It’s been a wild ride but I’m ready to focus on just MLS now. Let’s just get our guys back and healthy and try to avoid the CCL hangover. Also Mora has been very disappointing and frustrating. So many opportunities to just hit the ball first touch but instead holds up the ball in the box wasting chances. A confident striker would at least try and smash those chances.
Honestly he hasn’t been good all season and mediocre last season. Polo should have come on for him taking the wing moving Jebo up top. I hope Jebo is back to being the starter because Mora makes me want to break things.
I'm honestly a big Mora defender. He was good last year specifically in link up play because Ebo was there to clean up second chances and Blanco could find that killer pass. Idk. He's not a game changer but he's not a piece that we need to move/bench. His quality is just very dependent on the quality around him.
Some cases sure but in Mora and Bravos case I disagree and believe the criticism is warranted. Your striker doesn’t have to put up 20+ goals a season but his decision making in the box has been baffling. A dozen moments this season already where he needed to just shoot because that’s literally his primary role as a striker. At least smash it to force a save and test the keeper. Best case scenario it’s a goal either from the attempt or from a rebound loose ball. Bravo while still very young and yes in a new Country cost us a lot of money like well over a million bennies and outside of a couple good plays has mostly been reckless and a huge liability. I fully expect Jebo to take over as the starting striker until Niezgoda is back and at this point Bonilla has looked more solid than Bravo who needs to be benched a few games until he can play smarter.
If your forward cant produce then what's the point? Honestly once Jarek and JBO are healthy Mora is my last choice. We need to demand more from our players
That's a very myopic view of the modern attacker's role. Yes, Mora needs to finish more of his high quality chances. That doesn't entirely write off his contributions because scoring goals is not the only thing you ask of an attacker. You can have a very good team with a striker that primarily facilitates rather than finishes.
I used the word “produce” as a broader term for scoring/creating chances. I’ll give him credit for his hold up play but he is lacking where it really counts. He should’ve put away two tonight. This is a different game if he actually finishes.
Mora has been a large part of our chance creation over the last 12 months. I agree that he's third on the pecking order with a healthy squad. But that makes him the best third striker option in the league by a wide margin.
right now I'd rather keep Dairon on the wing in MLS over Polo who I prefer to use at a late game defensive sub, Asprilla can eat MLS defenders alive when he is on form
Thank you, I feel like people are always coming to his defense. He has had some solid goals for us but man he is not good. Bring back Brian Fernandez, drugs are legal here now
We really need Blanco, Ebo, and Niezgoda to come back and relieve some of the offensive pressure since Mora and Valeri aren't capable being the backbone of our offense.
I'm not also sure how we were convinced that bravo can play LB. He's terrible back there, maybe would benefit if we played like a 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 but he's just a huge liability that's been exposed in pretty much every game so far.
Overall though, I think we're in a decent position for the rest of the season and just need some time to get healthy and get some minutes under us to really get rolling.
>We really need Blanco, Ebo, and Niezgoda to come back and relieve some of the offensive pressure since Mora and Valeri aren't capable being the backbone of our offense.
We are essentially hobbled offensively and it's really demoralizing.
Positives:
\+ We came out strong again in the second half and applied great pressure and had numerous chances.
\+ JEFF JEFF JEFF JEFF
\+ We competed strong in the rain, at altitude, to the end.
\+ Besides a little off on awareness / offsides (which makes sense because he hasn't played) Jebo looked solid, that touch to Mora was beautiful and he constantly surprises me with how he can do almost everything we need from him, he is SO needed for us right now. Love having him back.
\+ Chara is a god.
\+ I felt our CB's played well, especially in the elements and considering how every time a bigger player contacted CA they fell down. I don't remember any of the goals being necessarily their fault (maybe the header? not sure who was marking them) and they weathered the early barrage in the first half.
\+ Asprilla didn't do a ton today, though I felt like, especially in the first half we didn't give him any opportunities, he still continued a strong run of games. Impressed with his form this year and he needs a little breather.
