There’s a collection of teams who, when they come to Providence Park, feel as if they arrive amid reminders that the club even exists. Such is the reality of Major League Soccer’s schedule, where teams from the Eastern Conference only visit Portland every two years, by which time (given the rapid improvement of the league’s talent) their players, approach and expectations are usually transformed.
Who even coaches the New England Revolution, anymore? Dedicated MLS fans know (it’s actually somebody soccer famous), but how many Revs can those same fans name, right now? What formation does D.C. United play? Is Toronto FC even any good, at the moment?
Out of the same maelstrom comes the Philadelphia Union, who, on Saturday (8pm PT, FOX 12 PLUS), make their first visit to Goose Hollow since September 2016. Back then, luminaries such as Tranquillo Barnetta and Chris Pontius were foundational to Jim Curtain’s team. A central defense of Richie Marquez and Josh Yaro appeared to be starting a multi-year run, while Charlie Davies and Roland Alberg were among their bench’s attacking options.
From that team which lost 2-1 and finished that game with 10 men, only goalkeeper Andre Blake, right back Keegan Rosenberry and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya are still playing major parts. C.J. Sapong is still around (though it’s unclear if he’s the team’s starting striker going forward) while the bench role Ray Gaddis occupied that day has given way to time back in the starting lineup.
In name if not tactic (if not level of challenge), Saturday’s match should be a vastly different Union team that what visited two years ago. Here are three ways the Portland Timbers can manage that obstacle in this week’s KeyBank Scouting Report:
1. How do you replace Sebastián Blanco?
“Who do you think has been the Timbers’ best player?”
It turned out to be an unintentionally nebulous question, the one I asked Timbers’ analyst Ross Smith during downtime of Wednesday’s Talk Timbers. His answer was Diego Chara, although I was thinking of the question in different terms. “He’s missed more than 20 percent of the season, so far,” I replied. I was clearly thinking of something closer to “most valuable.”
For me, that would be Larrys Mabiala. Or, as I told Smith, Sebastián Blanco, who has missed one game this season while collecting six goals, four assists amid a transition to central midfield. That move has put his on-ball skills at the core of the Timbers’ formation, blunting his numbers, slightly, while increasing the amount of danger Portland can provide from the middle.
This weekend, Blanco will be sidelined, suspended after picking up his season’s fifth yellow card. So, how do you replace him, especially if part of your goal is to continue expanding how the team plays going forward? Do you, perhaps, move Diego Valeriinto the middle upon his All-Star-Game return? Elevate Andrés Flores, and leverage his all-around talents? Or do you take this opportunity to get an entirely different type of player, Cristhian Parades, back into the lineup?
There are others, too, who can factor in, here. Lawrence Olum could be put into defensive midfield, pushing Chara higher in the formation, while David Guzmán and Bill Tuiloma have also seen time in the middle.
Amid all these options, though, are few that can approximate Sebastián Blanco.
2. Focus on Julio Cascante
The Timbers have conceded three goals in the last two games, and their left-center back has played a role in each one. Cascante’s level of culpability has varied in each, but amid what’s broadly been an impressive introduction to Major League Soccer, the last two weeks have presented the Costa Rican’s first worrisome run.
The question is whether Giovanni Savarese sees things the same way. When asked this week about this defense’s recent errors, the Timbers boss put them into context, noting his team’s more ambitious attacking approach. Two months ago, when the Timbers were more single-mindedly focused on chance prevention, almost any goals conceded represented a significant problem. Now, the changes Montréal and Houston created are part of a bigger picture, one that sees Portland more willing to trade opportunities with their opponents.
Even within that vision, Cascante has been more mistake-prone than his partner, Mabiala. That might be a high bar, and it may be born out of opponents’ tactics (who they choose to target), but it’s something that bears monitoring, going forward.
3. Three is still the standard
It’s been the case all homestand, but it’s no less true now, after the Timbers broke through with a win last week against Houston, than it was two weeks ago, when Montréal took a point out of Portland. This four-game homestand that’s entering its last half – the month-long spell against Montreal, Houston, Philadelphia then Vancouver Whitecaps FC – is about getting wins over draws. Take three points in these games, the Timbers start closing ground on the top of the conference; else, tracking down Dallas for first in the West will have to take another route.
In one sense, it’s encouraging that this conversation is even happening. The team’s 0-3-2 start isn’t so long ago, and the restrained, step-wise improvement the team was showing against the Minnesotas and San Joses of the world shouldn’t so easily be forgotten. Three points or bust is a relatively new standard for this year’s team, even if it feels right considering the team’s talent.
And that, really, is the more salient point. The team got off to a slow start last season, but ultimately, this is a team that has more talent than the one that finished first in the Western Conference last season. That doesn’t mean it’s the most talented team in the conference – other teams have improved, too – but it does provide some perspective. Yes, against most teams, Portland should be expected to get three points at home.
Philadelphia is one of those teams. Coming off a 3-1 win in Houston, the Union have shown themselves capable of pulling off an upset. But an upset it would be, if Philadelphia got its first win at Providence Park.
