Player Grades:

On Saturday, the Portland Timbers won 2-1 against the San Jose Earthquakes, despite going down a goal before the end of the first half. While it’s not a great thing to concede first in matches, as the Timbers have over the last few games, the team has shown that they can rally back from being down to draw— and now even win games.

Here’s my breakdown of how the Timbers’ players performed as they moved up (temporarily) into the seventh position in the Western Conference.

Aljaz Ivacic (GK) - 6.2

Ivacic had another good all-around performance as he ranked in the 44th percentile for his passing and the 70th percentile for his goalkeeping. The Slovenian made some outstanding saves to keep the Timbers in the game and hold on for the win. This is supported by Ivacic’s expected conceded goals as he ranked firmly above-average for three different measures of this statistic. It wasn’t just his goalkeeping too, as Ivacic completed 14 of 16 passes and 5 of 7 long balls, making for a very solid all-around performance.

Josecarlos Van Rankin (RB) - 3.8

Van Rankin had a bit of a shaky performance as he performed slightly above-average in his passing and playmaking, but ranked below-average in his defensive and dribbling grades. Additionally, in typical Van Rankin fashion, he frequently fouled his opponents and that resulted in him picking up yet another yellow card, which had a large effect on his below-average grade.

Timbers backline trends:

Dario Zuparic (CB) - 4.8

Zuparic and his counterpart Larrys had an interesting performance as they didn’t really get tested much defensively (36th percentile for Zuparic), but still found ways to influence the game. For Zuparic, he had solid performances in his passing (54th percentile) and aerials (68th percentile), but ranked slightly below-average in his carries (42nd percentile). Hopefully, against better opponents, Zuparic can showcase more of his defensive qualities.

Larrys Mabiala (CB) - 4.7

As previously stated, Zuparic and Mabiala weren’t tested much defensively, which contributed to their low defensive grades (Mabiala ranked in the 42nd percentile). However, like Zuparic, Mabiala also found avenues to influence the game, such as his carrying (77th percentile) and passing (53rd percentile).

Claudio Bravo (LB) - 5.8

In contrast with the other outside back, Jose Van Rankin, Bravo had a solid performance across the board as he ranked above or around the average mark for each of his major categories. Specifically, Bravo ranked in the 48th percentile for his passing, 46th percentile for his playmaking, 64th percentile for his defensive grade, and the 69th percentile for his dribbling grade. Hopefully, Bravo can maintain this kind of consistency in all facets of his game but increase the quality slightly more in future performances.

Timbers midfield trends:

Diego Chara (CDM) - 7.2

Diego had a solid all-around performance as he ranked around the average mark for all of his major categories and even recorded five shot-creating actions as well. To be specific, Chara ranked in the 44th percentile for his passing, 47th percentile for his defense, and the 62nd percentile for his offensive grade. As you can see, Chara’s five total actions from a defensive midfield position had a tremendous influence on his grade, including his lucky shot-assist to Niezgoda to level the game for the Timbers.

Eryk Williamson (CM) - 6.5

Playing in a more advanced midfield position compared to Diego Chara, Williamson also had a well-rounded performance against Salt Lake. The American ranked above the 50th percentile for all of his major grades apart from his defense (where he hasn’t ranked highly this season). Regardless, Williamson made up for this by landing above the 60th percentile for his total actions, passing, and offensive grades. Hopefully, Williamson can continue to stay healthy and put together similar performances because when he is at his best fully healthy, he is a real asset to this Timbers team.

Timbers frontline trends:

Yimmi Chara (CAM) - 5.6

In typical Yimmi fashion, his performance was a bit all over the place. While Yimmi ranked in the 65th percentile for his passing, he also ranked in the 26th percentile for his dribbling. This comparison provides an example of the volatility of Yimmi’s performances for the Timbers almost every game. However, besides his dribbling, the Colombian ranked around the average mark for his playmaking and offensive grades and even above average for his pressing and defensive grade (70th percentile).

Dairon Asprilla (Winger) - 6.8

Like Yimmi, Asprilla’s performance was also scattered and a bit inconsistent. While the Colombian ranked in only the 37th percentile for his passing and 18th percentile for his playmaking, he was able to generate chances for himself due to his unmatched speed in physicality as indicated through his offensive (72nd percentile) and dribbling (64th percentile) grades. A prime example of this was Asprilla’s goal where he dominated the outside fullback to power a header into the back of the net.

Jaroslaw Niezgoda (ST) - 6.5

Niezgoda finally had an all-around performance where he ranked close to the average mark for all of his major categories in addition to scoring a somewhat lucky goal. Specifically, Niezgoda performed well in his shooting (50th percentile), passing (61st percentile), dribbling (51st percentile), and even his total actions were somewhat close to the average mark (47th percentile). To see Niezgoda performing even slightly below-average in his total actions should be a very encouraging sign to Timbers fans and hopefully he can maintain this form this weekend against Minnesota.

Marvin Loria (Winger) - 4.7

Loria didn’t have much of an effect on this game as most of his grades ranked below-average, except for his passing, which landed in the 52nd percentile. Although he got off a shot and recorded a shot-creating action, Loria for the most part had a difficult time making an impact on the attacking side of things, as the Costa Rican ranked in the 38th percentile for his offensive grade, 22nd percentile for his playmaking grade, and the 33rd percentile for his dribbling grade.

Substitutes:

Cristhian Paredes (CM) - 4.6

Despite being at or below-average for pretty much all of his major categories, Paredes still found ways to impact this game, especially through his shot assists and shot-creating actions. From a midfield position and coming on as a substitute, the Paraguayan recorded two shot assists to go with an additional two shot-creating actions, which had a large boost on his overall player grade. Besides that, Paredes struggled to separate himself and influence the game, as he ranked around the 40th percentile for all of his major categories, except his passing which landed in the 50th percentile.

Santiago Moreno (Winger) - 7.8

Although Moreno came on as a sub, the Colombian had a large impact on the game, as he provided the game-winning assist in addition to producing solid numbers in various categories. Moreno ranked above-average for all of his major categories apart from his defending and he especially performed well in his passing (81st percentile), playmaking (69th percentile), and overall offensive grade (66th percentile).

Felipe Mora () - N/A

Bill Tuiloma () - N/A

Zac McGraw () - N/A

David Ayala () - N/A

These players aren’t graded because I currently do not have a grading system that will fairly evaluate players who have under 20 total actions, compared to the rest of the team, who played most of the game.