Wednesday night was a formality – even for the Portland Timbers. The San Jose Earthquakes only brought thirteen field players to Portland, and with a few goalkeepers, a lame-duck manager, and a lost season in tow, failed to register a single shot on target in 90 minutes of soccer.
It was always a question of when, not if, for the Timbers. The breakthrough came on a terrific team goal that was slammed in by the in-form Rodney Wallace just before halftime, cemented when Diego Valeri made it two from the spot just after halftime, and iced with a rebound goal from Valeri to make the final score a convincing 3-0.
There were some worrying things – Darlington Nagbe is in pieces mentally in front of goal and Norberto Paparatto still looks like he’s playing with weights on his feet, but overall, this was a job professionally done.
The Timbers looked the part on Wednesday night, and they played the part too. That Earthquakes team, outside of a few talented players, more resembled a USL side than an MLS one. Portland got their win, and now they’ll move on.
The big question still remains. Are the 2014 Timbers contenders or pretenders? A really good team that made a bad start and has been plagued by poor defense; or a group that looks good against teams with less talent but melts away when the competition is stiff and can’t manage games?
I don’t know the answer.
On one hand, the Timbers have averaged the fourth-most points in the league since May, only ranking behind LA, Seattle, and DC United. They’ve scored the third-most goals in the league, and have scored multiple goals in the last eight games – the best streak in MLS this year.
The Timbers have talent and strong coaching, and are in the thick of the playoff race in a tough Western Conference despite their awful start for a reason.
On the other hand, the Timbers have a grand total of one win against Western Conference playoff teams in ten games.
Portland has failed so consistently and predictably this year to turn in professional, 90-minute performances that no surprising situation is still surprising.
This is a team that had to sign two designated players at a cost in excess of two million dollars during the season just to stay afloat. Take out the last two meetings between the Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps off the schedule, and Portland is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
Is this a good team, or a fraud? Does anyone really know?
We’ve got two games left to figure it out. The Timbers finish at home against Real Salt Lake eight days from today, and play the last game of the season at FC Dallas two weekends from now.
RSL and Dallas are both playoff teams who will throw everything they have into beating each other out for the third seed in the Western Conference and the right to avoid the Wild Card game against the fifth place finisher.
Depending on what Vancouver does at CenturyLink Field against the Sounders on Friday night, Portland will be playing with the slimmest of leads and the finest of margins.
Either the ‘Caps or Timbers will go to the playoffs. Vancouver closes with two of the worst teams in the league after they play Seattle: These same Earthquakes and the Colorado Rapids.
Though you never know for sure with the Whitecaps, those two games look an awful lot like six points.
Portland is going to have to deliver in their next two games. They’re going to have to beat a team that has been better than them for the entire season when it counts. Then maybe we’ll know for sure who the 2014 Timbers have been all along.
Things have certainly gotten better for Caleb Porter’s team over the last month and a half. Settling the front six – with Fanendo Adi at striker and a fully fit Wallace on the flank – has gotten the offense on a roll.
Portland has a ton of looks – Wallace’s direct pace on the wing, Adi’s physical hold-up play, or Valeri’s ranging finesse game – and it’s almost impossible to shut them all down.
Defensively, things are still nowhere near settled. Alvas Powell figures to come back into the starting lineup when he returns from international duty, and Pa Moudu Kah could also slot back in when he recovers from the injury he suffered warming up last Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium.
The Timbers also have to contend at the end of the season with what figures to be a tense trip into a hostile environment in Honduras to play CD Olimpia in the last CONCACAF Champions League group stage game.
Win, draw, or lose by one and the Timbers go through – but things could go south quick. Who will Porter bring on that trip – to the second most dangerous airport in the world – and who will he play?
It’s been a roller-coaster year. It’s been as exhausting as it’s gone by fast.
Each game has only given way to more questions. We’re fast approaching the end game. When the music stops, what kind of team will we remember the 2014 Portland Timbers to be?
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