Quick Recap
Despite desperately needing a win the Portland Timbers seemingly came out of the locker room with the intention of losing. Little effort was shown at all by a team that was supposedly getting better.
First Half
Believe it or not the Portland Timbers did not the Portland Timbers did not start the game off in terrible shape. In fact for the first thirty minutes or so I would say that the Timbers were largely the more energetic side as they attempted to create chances. They weren't dominating by any means, but I saw a larger hunger in the Timbers players than I did in the Dallas players.
That said, Dallas was not without some serious goal scoring chances in that time either. Within the first 3 minutes the Timbers had almost gifted FC Dallas a free throw header that Eric Brunner was able to clear. Then, in the 18th minute Jackson Goncalves was able to get off an impressive strike from the 20th yard that hit the woodwork in the to right corner.
Portland had a singular goal chance in the 19th minute off a freekick when the ball was punched out by Kevin hartman to Rodney Wallace. Unfortunately Wallace's shot was deflected by Hartman.
Despite not being as eneretic at the Timbers, FC Dallas had more goal chances within the first thirty minutes of the game.
From the 30th minute onward FC Dallas was, by far, the dominant team on the field. They became more energetic, they made more meaningful attacking runs and they seemingly justw anted to win more than the Timbers did. Their efforts paid off rather quickly with a Zach Loyd goal in the 34th minute and then again in the 39th minute by George John.
The first half would close out with FC Dallas leading 2 - 0.
Second Half
Coming into the second half with such a large deficit one would think the Timbers would want to play with a little more urgency, energy and a stronger will to win the game. Unfortunately, if anything, they seemed even more deflated than in the first. Overall the entire second half performance was lackluster, to put it politely and key players were largely non existent.
There's really not much to say about the second half beyond that. Brek Shea scored a goal off a defensive gaf by the Timbers backline in the 58th minute and then Ruben Luna pretty much ends the game in the 85th minute with his first MLS goal ever, and quite possibly one of the easiest goals he'll ever get.
The Portland Timbers made almost no meaningful runs in the second half. Kenny Cooper, Jorge Perlaza, Jack Jewsbury, and every sub that ws brought on were pretty much invisible throughout.
I can analyze the game over and over again, but what it really amounts to is the Timbers just played terribly. They weren't showing any inclination of attempting to win the game. I'd like to be able to point to a single player and say it was his fault, but I can't. This was a team effort at sucking tonight.
Observations
- This was not only the worst game of the season for the Timbers tactically, but it was also the first time the Timbers got scored against by 4 goals.
- Despite the lackluster performance, the Timbers actually had the higher possession at 52%.
- Hey at least we can blame the referee for this one!
- With Chivas USA tying their game tonight this official puts the Timbers second to last in the standings for the Western Conference, four points more than the Vancouver Whitecaps.
- The Timbers continue their road woes. Next week we are, luckily, back at home again.
Your thoughts? Am I being too harsh here?