After two straight losses to open the 2018 season, the Portland Timbers head to FC Dallas on Saturday with more than points on the line.
The lopsided and, at times, embarrassing losses to the L.A. Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls to start 2018 are the kinds of performances that can demoralize a team. Now, the Timbers need to prove to themselves that they are making some progress.
That gives new coach Giovanni Savarese some difficult decisions. He went with very different line-ups in both games and both results were bad – can third time be a charm? Some choices will be made for Savarese ahead of time: David Guzman and Andy Polo will both be on international duty and thus ineligible for this match. But there are plenty of other factors within the coach’s control.
Here are four keys for Savarese and the Timbers as they face Dallas on Saturday:
Get the mentality right
Even at this early stage in the season, it probably doesn’t feel good for the Timbers to look at the Western Conference standings and see themselves in last place. The 2-1 loss in L.A. looked bad enough. Then came the 4-0 loss in New York that may have been the worst Timbers loss in the MLS era of the team. If the Timbers do go down first in Dallas, they could easily hang their heads and resign themselves to another humiliation.
But it’s up to Savarese to make sure that doesn’t happen. The Timbers need to believe they can win any game. After all, the MLS season is long and players will need to have short memories.
Savarese has been optimistic so far. To wit, here’s what he said this week: “In some way, I feel it’s good to go through this transition in this way because going through these difficulties is going to build the character we need to have to hopefully have a good season.”
But that only happens if the situation doesn’t snowball and the Timbers can move past their slow start. Savarese must instill the right mentality in the team – the self-belief that it can overcome its woes. In the first two games, a fighting mentality did not seem to be anywhere to be found. It’s hard to see the Timbers winning without it.
Shake up the defense
There’s no sense in rewarding two back-to-back performances as embarrassing as the Timbers’ opening two losses. But that’s what Savarese would be doing if lets Liam Ridgewell and Larrys Mabiala start together again in Dallas.
Mistakes and miscommunication happen. In L.A., the centerbacks were under a lot of pressure to bail out the fullbacks, who struggled badly. But the most galling aspect of the Timbers’ central defense in New York was a lack of effort. The image of Ridgewell, captain’s armband and all, checking over his shoulder and then continuing to jog slowly instead of tracking runners in the box on Ben Mines’ goal shouldn’t sit well with Savarese. Mabiala getting caught ball-watching isn’t acceptable either.
Savarese has been willing to make tweaks to his fullbacks. He started Zarek Valentin in New York after he wasn’t happy with Alvas Powell’s performance in L.A. Vytas may still out with a hamstring injury, though he’ll likely start as soon as Savarese thinks he’s ready. But Savarese should send a message by giving newcomer Julio Cascante a shot at centerback, or even consider some other options there, like Bill Tuiloma.
The Timbers claimed that having defensive depth was important this offseason. Now’s the time to prove they have it.
Commit to the press
From the moment Savarese was hired, he said his philosophy involved aggressive, pressing soccer. It’s clear his vision hasn’t been implemented in Portland the way he hoped – at least not yet. It’s possible Savarese may need to adjust his expectations if his players can’t adjust their own performances accordingly.
But FC Dallas has their tactical identity worked out, and it’s not exactly a secret. As Savarese said this week: “Dallas is a very good team, they have an identity, they are very direct, they have players that work very hard and are very mobile and they have speed. They are very good on the counters and are clinical in finishing. So it’s a tough team to play against.”
The way Dallas likes to counterattack is why the Timbers shouldn’t abandon their full-team press and should work on getting it right. The Timbers will need to pressure the ball from the front to prevent the sorts of direct counters that Dallas likes so much. The fullbacks in particular should be prepared for Dallas attempting to use speed on the flanks on the counter. Mauro Diaz, who looks like his old talismanic self lately, can’t be allowed too much time on the ball either.
If the Timbers can press to successfully stymie the Dallas attack and find some success, it could be the confidence boost the team needs to have a breakthrough after the rough start to the season.
Get Diego Valeri on the ball
We’ve already talked about what not having Diego Chara has meant for the Timbers. Case in point: they haven’t won their last 17 matches that Chara didn’t start stretching back to July 2015. That’s not to say the myriad of problems the Timbers faced against the New York Bulls would have been solved alone by Chara’s ability to hold down the central midfield.
But there’s one very specific reason Chara was missed in New York: Diego Valeri didn’t have time and space to get on the ball, which is what Chara creates. Chara’s ability to win the ball, turn and get it to Valeri quickly is what often gives Valeri space to work with. And it doesn’t take a tactical genius to realize that if Valeri was the best player in MLS last season, one of the best things the Timbers can do is make sure Valeri is able to influence games again this year.
In the Timbers’ embarrassing 4-0 loss to the Red Bulls, Valeri didn’t get enough touches and, when he was on the ball, he was immediately put under pressure. Too often, he didn’t have good options around him and lost possession.
Whether Chara makes his 2018 debut in Dallas or not, Savarese needs to find a way to get Valeri more involved. In New York, Lawrence Olum and David Guzman failed to provide anywhere near the disruption, distribution and ball-winning ability the Timbers will need centrally to let Valeri flourish. Whoever starts in Dallas needs to do better, Chara or not.