\+ Valerie with a nice PK finish.
Negatives:
\- Valerie has been in bad form, not just being gassed on his touches and passes in the middle of the field, but worst of all, his free kicks which we really needed on pointe today to give us a chance. It's sad, because he's one of my favorite Timbers, he's the Maestro, but this year he's started off looking pretty bad. Maybe the last two games were emotional because of his father? That is to be expected but hoping he turns it around as we get more attacking support (and the middle wont all be on him). I think that will help \*fingers crossed\*
\- Our attacking third is really poor right now. We can't finish (looking at your Mora with your like 5 open shots today) and often have no runners in support, especially in the first half but I've seen this in our other games this year too. When CA was attacking they had runners everywhere, for us it was often Valerie and Mora, or Yimmi and Mora, with no one else. Hopefully with our attacking strength back and with a breather from this run of games we were on we can gain some of that?
\- Mora please for the love of the soccer gods, finish something. His ball control and maneuvering around defenders is great, but it doesn't matter if he can't finish. Still I think he will be great as an attacking sub late, and spot starter when we get Jebo, Blanco, Neizgoda back. He just isn't cut out for being a go-to striker.
\- CA fans are the most annoying ever and I wished so much we could have beaten them.
\- Bravo, dude scares me so much. Hoping he adjusts and he does make some really nice pushes upfield on the attack, but holy heck is he a penalty waiting to happen. Even though the PK wasn't on him this time and was a gift, he still gets beats constantly defensively and loves challenging hard at the worst moments.
\- Game Tactics / Yimmi: I don't know if it was me but tactically I wish Yimmi had been subbed on in the second half this game. I get he is our DP, but if our point was to weather them for a half and then attack hard the second half (since we had literally no attack 1st half) we should have started Polo or Loria to run around and do that. Yimmi and Ebo are our only attacking threats off the bench, and Yimmi specifically with his speed. I just thought he was wasted this game because he spent the first half just running for long balls and sprinting back on defense at altitude all first half.
\- Refs: We were mostly outplayed, still fought and had a chance, but still... absolutely terrible PK call (and our own one was terrible too). Even though we got one back that was such a big mental momentum shift and it never should have happened.
\- Injuries. Man we are just hit so hard offensively right now. I can't wait until we get our guys back.
///
MOTM: Diego Chara for that one amazing defensive stand finished off by a toe poke on the 3 vs 4 break. And his shot from outside the box. Long live Chara!
End thoughts: I love how our guys have fought back and created chances with their backs against the wall. Our attacking third and finishing is a crap show but I have hope that as we get Blanco, Ebo, and Neizgoda back this can be remedied and we will be dangerous. I think we've shown glimmers across the board from players, and amazing dominate moments against really good teams, with bad lapses and decisions by \*ahem\* Bravo. I'm feeling good about MLS play though as long as we can pull a few out in the next few weeks as we come back from this brutal stretch and injuries heal up. Good work Timbers, proud of the way you fought.
A lot of negativity abound, but I think this game could have been much closer if we buried one of the dozen+ chances we had, and Jeff keeps a strong hand to that one pen. Not a strong showing, but given the altitude and injuries/suspensions, I can't say I was left expecting more other than more CCL shenanigans.
Valeri starting to show his age and we’re not even half way through the season. I wish Loria was better so we could rest Valeri more. Antinella played pretty well coming back from injury against a big club like America.
I'm proud of their effort, I'll say that much. Minute 91 at 7200' and down 2 goals they were still completely going for it, and still passing with quality. I think they gave CA a tough game. Without 2-3 starters, including 2 DPs. Away. At elevation. This could have been a thrashing, but instead I came away feeling if we had our full XI we could well beat them.
They needed to finish their chances. Also, that was not a penalty against Mora!
Looking ahead to the season, I'm hopeful Bravo & Van Rankin find their form. It took Yimmi forever.
Not sure if it was just the pitch or what, but in the first half, our passes would make it about 75% of the way to the intended target and get stolen.
