Fatal fists of fury: A frustrating loss to the Portland Timbers.

 

It started, when to my chagrin, as I was driving home late from Dallas trying to find a way to listen to the game online.  Oh...wait....I know!  I've got the ESPN app, I'll just listen to the telecast.  Pull into QT (which is a good luck charm) Load up on Coffee and junk food, and I'm on my way.  Little did I know, however, that I couldn't watch this game in English for whatever reason, and I couldn't find a stream of the game in English.  Now, I actually like listening to games in foreign languages, especially when I'm watching. I just happen to be one of the few Texans that didn't take Spanish in High School, mostly because when time came to register for classes in the Summer of 1991, Spanish had a really long line and French had 10 really pretty girls standing there.  So, Je l'etude francais, and have never used it since lol.  My German is good enough to follow along but....listening to a game in Spanish?  It might as well be in brail.  So, I decided to try and slog my way through it.  I'm rewatching the Spanish Replay on ESPN+ as I write this.  If I miss a few things, my apologies.  

Also, seeing this sign got me off on a bad foot.  No, you can't have Zarek back.  If you guys wanted him soo bad, you shouldn't have left him unprotected in the MLS expansion draft.  We saved him from having to play in Nashville.  We gave up Big Joe for him, and people here love him.  You can drink a few Macha teas and relax. Anyway, on to the game.

Portland came better prepared than we did.

"Wait....what????  This game just started and we gave up that goal?"

Portland killed us in the early going. It took only 14 seconds for the Timbers to find their way through our defense and fire the first shot of the game. The long ball, played by Bill Tuiloma found the head of Dairon Asprilla who connected with Yimmi Chará inside the 18-yard box for a soft left-footer that Marco Meric easily handled.  It came way too easy, especially in the opening seconds of the game.  It almost seemed to catch Zarek off guard and is a ball he should have won. Parker was caught too high, and while the Dynamo staved it off they were lucky to do so. The Dynamo gave the ball back 4 times over the next minute, and never got the ball across midfield. They seemingly couldn't string 3 passes together and the combination play we saw against San Jose was non-existent for the first 5 minutes of play.  Vera and Corona were playing soft, and Portland easily found open guys in the gaps. Portland found their second shot at the 3:31 mark, got their third on the ensuing corner, which was followed with an awful left-footed clearance by Boniek Garcia. Their 4th shot came off second in a string of corners and sailed about 30 feet high of the target.  Houston immediately gave the ball back as Lundkvist (under very little pressure) fired a ball downfield to the Timber's awaiting backline. After Boniek knocked a ball away from a hard-charging Marvin Loría, Portland finally found a way to breakthrough.


It was nothing special, a simple FT, from the touchline parallel to the 18-yard box.  Lundkvist got roasted, Tim Parker had a rare misstep on a ball he should have had, Asprilla beat Valentine to the ball at the back post, and we were down 1-0.  As I'm driving, funneling coffee and Red-Bull down my throat as I rage eat my fill of sour gummy worms, I wanted to throw my phone out the window as the announcer screamed "GOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL-OL OL OL OL OLLLLLLLLL."  Normally, I love this call, but when it's against us I want to punch something.  The Portland fans reacted, but you can take your stupid drums and your jank, renovated baseball stadium and get out of here. Go ahead.....fire up that chainsaw and cut that log that nobody cares about......whatever. (Disclaimer:  I tend to hate every team in MLS other than the Dynamo, so I also hate all of their traditions and their supporter songs.  No offense, you just aren't my team.)

Houston seemed to immediately regroup.  We began to see the combinations take over.  Shortly after the goal we finally crossed midfield and Memo fired a cross into the box that just missed a streaking Tyler Pasher. Houston finally started creating some pressure with Pasher, Urruti, Memo, and Picault.  The game turned into a fairly fast-paced, back-and-forth game for the remainder of the first half with each team chipping away and creating chances.  Fafa Picault had the Dynamo's first decent chance after he found a deflection just outside the box.  His left-footed strike went wide right, but the Dynamo were finally knocking.  Houston finally broke through when Tyler Pasher's cross off a quick corner found Cristhian Paredes' head for an own goal in the 28th minute.  The game had turned very even, and we were playing toe to toe with Portland from minutes 5-45.

Portland was really circulating the ball well and giving the Dynamo no chance to counter.  Yimmi was distributing, and the movement of both ball and bodies began to wear us down.  And while the second half turned into a very even affair, Portland ended up on top.  The Timbers created twice the amount of chances the Dynamo were able to, and we didn't get a single Counter-Attacking opportunity. When Portland finally capitalized in the 73rd minute, I felt like the game was over.  Maxi Urruti had just fired off his only chance of the game (a right-footed strike from just outside the box), and Jeff Attinella was right there on top of things. Portland came right back, building from the goalkeeper and connecting on a deep ball to Felipe Mora who got his head on it and found Paredes for the game winner.  You could tell it took the wind out of our sails.

