A sports season - any season - is a marathon, not a sprint. Overanalyzing any single game in isolation is a dangerous thing to do because it will lead you to conclusions that aren't supportable by the broader pool of data that is the season to date (or as a whole, once it's over). For instance, after the Portland Timbers' season-opening 5-1 win against Minnesota United, one could draw two conclusions:
- The Timbers were on pace to score 170 goals in 2017
- Minnesota United were on pace to be the worst team in all of professional soccer, not just in the US
Of course, neither of those things were remotely true or correct then. Just as you can't and shouldn't draw apocalyptic conclusions from Saturday's 3-0 beatdown at the hands of the San Jose Earthquakes. Sometimes, things just go badly. You shake it off, (hopefully) learn from your mistakes, and move on to the next game. Which is what the Timbers will attempt to do this week.
The Good
Well, I mean, um. Did anybody get hurt? Did anybody get a red card? Outside of that, I'm not exactly sure what good can be taken from this game.
The Bad
Depth. One of Caleb Porter's stated goals this past offseason was to increase the quality of the Timbers' depth pieces, and in large part, he did that. The problem is, depth pieces by definition are not starting quality, and should not be viewed as such.
Any time a team is missing two of its best players, as the Timbers were with both Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe, they'll struggle. Darren Mattocks and Dairon Asprilla are decent players, but they're definitely not like-for-like replacements, and it showed; the Timbers lacked any real fluidity and drive and couldn't muster anything resembling a coherent attack at all.
Flatness. Some games, you just don't have it. Players are human - it happens. The hope is that, if you as a player have one of those games, your teammates can pick you up and disguise your off day. That doesn't happen, though, when everyone comes out flat. I'm not sure why, but the Timbers just didn't -I really hate using cliches like this, so I apologize - look up for it on Saturday night. I'm not sure why, and I'm not sure it'll happen again, but it wasn't fun and it wasn't pretty.
The Ugly
Defending. Or, more accurately, a complete lack of it. The Timbers allowed San Jose to more or less own the ball and dictate play, while Alvas Powell had another Alvas Moment, keeping Chris Wondolowski onside for the Quakes' second goal and keeping Alvas' development streak of Two Steps Forward One Step Back alive for another week.
Home cookin' this weekend as the Timbers welcome MLS noobs Atlanta United to Providence Park, where it is hoped that being at home will restore some of what the Timbers seem to have left behind in their last couple games.