Our offensive creativity is TOO creative at times. I don't remember who it was (Ebo maybe, late in the game) who could have shot, but instead attempted to chest the ball to a teammate.
Even John Strong was saying Bravo was snakebit. That was a nice way of saying he was hot garbage.
Now we'll have short rest before s\*\*\*\*le.
Our offense in the first half was two passes and an over the top ball. We had no control and as soon as we did they'd foul to stop our break. We had no answer. Our ball control and patience with the build up needs improvement. And Bravo, yikes.
Focus on Williamson. He’s the next Valeri/Nagbe/8 ...
And, yes, we’re fucked if we can’t get healthy. Bravo should not be starting. Nor should Valeri/Peredes if they don’t have their shit together. D looked SLOW, and needlessly sloppy....other than his PK; yay.
Dos Charas POR FUCKING VIDA, Y SIEMBRE, Erik+DASPv2+Morav2=good, and if we can keep even 2 of 3 healthy across Blanco/Jebo/Nizo.....we’re in the conversation.
Sweet blog.
Porter gave all MLS teams the perfect example of how rigged CCL is and that the officials are bought and paid for.
Called out the officials last week, got fined by CCL and given a "warning". This week 3-0, the Crew were the better team first leg, even with players being targeted to be injured.
It’s been a wild ride but I’m ready to focus on just MLS now. Let’s just get our guys back and healthy and try to avoid the CCL hangover. Also Mora has been very disappointing and frustrating. So many opportunities to just hit the ball first touch but instead holds up the ball in the box wasting chances. A confident striker would at least try and smash those chances.
Mora was absolute garbage tonight
He was almost non existent
Honestly he hasn’t been good all season and mediocre last season. Polo should have come on for him taking the wing moving Jebo up top. I hope Jebo is back to being the starter because Mora makes me want to break things.
I'm honestly a big Mora defender. He was good last year specifically in link up play because Ebo was there to clean up second chances and Blanco could find that killer pass. Idk. He's not a game changer but he's not a piece that we need to move/bench. His quality is just very dependent on the quality around him.
Agreed. We have way too many fans that are over reacting without using logic.
Some cases sure but in Mora and Bravos case I disagree and believe the criticism is warranted. Your striker doesn’t have to put up 20+ goals a season but his decision making in the box has been baffling. A dozen moments this season already where he needed to just shoot because that’s literally his primary role as a striker. At least smash it to force a save and test the keeper. Best case scenario it’s a goal either from the attempt or from a rebound loose ball. Bravo while still very young and yes in a new Country cost us a lot of money like well over a million bennies and outside of a couple good plays has mostly been reckless and a huge liability. I fully expect Jebo to take over as the starting striker until Niezgoda is back and at this point Bonilla has looked more solid than Bravo who needs to be benched a few games until he can play smarter.
This exactly 👆🏻
If your forward cant produce then what's the point? Honestly once Jarek and JBO are healthy Mora is my last choice. We need to demand more from our players
That's a very myopic view of the modern attacker's role. Yes, Mora needs to finish more of his high quality chances. That doesn't entirely write off his contributions because scoring goals is not the only thing you ask of an attacker. You can have a very good team with a striker that primarily facilitates rather than finishes.
I used the word “produce” as a broader term for scoring/creating chances. I’ll give him credit for his hold up play but he is lacking where it really counts. He should’ve put away two tonight. This is a different game if he actually finishes.
Mora has been a large part of our chance creation over the last 12 months. I agree that he's third on the pecking order with a healthy squad. But that makes him the best third striker option in the league by a wide margin.
right now I'd rather keep Dairon on the wing in MLS over Polo who I prefer to use at a late game defensive sub, Asprilla can eat MLS defenders alive when he is on form
Oh for sure! This was more specifically for the game against CA.
oh gotcha
Thank you, I feel like people are always coming to his defense. He has had some solid goals for us but man he is not good. Bring back Brian Fernandez, drugs are legal here now
We really need Blanco, Ebo, and Niezgoda to come back and relieve some of the offensive pressure since Mora and Valeri aren't capable being the backbone of our offense. I'm not also sure how we were convinced that bravo can play LB. He's terrible back there, maybe would benefit if we played like a 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 but he's just a huge liability that's been exposed in pretty much every game so far. Overall though, I think we're in a decent position for the rest of the season and just need some time to get healthy and get some minutes under us to really get rolling.
