By Niall McCusker

Last time we did player ratings for Portland versus Columbus the Timbers had just captured their first MLS cup – so the ratings were succinct and to the point. The same match up at the start of a new campaign calls for a little more detailed analysis.

During the course of last season the Timbers underwent a tactical evolution. At first, with some key contributors missing due to injury, they went with a very cagey approach, not committing many players forward and subsequently struggling to find the net with sufficient regularity. All the while they were working on converting from being purely a possession based team to one that could hit effectively on the counter. But a fast transition with 3 or 4 players isn’t going to work very often against superior defensive numbers.

Then at the end of the season the switch was flipped, or rather the midfield was, with Nagbe coming in to operate in the middle and Chara being left to handle the defensive business on his own. Now there were 4 or 5 players available for those fast counters and they started looking a lot more dangerous as the team powered their way to the cup.

There was a little more to it than that as they were still able to move into a possession based game at times, alter the level of the defensive block and vary the intensity of the forward pressing. This season poses the question of whether the Timbers can prove they are a great team, or if, like many other MLS Cup winners before them, they were simply a good team who got everything firing at the right time to go on a cup run.

As the great English manger Brian Clough once put it “I want to win the league and I want to win it better, you can understand that can’t you?”

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This was perhaps the best opening game in Portland in the MLS era. Two good teams operating a level that looked more mid-season form than first game.

The Timbers featured 9 of the starting line up from MLS Cup. Dairon Asprilla was on the bench for the final but Rodney Wallace’s move to Portugal saw him enter the first eleven. The other missing Timber was ProstAmerika’s Cascadian player of the year, left-back Jorge Villafaña. That position had been the biggest question mark for this game as the heir apparent, former Crew member Chris Klute, had a longer than expected recovery from knee surgery.

Their had been some speculation that Liam Ridgewell could slot in on the left, where he had played in the close season with Brighton in the English Championship but he was assigned his normal role, partnering with Borchers in the center. In the Simple Invitational preseason tournament Andy Thoma and Zarek Valentin had seen time at left back, but in the end it was new signing Jermaine Taylor, who filled the gap. The Jamaican’s ability to slide over from the middle where he had played with Borchers as Ridgewell nursed a tweaked calf in preseason, speaks to Portland’s policy of acquiring players with positional flexibility.

The game was a lively well contested encounter from the start, both teams found some space wide, but didn’t have success in picking out the final ball. The intensity built and Portland’s counter attacks were very exciting, but sadly for the home crowd, not very clinical, with Asprilla leading the way in chances missed. Columbus showed what they were about too, getting some dangerous balls into the box and working the Timbers central defenders hard.

Valeri’s crossed free kick was missed by everyone, including the Crew keeper and gave the home side a halftime lead. Portland came out in the second half and stepped their attacking up to another level, but still could not find a second goal.

Theoretically the one defensive midfielder formation means Nagbe can spend a lot of time sitting beside Chara – but unless the two young wide-men step up and produce is he still somewhat wasted back there? In his one thrust forward into the box he came closest to extending Portland’s lead, striking the bar from Valeri’s exquisite through-ball.

The Crew were allowed to stay in the game. Higuain had been fairly quiet – but a player of his class just needs one look. His overhead finish could have frustrated the Timbers in previous seasons, but they kept confidence in their system and pushed hard to regain the lead.

It was a combination between he two wingers that delivered the second goal, Melano cut inside nicely and found Asprilla in space with a great outside of the foot pass. There was some redemption for the young Colombian’s early misses as his shot was too hot for the Crew keeper to handle, allowing Adi to bundle over the rebound from close range.

It was a deserved win in the end, Portland’s system looks to have not lost a step in the close season, the execution just needs to become more clinical.

Here are the individual ratings:

Adam Larsen Kwarasey: 6.5

Will this be another season where he can pull up his lawn chair for long spells or will Portland’s more attacking look force him into more frequent action? I suspect he will get the chance to show his worth. Columbus didn’t get many dangerous shots on target, though he had one sharp save down to his left early in the second half.

Some of his punched clearances are great, but at times he takes that option when a relatively easy catch looks on. His culpability in the Crew goal in the Cup final largely escaped scrutiny given the final result, but he still needs to be a little stronger under high balls.

Alvas Powell 7: The youngster had a great season on the defensive side last year developing into a rock solid contributor. But the question for this season was could he bring some more discipline and thought to the offensive side of his game. The extra numbers in Portland’s attacking half allow him to recycle the ball from the wing rather than taking an unadvised cross. He actually didn’t a attempt a single one in this game as Portland’s attacks were built in a different way.

Despite one wayward dribble into trouble in the middle of the park late in the first half, he locked down his corner effectively and even threw in a nice UFC move, flipping an opponent off his back. He still earned his free kick as the referee explained playground rules – “don’t want some-one to throw you off their back, then don’t climb up there”.

Liam Ridgewell 8: The Londoner only took a month off in the close season, making six appearances for Chris Hughton’s promotion chasing Brighton side in the English Championship. Last season his loan to Wigan seemed to keep him sharp but this time a calf strain in his last game for the Seagulls cost him any time to reacquaint with his team mates.

In the end none of these worries amounted to much. He bossed his line early, got right back to business with Borchers and had two key headers away from his own goal. Those were difficult and a lesser player might have directed one into his own net. This wasn’t a walk in the park, Columbus asked questions and the Timbers defense answered them effectively.

