This past Saturday, Stumptown footy fans were treated to a Timbers and Thorns doubleheader in Chicago. Though both teams outplayed their opponents throughout most of their respected contests, it was the Thorns who came away with the treasured 3 points. The Timbers gave up a late game-tying goal and were forced to settle for a draw.
Despite the draw, the fact that the team seemed extremely disappointed about a road tie is a step in the right direction, especially for a squad who started the season looking a bit lost and flat. The Timbers were able to effectively move the ball around, supported in large part by Sebastian Blanco. Blanco has been stellar of late, constantly finding open spaces on the pitch and sparking offensive creativity.
To make a wine comparison, Blanco has been like a bad case of powdered mildew in the vineyard for opposing defenses. Though, treatable, powdered mildew causes headaches and requires careful attention. Similarly, Blanco certainly can be defended if closely monitored, but don’t tell that to defenders from Dallas or Chicago, who look as if they could’ve used a fungicide in trying to slow him down these past weekends. If Blanco’s creativity can again set up teammates like it did on that beautiful goal scored by Diego Valleri this weekend, the Timbers will inevitably climb their way up the standings sooner rather than later. Portland has a winnable game on Sunday when they travel to Orlando, though the Lions may have gained a bit of courage (bad pun intended) with their home win this past weekend against the New York Red Bulls.
Interesting Note: Ever since an uninspired, lackluster performance in New York City, Liam Ridgewell has not only not seen the pitch, he hasn’t even made the list of the 18 guys who travel. While it’s still early to draw any conclusions from that, it certainly has caused speculation amongst a fanbase wondering what the fate will be of the man whose jersey has a “C” stitched on it. Though he appears to be in the doghouse, for now, we expect when Ridgewell returns to the field, whether it be in Orlando or later down the road, he will look different than he did in New York and return to the level of play that his coach and fans expect.