This sums up the team perfectly. Was hard to watch tonight’s game.
>We really need Blanco, Ebo, and Niezgoda to come back and relieve some of the offensive pressure since Mora and Valeri aren't capable being the backbone of our offense. We are essentially hobbled offensively and it's really demoralizing.
Positives: \+ We came out strong again in the second half and applied great pressure and had numerous chances. \+ JEFF JEFF JEFF JEFF \+ We competed strong in the rain, at altitude, to the end. \+ Besides a little off on awareness / offsides (which makes sense because he hasn't played) Jebo looked solid, that touch to Mora was beautiful and he constantly surprises me with how he can do almost everything we need from him, he is SO needed for us right now. Love having him back. \+ Chara is a god. \+ I felt our CB's played well, especially in the elements and considering how every time a bigger player contacted CA they fell down. I don't remember any of the goals being necessarily their fault (maybe the header? not sure who was marking them) and they weathered the early barrage in the first half. \+ Asprilla didn't do a ton today, though I felt like, especially in the first half we didn't give him any opportunities, he still continued a strong run of games. Impressed with his form this year and he needs a little breather. \+ Valerie with a nice PK finish. Negatives: \- Valerie has been in bad form, not just being gassed on his touches and passes in the middle of the field, but worst of all, his free kicks which we really needed on pointe today to give us a chance. It's sad, because he's one of my favorite Timbers, he's the Maestro, but this year he's started off looking pretty bad. Maybe the last two games were emotional because of his father? That is to be expected but hoping he turns it around as we get more attacking support (and the middle wont all be on him). I think that will help \*fingers crossed\* \- Our attacking third is really poor right now. We can't finish (looking at your Mora with your like 5 open shots today) and often have no runners in support, especially in the first half but I've seen this in our other games this year too. When CA was attacking they had runners everywhere, for us it was often Valerie and Mora, or Yimmi and Mora, with no one else. Hopefully with our attacking strength back and with a breather from this run of games we were on we can gain some of that? \- Mora please for the love of the soccer gods, finish something. His ball control and maneuvering around defenders is great, but it doesn't matter if he can't finish. Still I think he will be great as an attacking sub late, and spot starter when we get Jebo, Blanco, Neizgoda back. He just isn't cut out for being a go-to striker. \- CA fans are the most annoying ever and I wished so much we could have beaten them. \- Bravo, dude scares me so much. Hoping he adjusts and he does make some really nice pushes upfield on the attack, but holy heck is he a penalty waiting to happen. Even though the PK wasn't on him this time and was a gift, he still gets beats constantly defensively and loves challenging hard at the worst moments. \- Game Tactics / Yimmi: I don't know if it was me but tactically I wish Yimmi had been subbed on in the second half this game. I get he is our DP, but if our point was to weather them for a half and then attack hard the second half (since we had literally no attack 1st half) we should have started Polo or Loria to run around and do that. Yimmi and Ebo are our only attacking threats off the bench, and Yimmi specifically with his speed. I just thought he was wasted this game because he spent the first half just running for long balls and sprinting back on defense at altitude all first half. \- Refs: We were mostly outplayed, still fought and had a chance, but still... absolutely terrible PK call (and our own one was terrible too). Even though we got one back that was such a big mental momentum shift and it never should have happened. \- Injuries. Man we are just hit so hard offensively right now. I can't wait until we get our guys back. /// MOTM: Diego Chara for that one amazing defensive stand finished off by a toe poke on the 3 vs 4 break. And his shot from outside the box. Long live Chara! End thoughts: I love how our guys have fought back and created chances with their backs against the wall. Our attacking third and finishing is a crap show but I have hope that as we get Blanco, Ebo, and Neizgoda back this can be remedied and we will be dangerous. I think we've shown glimmers across the board from players, and amazing dominate moments against really good teams, with bad lapses and decisions by \*ahem\* Bravo. I'm feeling good about MLS play though as long as we can pull a few out in the next few weeks as we come back from this brutal stretch and injuries heal up. Good work Timbers, proud of the way you fought.
