Portland Timbers Player Ratings: The Team on Fire edition

It was a disheartening 2-2 draw but at least the Portland Timbers are still earning points while making mistakes. As Stacey mentioned in the Man of the Match post the cupboard is bear this week in terms of editors available. With that in mind here are mine and Stacey's ratings for last weekend's game.

Milos Kocic - 5

Stacey- Through most of the game, Kocic looked confident in goal, and he made a great save in the 10th minute when Chris Rolfe got a wide open shot that had to be parried over the bar. The Fire's first goal is on Kocic though, for failing to get a hold of that ball when he came off his line.

Andrew Jean Baptiste - 6

Stacey - AJB is taking a lot of flak for both goals, but on the first goal he was doing everything he could to make that an easy play for Kocic, shielding Magee off and practically diving over his keeper to avoid interfering with the save. The foul that led to the equalizing goal was foolish, but no more so than at least a dozen other mistakes by the Timbers at the end of the game. Elsewhere in the second half, he was covering for Jewsbury and making important interceptions and recoveries as the Timbers tried to hang on to the game.

Pah Madou Kah - 6

Ryan - Both Kah and AJB had to cover for the outside backs on numerous occasions. Having to both do your job and someone else's always stretches you thin but Kah was able to handle it. Now if he could channel his inner Silvestre on his distribution we would be set for the rest of the season.

Michael Harrington - 4

Ryan - He struggled to get anything going offensively, his crosses did not find the desired target and he and he struggled at times to link up effectively. His offensive struggles probably had to do with the fact that he had a nightmarish time keeping in front of the Chicago's speedy wings and was beat by speed on a couple of occasions. When a team is clogging the middle like Chicago was doing the Timbers need Harrington to provide quality runs and crosses to unlock the middle of the field.

Jack Jewsbury - 4

Stacey- He got beat again and again on the right side of the field, causing Andrew Jean-Baptiste and his other teammates to have to cover for him.

Ben Zemanski - 6

Ryan- He was the best central midfielder on the night but he still looked out of sorts at times. His goal was a thing of beauty as he placed it perfectly rather than hitting hit with power like most other players would have done.

Will Johnson - 4

Ryan - One of his worst performances as a Timber. The addition of Ben Zemanski seemed to throw off the chemistry of the central midfield players as they tried to adjust to one more central midfielder.

Diego Chara - 4

Ryan - His passing was off all night and he constantly looked like he felt out of position. The addition of Zemanski really threw off both Chara and Will Johnson.

Darlington Nagbe - 4

Ryan - He dissapeared for long stretches of the game and the Timbers need more from him if they want to continue to vie for a playoff spot.

Diego Valeri - 8

Ryan - By far the most important player on the pitch. You could see how much influence he has on the possession style offense this team tries to play. Without him the team looked lost and had no one to pass it to in order to relieve pressure.

Frederic Piquionne - 7

Ryan - He just keeps producing. His two assists showed that not only can he take the shots given to him but he can also find the open player in a multitude of ways.

Sal Zizzo - 3

Stacey - Bringing Zizzo in for Valeri was a bit of a confusing substitution, and it didn't really look like Zizzo was ready for first team time just yet. He squandered the best chance the Timbers had to grab the lead back with a poor cross, when he had three teammates to aim for in the box or the option to cut it back for Piquionne instead.