The effort wasn't bad. The guys battled back from a horrible start and I hate to overreact from a 1 point loss on the road to a really good Portland team but this game showed what I've been saying since the preseason.  We aren't good enough in key positions to get the job done against quality opponents.  Portland's midfielders were hands-down better than the Dynamo's on Saturday night, and their fullback pairing might be the most complete in the league.  Add to that Asparilla's ability to wreak havoc on the left flank and they just have too much talent for us to contend with.  We didn't lose this game because we simply messed it up, we lost it because they were better than us.  Their backline completely bottled up Maxi Urruti, and both Pasher and Picault couldn't break through Portland's backline.  The Timbers really held shape, and only allowed 3 shots on target the entire game. Against a team built like the Timbers, you have to create up the middle.  We couldn't find gaps and gave the ball to Loria and Charra far too many times.  We didn't win balls, we got beat to loose balls, and we didn't look as aggressive defensively as we did against San Jose, especially early.  I'm still hoping we can find another defender to pair with Tim Paker.  Boniek has done an admirable job back there the first two games, but he tends to push too high, and we can't afford that with Lundkvist playing on the outside of him.  

Game Notes:

Portland's Mid-field is well balanced and tuff to handle:  Yimmi Charra was an enormous threat in the first 20 minutes, and his speed and explosiveness is tuff for defenders to deal with.  Diego Chará and Cristhian Paredes are tuff, hard-nosed defenders and play the ball forward well.  They do an excellent job both finding and utilizing space in between defenders.  Bring in Diego Valeri off the bench and this is a top 5 mid-field in MLS.

Portland's backline won the game:  The two center backs had Urruti wrapped up tight, and they made Fafa Picault appear almost non-existent.  Portland has a really good spine, and we have to get better at creating chances through the middle.  Our combo play was really hurt by them, especially in the first 10 minutes.

Mattias Vera: I don't share the same views as everyone on him in this game.  He had a really difficult task to accomplish Saturday night and turned out a fairly steady performance.  He got beat by Yimmi Charra once, but when Charra has open space in front of him not many people in MLS are keeping up with him.  Vera hit all 6 of his deep passes and won several balls in the midfield.  He had 65 touches and only had 1 Unsuccessful touch. Vera was never dispossessed the entire game, he drew 3 fouls and connected on 89% of his passes, he also hit Pasher on a really nice through ball that set up a run down the right-wing that ended in a Pasher cross across the front of the net. I would have like to see him connect play better to Memo and Maxi, but it was a solid performance from Vera.

Memo Rodriguez: His passes were horribly off in the early going.  He was trying to play quick, one-touch football and was nowhere close to his targets. Urruti was drawing tons of attention, and Memo failed miserably at utilizing the space behind him (something he did really well vs. San Jose).  He was dispossessed 3 times, all in the attacking third.  He was 0/8 on crosses, had 0 key passes, 0 through balls, and didn't manage to fire off a single shot the entire game.  He and Urruti combined for 1 shot in for the entire game.  Honestly, Quintero looked more of a threat in his limited time and I didn't think he played all that well either. Memo had spots, but overall this wasn't a very good game for him.  He looked outclassed by Diego Charra and Portland's backline.

Fafa Picault: Couldn't get anything going really.  Found a gift and didn't capitalize.  Almost seemed like he wasn't on the field for long stretches, and couldn't get past Bravo when we found him.

Tyler Pasher: I've been read the reviews of Pasher on this game, and I'm going to disagree somewhat.  He didn't get on the end of a couple of crosses early, and his first touch of the game was inside the 18-yard box and he gave it directly to Larrys Mabiala.  Portland was soo unconcerned about him in the early going, Urruti was playing 1 vs 4 most of the first half. While I don't give Pasher all the blame, he had several crosses into 4 green shirts.  While he was able to get by Claudio Bravo several times, he had nothing to really show for it.  Bravo also shut Pasher down from cutting back inside for most of the first half, and Pasher couldn't win space going to his strong foot.  He began to chip away and had a decent stretch from minutes 25-45, and while I don't expect Super Star play from Pasher he has to do more with his touches and help draw more attention from Maxi.  Had a really disappointing run at the end of the first half when he had the entire defense beat and a 1v1 opportunity with the keeper. Had another disappointing end to a run after a nice steal and push forward by Lundkvist in the 57th minute. Disappeared for most of the second half. He looked much better on the right-wing than the left.

Adam Lundkvist: Got beat badly on the first goal, and beat several times throughout the game.  Lundkvist has had a target on his back in the first two games, and teams are routinely going after him.  Add to that the fact he fired balls to the other team or out of bounds repeatedly and this has been a bad start to the season for him.  He got the ball taken away on several dribbles down the sideline. He just needs to be consistent and steady.  He constantly holds onto the ball one touch too many. He doesn't have to make spectacular plays, just needs to make the simple ones.

Ariel Lassiter: Plain and simple, I'm hoping the return of Darwin means we see less of him. Had a header slot left off a great pass from Darwin in the 82nd minute, and should have capitalized on the equalizer at the 84th minute.  After a great through ball by Quintero found Pasher, Lassiter was all alone to get the rebound.  It seemed to surprise him and he blasted it off the side of the net. While he was able to create more shots than anyone else in a Dynamo jersey, none of them were very convincing.  I'm ready to see what Bajamich can do. I am also wondering if Pasher takes over this role when Darwin returns to full strength.

Yellow Card Watch: Houston has racked up 5 yellows through the first two games. Nobody has more than one, but the accumulation is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Next Up: Another tuff test with LAFC.  We all know what they can do and what we need to bring.  Come ready, come loud, let's blow the doors off BBVA.  See you there, come say hi.

Thanks Again for Reading.
Brian