In the 4th minute of the May 27th match against Seattle, Nicolas Lodeiro served up a perfect corner kick that ultimately found the head of Cristian Roldan, who put it past Jake Gleeson to give the Sounders the lead. For the fourth straight match, Portland gave up the opening goal.

In the end, that was all the Sounders would need as the Timbers had themselves a ton of shots – but very few of any real quality, and several of which were blocked – to try and yield something out of the contest in the form of a draw, which they failed to do. And so, the Timbers concluded what turned out to be – putting it nicely - a lackluster six-week run.

I had predicted that Portland would perhaps cool off a little bit and maybe even give back their lead in the race for the Supporters Shield. However, I had also hoped for the Timbers to stay in the thick of the race at the very least. Like many others, I certainly didn’t see this God-awful run coming.

And yet……………..here we are.

Beginning with their loss at home against Sporting Kansas City - where they got outworked from start to finish and could get next to nothing going – through yesterday’s loss at Seattle, the Timbers only garnered five points (FIVE!) out of a possible 21. At the time, Portland went into that stretch leading the Shield race. But now? After a five-match winless run that includes two matches where they absolutely crapped the bed in unforgettable fashion against San Jose and Montreal, in addition to other teams that have caught fire and gotten things going, the Timbers now have only 18 points and sit in fifth place in the West and twelfth in the overall table thanks to Atlanta jumping over them with their win this afternoon.

TWELFTH.

Let that sink in for a moment.

The Timbers are free falling so hard that Tom Petty should consider getting his band back together to re-record that song with different lyrics and dedicate it to them. By the way, here’s the video taken from YouTube of the original in case you wanna watch it and remininsce…………

OK, back to the topic at hand.

So the burning questions right now are as follows: How the HELL did they get here, and what the HELL should they do about it?

Clearly the biggest culprit is the one thing that has been the bane of Portland’s MLS existence – the damned back line. It didn’t help that Gbenga Arokoyo got so seriously hurt that he was ruled out for the whole season, but it has been made crystal clear that the Timbers did not do enough to address the problem in giving up a 2018 1st round pick and some pocket change for Lawrence Olum. And with each passing match, that trade is looking worse and worse. Maybe the Superdraft is one huge guessing game of who will truly pan out after the first few picks, but what if the pick that Portland has to give up ends up being pretty high? And to not get the transfer done in the May window for their "mystery CB" is just ridiculous. Regardless of who it is - Larrys Mabiala or John Boye or someone else we didn't expect - that just means a later start to getting acclimated to one of the more physical leagues on the planet while the rest of the unit adjusts to his presence. Which could mean more critical errors happening where goals are surrendered. Was this the best that Gavin Wilkinson thought he could realistically do?

And secondly, it looks as if the Timbers’ attacking scheme has been figured out. They have 22 goals altogether for the season, but after leading the way in goals scored almost all season, Portland only knocked home TWO goals in May. And one of those came from Liam Ridgewell (of all people – on a set piece to boot). The one attacking player to get a goal the whole month? Diego Valeri – the same Valeri who had only one chance created yesterday against Seattle. The center of the park has been taken away from Portland, forcing them to play out wide with progressively poorer results. Caleb Porter being dead set in that 4-2-3-1 scheme certainly must be contributing to that predictability.

And really, it could be said that managerial rigidity is another problem. No matter how the match goes, he sticks with his guys – and his formation - through and through. Personally, I think a different formation such as a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-3-3 wouldn’t have been a bad idea to at least TRY against Seattle since they really had nothing to lose going in with Diego Chara being forced to sit out. The fact that he bragged to a reporter that he wasn’t going to make any subs STILL gets to me, as I’m sure it does other people.

"Same As It Ever Was"? We’re headed there again.

So now, what should the Timbers do? Other than land a "mystery CB", maybe they should go after a "mystery RB" as well since Alvas Powell no longer can seem to cut it. That D needs fixing DESPERATELY. While we’re at it, some additional attacking depth may be needed. Why not bring up Villyan Bijev from T2, as I’ve read some people in the comments suggest? Hell, let’s see what he can do. Is it time to give Jeremy Ebobisse a real crack with the first team run? Let’s see what he can bring to the table in a real match situation. If nothing else, at least we would know more about the Timbers’ attacking depth.