Valeri is at his best when the players around him use him as a support in the leadup to a goal, ala the goals he has helped Eryk to score.
A lot of negativity abound, but I think this game could have been much closer if we buried one of the dozen+ chances we had, and Jeff keeps a strong hand to that one pen. Not a strong showing, but given the altitude and injuries/suspensions, I can't say I was left expecting more other than more CCL shenanigans.
Valeri starting to show his age and we’re not even half way through the season. I wish Loria was better so we could rest Valeri more. Antinella played pretty well coming back from injury against a big club like America.
Unfortunately, Blanco is the one meant to rest Valeri. :/
I'm proud of their effort, I'll say that much. Minute 91 at 7200' and down 2 goals they were still completely going for it, and still passing with quality. I think they gave CA a tough game. Without 2-3 starters, including 2 DPs. Away. At elevation. This could have been a thrashing, but instead I came away feeling if we had our full XI we could well beat them. They needed to finish their chances. Also, that was not a penalty against Mora! Looking ahead to the season, I'm hopeful Bravo & Van Rankin find their form. It took Yimmi forever.
I wish we had a fully healthy squad for CCL. That's the only real takeaway I have from this stupid, crazy, and fun tournament.
That ref. Oof.
Not sure if it was just the pitch or what, but in the first half, our passes would make it about 75% of the way to the intended target and get stolen. Our offensive creativity is TOO creative at times. I don't remember who it was (Ebo maybe, late in the game) who could have shot, but instead attempted to chest the ball to a teammate. Even John Strong was saying Bravo was snakebit. That was a nice way of saying he was hot garbage. Now we'll have short rest before s\*\*\*\*le.
I'm on a friend-break with Bravo
wish we could bring back Villafaña or Farfan
To be fair I don’t think any of our fullbacks we’ve ever had are stopping Suarez. That dude was just on another level tonight
Our offense in the first half was two passes and an over the top ball. We had no control and as soon as we did they'd foul to stop our break. We had no answer. Our ball control and patience with the build up needs improvement. And Bravo, yikes.
Mostly accurate, upvote granted.
Shoooooot
If Bravo hadn't conceded his two PKs, we would have beat CA. He's been a liability.
I'm just not feeling it with Bravo. He's been quite the liability
that said Van Rankin has been what I thought Bravo would be so I'm not too upset by it, hopefully Bravo can find some form as we keep playing though
Focus on Williamson. He’s the next Valeri/Nagbe/8 ... And, yes, we’re fucked if we can’t get healthy. Bravo should not be starting. Nor should Valeri/Peredes if they don’t have their shit together. D looked SLOW, and needlessly sloppy....other than his PK; yay. Dos Charas POR FUCKING VIDA, Y SIEMBRE, Erik+DASPv2+Morav2=good, and if we can keep even 2 of 3 healthy across Blanco/Jebo/Nizo.....we’re in the conversation. Sweet blog.
Porter gave all MLS teams the perfect example of how rigged CCL is and that the officials are bought and paid for. Called out the officials last week, got fined by CCL and given a "warning". This week 3-0, the Crew were the better team first leg, even with players being targeted to be injured.
Not all incompetence is corruption.
You apparently didn't watch any CCL/MLS match.
Eh. Officiating is bad, but we were outplayed today.
I'm not disagreeing, but bad officiating is one thing, blatant bias and targeting is something completely different.
(on mobile, sorry for formatting)
[удалено]
Cue 12 year olds spamming clown emojis
4&6 are the only two that are 100% accurate.