The away trip to Denver is a special one in the hearts of the Timbers Army. Last March, the Timbers played their first MLS match away to the Colorado Rapids and scored our first goal. Still, fond memories of that fixture are generally concentrated off the pitch. We lost that first match 3-1 in a game that was really more lopsided than that scoreline would suggest. We also lost our home match with the Rapids, making them one of only a few teams to beat us twice in our opening season.
Coming off of last week’s historic win over Seattle, we traveled to Colorado on a high and with a chance to prove definitively how far this team has come. With a win, we would have drawn even with the Rapids and passed Chivas USA. It would be a brand new season and the playoffs would be in reach.
Instead, we were reminded just how far this team still has to go. We were outclassed on the pitch in every position, with the possible exception of goalkeeper. That one is hard to judge since Matt Pickens was so rarely challenged at all. In the end, the Rapids won 3-0, an even worse result than last season.
I’m not going to fall into the trap of calling every win a new beginning and every loss a disaster. This is a game that, at the beginning of the year, I would have picked as a probable loss. As much as they have underperformed this season, Colorado is a good side with potent weapons. Conor Casey’s goal was a strong header between two pretty well-placed center backs, a great cross and a great finish.
No, this isn’t a disaster, but it is a warning. We didn’t just lose in Colorado – we gave up. Our attack was slow to develop and toothless in the finish. Our defense was porous, and our midfield inaccurate. If we continue to play like that, we will deserve to be where we are: near the bottom of the table, far from the playoff picture. On the bright side, I don’t believe that we are as bad as we looked on Saturday, not in the long run.
It doesn’t get any easier from here. The Timbers have only two days off before hosting the best team in the West, the San Jose Earthquakes, on Tuesday at Jeld-Wen Field. The Quakes played out a barnburner Saturday night against LA, winning 4-3, so they will be low on rest as well. We’ll be missing Diego Chara, our midfield bulldog and, I think, a prime candidate for Timbers player of the season so far, on accumulated yellow cards. It’s a tough turnaround, the first of two packed weeks of matches in July.
In two more matches, we will hit the midway point of the 2012 season. So far, there have been some glorious moments (the opener, the Seattle win) and some big disappointments. There’s a lot more to play, and we’re not nearly out of it yet. RCTID.
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