In my mind, these next seven matches are going to play a big part in Portland’s future the rest of the year. They could very well make or break their season (shocking that we’ve quickly reached this point, but it’s true). Four of them are gonna be at home, and all of them are no gimmes with the form they’re in. Anyway, for better or worse…………...here they are:

HOME vs SJ – A Friday night contest where it’s up in the air if David Guzman will see the field. We already know that Darlington Nagbe will miss this contest. Diego Chara will be back, but that just means Olum will be on the opposite side again if Guzman can't go. Seriously, why not Amobi Okugo to start? Not just come in off the bench. Maybe the Timbers will be motivated enough to get revenge on an Earthquakes side that steamrolled them only weeks ago.

HOME vs Dallas – This is the second match where Portland will surely be shorthanded due to international call-ups. Again, no Nagbe, likely no Guzman whether he’s called up by Costa Rica or still injured, and who knows who else the Timbers will be missing. Kellyn Acosta and Matt Hedges will miss this match, but other than that Dallas should have a full compliment unless Walker Zimmerman misses time after getting hurt against Houston.

AT Colorado – This will be four nights after their Open Cup match at the hellhole that is Starfire against the Sounders. If the Timbers are smart, they’ll save some key guys for THIS match and roll out some T2 players for the Open Cup match. I’d love to say that the Timbers have a real shot to win this one…………..but I also thought so against Montreal, and we all know what happened.

AT Minnesota – This is without question a MUCH different side than the Timbers saw to open the season. They sorted their defensive issues out with the trade they made and since then haven’t played badly. They’ve won four of their six home contests since April began, including huge shutout wins over both SKC and Orlando. Portland cannot take these guys lightly. Oh, and this is a midweek contest as well. Just……………..awesome.

HOME vs Seattle – Perhaps the trend of the Timbers getting revenge at home more often than not will continue. It’ll need to. By this point, I have a feeling the match will be even more of a "must win" than usual.

AT SKC – Unless they’ve learned by this point to pick apart the D that the team formerly known as the Wiz have, which locked them up the first time, the Timbers will not win this one. Period, point blank. SKC is unbeaten at home in 2017 and have won their last five in the "Blue Hell" that is Children’s Mercy Park. And take a wild guess who their only road win this season is against.

HOME vs Chicago – Another club that is vastly different now that they have Bastian Schweinsteiger lining up for them. They’ve won six times since he joined, and are now only five points behind Toronto in the Shield race. Five of those wins have come at home, yes, but they are much improved all the same. This is the Timbers’ last match before the Gold Cup break. Oh, and Nagbe could miss this one due to national team duties as well.

As I mentioned earlier, we’re almost at the point of "Same As It Ever Was" yet again. These seven matches could very well decide the fate of Caleb Porter and Gavin Wilkinson. If the Timbers don’t at least improve on their standing in the West by this point (they're shockingly just four points back of SKC) and at least give themselves a puncher’s chance of winning the Shield…………………..then they both HAVE to go. There’s just no sugar-coating it anymore.

Gavin really needs to get on it during the next transfer window and seriously address these problems with the team. This will be his last chance to fix things. Porter? Well, maybe being a bit flexible with the formations and acting like he gives a shit rather than giving pithy comments like "It’s undeniable to me that we were the better team on the day" when clearly they weren’t the better side since they lost will help him.

And do you wanna know what’s so sickening about the position they’re in? If the Timbers actually hold on for the road point against Columbus and the wins against New England and Dallas, and if they don’t coke-fart the first 30 seconds of the second half against Atlanta and win that match as well, they could have 25 points, good enough for tops in the West and second in the overall table, just four points behind Toronto. A world of difference being ten positions higher with a very real chance at the Shield, and beginning to run away with the West, compared to the sad reality of their current position.

Finally, I’d like to close with this last question: Will the Timbers get to have their moment where they totally redeem themselves in the eyes of us supporters like Lloyd did in the eyes of Harry in "Dumb and Dumber"? Let’s hope that happens. Oh, and here’s another trip down memory lane courtesy of YouTube. Enjoy.

While we're at it, I'm curious what type of comment I'll get first - an ACTUAL comment with something constructive to add to the conversation, or another damn spam bot?