“Bless you!” Good manners are their own reward as the multi-talented Michael Barrios protects both the ball and exposing San Jose’s Tommy Thompson to germs. Photo courtesy of Ziro Castellanos.
By Matt Hoffman
Prost Amerika has taken the Up Goer Five Challenge by writing a preview article for the Portland Timbers at FC Dallas match (Wednesday, 6 p.m. PST (ROOT-NW, 102.9). The Up Goer Five Editor was created by a geneticist to try making scientific papers more readable using only the ten hundred most frequently used words in the English language. Obviously proper nouns won’t count but we’ll otherwise give it a go. Oh and quotes, we will totally not edit those. Did you know “goal” is not on the list? Neither is “win”? Yikes!
It is Once de May; It’s the party you did not even know was around. It is the day MLS has five games on Wednesday in May for some reason.
With three losses in three road games, FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja said, “We can’t wait to be back home.”
Entering Wednesday’s game, 272 minutes (over three games) will have gone since FC Dallas have last put the ball in the happy place. That’s a long time!
Dallas players celebrate good times. Photo: Dan McCooey
Very little went right for young Dallas who found the road to be a hard place. FC Dallas even played short one man when Ryan Hollinshead had to use his hands when keeper Jesse Gonzales got hurt. “My little brother grew up as a goalie, so he taught me everything I know so I felt confident going in goal even though the chances of that happening are usually very slim,” Hollingshead said after the game.
Losing to Vancouver (3-0), New York Red Bulls (4-0) and Toronto (1-0), Dallas took less shots (19 to 12 to 10). Yet Pareja finds hope going against Portland, “Today I saw a lot of improvements,” Pareja said after the match. “I saw I saw some glimpses of what we really are and that keeps me optimistic about the next two games that we play [with a] short turnaround, this week.”
Since they lost to Dallas a few weeks ago, Portland has lost only once in four games; their only loss being to Vancouver. One half of good play was not enough Saturday as Masato Kudo and Blas Perez were able to get forward and make things happen. It didn’t help Portland that Vancouver got a lot of shots.
In a span of five games, the Timbers defense has been under pressure. Portland’s offense has, meanwhile, made few opportunities of their own.
It’s not just Vancouver though. A lot of teams have had a lot of shots against the Timbers.
One thing to note is Portland had 27 crosses in their last meeting against Dallas with Alvas Powell playing. They have 38 total crosses in the five games since all played with Powell out and Zarek Valentin in his place. Valentin has played not as fast nor as wide as Powell.
Passing chalkboard comparisons right backs of Zarek Valentin (vs Vancouver, May 7), and Alvas Powell (vs Dallas, April 13). Powell injured himself in the FC Dallas match and is nursing a torn ligament in his wrist. He is expected to return in June.
For Portland, the numbers look bad: Portland allows many shots; Dallas takes many shots.
Only the New York Red Bulls has taken more shots than Dallas. In four games Jake Gleeson has faced 21 shots, more than any keeper in that time. The Timbers must keep the ball out of the final third.
It might be a good idea to play a 4-1-4-1 placing Zemanksi above the back line to make it play really better.
For Portland, the key is to: Shut down the middle; Keep the ball away from Dallas; When Portland gets the ball, try to surprise Dallas by going fast down the sides on the counter.
