BEAVERTON, Ore. — After a topsy-turvy first three months of the Major League Soccer season, the Portland Timbers will get a break in the schedule following Wednesday’s match against San Jose at Providence Park.
How much they enjoy that respite might depend upon how well they can break down a tough Earthquakes defense. With both teams missing key playmakers because of the Copa America Centanario tournament, Timbers coach Caleb Porter said creating and cashing in upon goal-scoring chances figures to be the central challenge in Wednesday’s match.
“(San Jose) isn’t a team that you’re going to overpower physically. This is a team that you have to break down with technical and tactical quality and soccer IQ,” Porter said. “We need to look to get that (creativity) somehow, without one of our best guys bringing that.”
That player is Darlington Nagbe, who is with the United States national team. Nagbe’s absence was evident in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Chicago, especially during a second half when the Timbers did not generate a shot on goal.
Standing up to the Earthquakes’ physically is important, but Porter said his club must not get wrapped up in the physical battle and forget to play soccer.
“We need to balance the fight and the football,” he said. “You’ve got to earn the right to play (creatively) in these games, and earning the right to play is battling and grinding and being up for the physical nature of the game.”
Fighting to keep leads has been a real struggle for these Timbers. The musical chairs in the lineup — forced in many cases by injuries and absences, including for this game Jermaine Taylor who is with Jamaica’s national team — is a factor. Still, the Timbers have failed to hold leads in five matches this season.
Liam Ridgewell and Zarek Valentin each said that no one shortcoming has defined the defensive struggles, and that individual effort alone won’t solve them.
“I’ve always said we attack as a group and we defend as a group. So I don’t think we necessarily need to look at individuals or the back four, but I think we need to look at the entire group,” Valentin said. “Sometimes, yes, you can say (one) guy made a mistake … but there’s a lot of factors that lead up to goals.”
Climbing back into playoff contention will require winning home matches. Portland is 4-2-1 at Providence Park this season. A second win of the year over San Jose would give the Timbers 19 points from 15 matches – not yet on a playoff pace, but not far off it despite three months of disruption.
Crazy things happen every season in the hyper-competitive MLS, Porter noted.
“That’s why we always keep a steady hand and keep our head screwed on right, because it feels worse than it is sometimes,” he said.
Porter on CCL draw — Porter said getting paired with C.D. Dragon of El Salvador and Club Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica is as challenging a draw as any in the group phase of the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League. Porter noted that Saprissa has won versions of this tournament three times and reached the final match seven times.
“It’s going to come down to the two road games against those teams. We know we’ll do well at home, but we’ve got to be smart in how we manage those road games,” Porter said. “We like the challenge. If we’re able to make history and be one of the first teams to win at Monsters Cave (the Saprissa stadium), that would be a good thing.”
