. The play of the backline
The Timbers ended the 2011 season with some very stout defensive performances and gave up just eight goals in their final ten matches. However, the beginning of 2012 bodes no resemblance to the end of 2011 having conceded 13 goals in the first eight matches. Consistently poor positioning, lack of marking near the end of matches, and ball-watching have led to numerous goals that could have been prevented.
While the fullback position has been justifiably criticized by media and fans alike, the centerbacks have also been at fault on multiple goals this year. Eric Brunner has shown outstanding leadership and has had to cover for poor play on the outside, but he has also not shown the domination in the aerial game that he had last season. The budding partnership between Brunner and Hanyer Mosquera looks promising, but only clean sheets will prove the pair’s worth.
4. Late game debacles
In all but one game this season, the Portland Timbers have entered the 75th minute with a tie or a lead. Despite this, Portland has only been able to get positive results in three of those seven matches. Portland has given up six goals in the final 15 minutes, which leads the league. One reason for the late-game struggles, seems to from needless late-game substitutions. On multiple occasions this season, a second half sub has been at fault for an opponent’s goal. One of those players, James Marcelin, was waived last week to make room for Steven Smith.
One way to fix the problem is to make sure players understand their late game roles. Players such as Diego Chara have seemed to be unsure of what position they are meant to be playing in at the end of matches. Another problem, which might be harder to overcome, is changing the belief of the team at the end of the matches. It's hard to hold a lead when everything in your brain is telling you that you are going to concede a late goal. It might be easier for attacking players to continue their attacking ways instead of trying to overload the defensive half. In fact, Portland is one of just three MLS squads without a goal in the final 15 minutes of a match.
5. The Timbers just aren’t as good as their opponents
The 300-pound elephant staring the Timbers in the face is a scary one. Despite the acquisitions of Kris Boyd and Mosquera, Portland is simply not playing as well as it did in the second half of last season. It's completely possible that the majority of MLS teams have gotten better, while the Timbers have stayed the same or gotten worse.
Since opening night, only Nagbe and Boyd have scored goals. The midfield has provided little in the attack and hasn’t been able to close down on opponent midfielders away from the ball.
In almost every match, the opponents have gotten production from their bench, while the Timbers haven’t gotten much (other than Nagbe’s goal).
The lack of depth in the bench has been easy to see while teams such as Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake and even expansion Montreal have had subs be key parts of goals. In-season acquisitions of Mike Fucito and Smith might provide some much-needed support for Portland, but it still waits to be seen if the Timbers face a “talent issue.”
One positive for the club is the season is only a quarter of the way through. However, if the Timbers can’t turn their early season woes around soon, it will be a long season at Jeld-Wen Field.
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