The game Sunday night between the Portland Timbers and New York Red Bulls in Portland could end up being one of the more exciting games of the 2013 season. The game had its moments of sloppiness that one would expect of an opening day game, but there were also moments of brilliance and skill that nearly took your breath away. When I look at this game from a Portland perspective, there are three major takeaways for me, which are as follows: 1) Mikael Silvestre should never be allowed to play another MLS game; 2) Diego Valeri is going to be a very good MLS player; and 3) Portland is going to be a very fun team to watch in 2013.
I’ll just be blunt: Mikael Silvestre is terrible. He should not be on this roster, much less playing in any capacity, in MLS. The fact that he is is an indictment on both the Timbers front office and head coach Caleb Porter. Now, I will admit there was a time in the pre-season where I thought Silvestre looked pretty good. But I guess this is why, when analyzing pre-season action, everyone always includes the caveat “but we’ll have to wait until the regular season begins to know for sure.” I did not quite understand the decision to bring Silvestre in for a couple weeks, have him play a few pre-season games, then release him, and then sign him just days before the season began. MLS in general and the Timbers in particular should have more self-respect than to go slumming for an out-of-shape, washed up former EPL player who is simply looking to collect one last paycheck. I was surprised when Dylan Tucker-Gangnes did not get the start last night at center back but I was absolutely stunned when I found out Silvestre was going to be inserted in that slot instead.
For those of you who missed it, let’s take a quick look back at how the night went for Silvestre at center back. First, in the 9th minute, Fabian Espindola was battling for the ball in the box with Silvestre. The ball ended up slowly rolling toward Portland keeper Donovan Ricketts, who was coming out to collect it when, for some unknown reason, Silvestre played the ball back to Ricketts. Ricketts, already in a crouched position, but knowing he could not pick the ball up at that point, could only play a weak ball back into the crowd, where Espindola knocked it home. Silvestre was burned again by Espindola in the 24th minute when he completely misplayed a ball at midfield. The ball bounced in front of Silvestre, who was not able to get a foot on it (or any body part for that matter), and Espindola ran onto it and had a clear run at the goal and put away the opportunity. And finally, to cap it all off, he allowed Jamison Olave to get inside the 6-yard box unmarked and put away a lovely cross that gave the Red Bulls a 3-1 lead at the half. I understand having bad nights and having to get back in the groove after a long off-season, but I will be highly disappointed if Silvestre gets another start for this team.
On a much more positive note, Diego Valeri is going to be a fantastic player. I mentioned in my game preview that one of the things I was most interested in watching was how well Valeri would do in real MLS action as the point man for Caleb Porter’s offense. I was highly impressed. His goal in the 14th minute was pure class. He received the ball from Darlington Nagbe at the top of the 18-yard box, juggled it twice on his right foot, then controlled it off his chest, and as it was coming down, calmly slid it by Red Bulls’ keeper Luis Robles. Oh, and he went through three New York defenders while doing all of that. In addition to the goal, he also set up the second goal in the 56th minute. He took a hard shot from the top of the 18, which Robles was not able to handle cleanly, and it fell right to Nagbe who was able to slot it home.
All this brings me to my third and final point, which is that if the team plays the rest of the season the way they played on Sunday night, fans should be in for an exciting year. With Valeri being the point man for this offense, I think we were able to see out of Darlington Nagbe what we thought we were going to see last year. We do have to keep in mind that this game was played at home in front of a typically raucous crowd so how will they do when they take the show on the road and other teams have a chance to game plan for it? Their road form is going to be the key to this season and whether or not they make the playoffs. They are sure to face much more adversity on the road, but seeing how they responded Sunday night down 3-1 should give all fans confidence that this team will not fold easily, like they did much of last year.
(image courtesy of newyorkredbulls.com)
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