Ridgewell led the line in another key component of veteran center back play – approvingly applauding the assistant referees offside flags. He also did really well on the free kick Valeri scored, he was close enough that the keeper thought he would get something on it, but he pulled away at the last second, experience told him it might go in if left alone.

Borchers 7.5: The defensive line of four needs to be a living organism in its own right, not a collection of individuals. Borchers body language throughout the game illustrated this perfectly. He constantly checked his position relative to Ridgewell. Is the spacing between the center-backs correct? Check. Is our line far enough up the field? Check. Is my full back in the correct position? Check. Does my beard look magnificent? Check. And where is that sneaky b#$t#$d Kamara?

The answer to that was often out wide trying to get involved in the game as the service to Kamara was limited and when it arrived the defense handled him well. He found a hole once between the center backs to get onto a through-ball but Borchers and Kwarasey snuffed out the chance. Facing last season’s MLS top scorer, that is good going for the defenders.

He was closest to Higuain for his goal, but sometimes you just have to credit the attacker.

Jermaine Taylor 7: At the start he looked like he could be beaten for pace, but the dangerous Ethan Finlay didn’t get many attacking chances as Taylor went about his business in a cool professional manner with minimum fuss. Is this the left back answer? With a more attacking look in the middle it might be no bad thing at times to have an experienced veteran back there locking down the wing beside Borchers and Ridgewell.

He gave up a free kick in bad place at the start of the second half and didn’t make his first attacking run until the 65th minute. But all considered a very solid debut.

Chara 7.5: A version of the following dialogue might have taken place during the process of acquiring Diego Chara.

“You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.”

“You admire it?”

“I admire its purity. A survivor… unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.”

OK, so that was actually from Ridley Scott’s master-piece “Alien”, as a cyborg was describing the ultimate predator. But the point stands, much like a FIFA executive, no good defensive midfielder needs to be encumbered by ‘delusions of morality’. This season, as it looks like he will be often be asked to operate as a solo destroyer, Chara’s role will become even more key to the Timbers defense. In the first half Columbus had some unmarked runners arriving in too much space at the top of Portland’s box. Chara will need to manage that area and remind the other midfielders of their defensive responsibilities. To segue badly into another movie reference it would be fun if he could bring young Nagbe over to the ‘dark side’ just a little more.

He could perhaps have been more alert to Higuain sneaking into the game late on, but after Columbus equalized, Chara was key to Portland’s rally and control of the last twenty minutes. His customary ‘unnoticed pass of the game’ moment came two minutes from the end when he released Asprilla on the left.

Lucas Melano 7: He appeared on the right as he had done in the Cup final despite playing most of his preseason on the left. Portland’s attack went mostly down the left early, but he drew a couple of good fouls and put the work in. Last season he was bit like a young gazelle at times, he could run all day but there were some elements of clumsiness and a constant fear that he might get eaten by some of the predators that patrol the MLS savanna looking for victims.

This season will be a toughening up process as he continues to adapt to MLS, but the key will be to not lose the best aspects of his own game in the process. In this game he still had a few times where the ball got away from him on the dribble, but there were definite signs of a maturity and confidence coming into his play. He played a delightful pass to Asprilla to set up the Timbers winner and finished the game strongly.

Darlington Nagbe 7: A quietly effective game sitting deep in midfield. When he was one of only four attack minded players on the field at times last season that wasn’t enough. In this system it can be – but only if the other attackers put their chances away. Box entries from a deep lying Nagbe need to be encouraged more, he only entered the box once looking for a pass and he hit the bar with a great shot.

Diego Valeri 8: His early rush on the Crew keeper provided the Timbers Army with much amusement as they encouraged a replay of his Cup final goal. In the end he got his goal from a free kick that was a decent but not amazing delivery. It emphasizes the value of swinging those wide set-pieces in on target in hope that they can sneak through in the confusion if they don’t get a touch. It might well be his first cleanly scored (no deflection) direct free kick for the Timbers.

Valeri had great strength on the ball and close control in this game, last season it really took him to late September to get back to that level after injury. He had a few crosses he might have measured better, but his management of Portland’s attacks was excellent, the correct option was invariably chosen. His ball to Nagbe was the pick of his passes and he had some dangerous shots of his own as well. An injury free season this time around could be key to more success for the Timbers.

Dairon Asprilla 6: The Colombian presents what last season became known as the “Melano conundrum” – do you praise a young player for getting into great spots or do you lambaste him for missed chances? A little of both is probably a fair compromise, he could have had a hat-trick in the first half alone, but gained some redemption when the rebound from his shot provided the tap-in for Adi’s winner.

Portland’s attack at present is set up to create chances for the wide attackers – so they need to take them or they will risk sitting on the bench.

Fanendo Adi 7: Can Adi build on his tally of 16 regular season goals from last season? I don’t think he will, but if he doesn’t that might be a healthy sign for the team’s progress as midfielders and wide-attackers do their share of scoring. Adi was effective in this game at pulling out the Columbus defense and creating space for those around him – this season may find him playing a more sacrificial role – think Ryan Johnson 2013.

Substitutes:

Jack Jewsbury (on in 87′): not on long enough for a rating. Perhaps he could have been brought in a little earlier, but it seems fitting that Portland, in setting out their ethos for the new season, kept the attacking look for as long as possible.