We’re all losers after that. In a lot ways, the 90 minutes between the first whistle and the last whistle really doesn’t matter in these matchups. All that matters is ending with a win. Guess what. The Sounders did not do that. They could’ve, maybe even should’ve, but they didn’t. That’s really frustrating and I am now going to talk about the ways in which that it was frustrating, because I’m a masochist who revels in pain. There’s no winners in this one because everything was a loss.

Winners

lol

Who are we kidding?

Losers

Defensive solidity

There is only one game left in July and the Sounders do not know what their best defensive unit. The back 7 against the Timbers consisted of Stefan Frei, Brad Smith, Roman Torres, Kim Kee-hee, Kelvin Leerdam, Cristian Roldan, and Gustav Svensson. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not that is the first choice defense, but with everyone available this is the defense Brian Schmetzer has rolled out two weeks in a row. What worked well against Atlanta didn’t work well against Portland. The Sounders are a time that prides themselves on good defense, and I do think they have a good defense still, but there’s still a lot more questions than good answers. I don’t think anyone had a particularly good game, and some had worse games than others. Looking at you Roman Torres and Brad Smith. Is it time to see what the quality in depth at those positions have? Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not a soccer coach, I’m just a blogger.

Substitutes

The three subs used in this game where as followed. Joevin Jones on for Harry Shipp in the 62nd minute. Kelvin Leerdam came off for Saad Abdul-Salaam in the 72nd minute. And finally Nouhou came on for Brad Smith in 87th minute.

On their own, each of these subs were fine. It made sense, I guess. Especially given the options on the bench at the coach’s disposal. But once you look at them as a whole it just seems like there’s something missing. Obviously Victor Rodriguez and Will Bruin being hurt doesn’t help, but there’s just something about bringing on three players that are ostensibly fullbacks in a game where you need a goal. I don’t know, again, I’m just a blogger.

Offensive soccering and all that stuff

I think that the thing I am most frustrated about with is the fact that the Sounders were both good and bad offensively. On one hand, they took 14 shots inside the Timbers’ penalty area. On the other hand, they attempted 35 crosses without any direction. For at least 70 minutes of that game, the Sounders had plenty of opportunities to score enough goals to tie, or even win that game. But that’s soccer I guess. Whatever. I’m upset.

Now it’s your turn to use the comments as a therapy session.