PORTLAND – Caleb Porter didn’t name the offender when he talked about the plays that doomed the Portland Timbers in a 3-1 loss to FC Dallas on Wednesday. He didn’t have to.
Jack Jewsbury raised his hand and took responsibility for a pair of mistakes that led to two Dallas goals in the first 27 minutes of the match. Twice the veteran midfielder kept the ball too long, losing possession to fuel a counter-attack goal for the visitors.
“It’s on me,” Jewsbury said. “To be quite honest (those were) simple plays where we should be getting out of situations and starting the attack and because of a turnover were under (pressure) and we concede some goals that we shouldn’t.”
It was the fourth time in the last five matches the Timbers dug a 2-0 hole for themselves.
It is a trend that shows the value of a stable back line, and of injured designated player Liam Ridgewell. But it is a trend that must be corrected quickly – the Timbers host San Jose on Saturday — and injuries are no excuse according to Porter.
“We’ve got two days to sort it out and I’ve got to look at everything,” Porter said. “I’ve got to figure out lineup, system, personnel. We can’t overreact. Obviously it’s one game. But the pattern of us giving up goals is a pattern that needs to change.”
Nat Borchers said the problems went beyond Jewsbury’s turnovers – the second of them forced by the hustle of former Timbers forward Maxi Urruti.
“The energy wasn’t there for us. The decisions weren’t there. The reactions weren’t there,” Borchers said. “Yeah, we had some turnovers, but we just need to react. In the back especially we just didn’t react well to those instances and we looked and just didn’t feel like us.”
Porter said playing the ball out of the back was not the plan. In the first 15 minutes the coach wanted the ball getting forward quickly. Jewsbury instead took too much time with the ball at his feet.
Wednesday turned into a rough 35th birthday for both Jewsbury and Borchers. Borchers said his nose was sore but not broken after leaving the game bloodied in the 72nd minute. He received several stitches.
“The hardest thing to understand is we know the first 15 minutes is so crucial to setting the tone and getting the ball forward and we didn’t do that,” Borchers said.
Porter noted that there wasn’t much to say at halftime because the match was decided. The coach complimented his team for the spirit it showed in the second half, but that was inconsequential after the disastrous start.
“I’m not going to accept it and that performance in the first half is not something that’s not going to happen again on my watch, and I apologize to the fans,” Porter said.
