There are only five matches on tap this week in Major League Soccer, but even with the shortened schedule a few still stand out and look rather intriguing. This is an ideal time for some clubs to gain ground in the standings while others are aiming for a higher position.
The main match this week is Seattle Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, however with it already being covered in detail on Red Nation Online this week we’ll look at an inter-conference affair between two sides trending upward.
We’ll be breaking down and analyzing a surging Portland Timbers squad whose lone loss of the season came in Week 2 against Montreal Impact and have really hit a groove under Caleb Porter traveling to Bridgeview, Illinois and Toyota Park to play a Chicago Fire side that have struggled for goals but have looked much better in recent matches.
Portland Timbers @ Chicago Fire
When first looking at this match it’s worth noting that both of these teams might look slightly different than normal both due to international call-ups US Open Cup games midweek, the Timbers have a home date at JELD-WEN Field against the NASL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies while Chicago Fire play the Columbus Crew at Toyota Park.
Portland comes into this match fresh off a bye week and arguably look the most complete team in MLS, particularly when looking at the midfield quartet of Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe, Will Johnson and Diego Chara whom have developed a real understanding of each others positioning, combination play looks much crisper than at the beginning of the year and have contributed a combined 12 goals and 11 assists.
The interesting predicament that Caleb Porter finds himself in is how to replace the play of Rodney Wallace, Ryan Johnson, Donovan Ricketts and Mamadou “Futty” Danso who are unavailable for selection due to international duty; the players that will likely fill in those positions are Kaliff Alhassan, Frédéric Piquionne, Milos Kocic and Pa Modou Kah.
Inserting Ricketts, Modou Kah and Alhassan into the line up is fairly straightforward but there are options in the forward position and the general chemistry that has been developed will be put to the test, this is especially the case for a defensive unit that has it’s fair share of injuries and an attack that plays a very intricate style.
Chicago have had an anemic attack for much this early MLS campaign and looked to be regretting the trade that sent forward Dominic Oduro to Columbus Crew for midfielder Dilly Duka and the rights to midfielder Robbie Rodgers, however that trade now looks to be vital after the club flipped Rodgers’ rights to the LA Galaxy for hometown boy Mike Magee.
Magee has already paid dividends scoring two goals in his first two games (one in US Open Cup & one in MLS) and allows coach Frank Klopas to use other players in their natural positions, this addition as well as the recent acquisition of defender Bakary Soumaré from Philadelphia Union now gives the squad a much more stable look to it and takes struggling players such as “DP” forward Sherjill MacDonald or an injured/ageing defender Arne Friedrich out of the spotlight.
Much of the success of this team depends on the relationship that Magee and his forward partner Chris Rolfe can form and more importantly the quality service they’re provided from wide midfielders Patrick Nyarko and Joel Lindpere, if these four players can start to develop some consistency then that 0-4-0 start to the season can be considered a distant memory a hunt for a playoff place could be a realistic possibility.
When looking at the individual match-ups to watch they’re all over the pitch but two really stand out, primarily fill in left winger/forward Kalif Alhassan vs. right back Jalil Anibaba and Jeff Larentowicz vs. the duo of Will Johnson/Diego Chara.
The right side of the Chicago defensive unit between Austin Berry and Jalil Anibaba is quite young and is an aspect of the match that Caleb Porter will look to exploit by flooding that area with attackers, mainly through the wide play of Alhassan but also through delayed runs into the box by Valeri and Nagbe as well as pushing one of his two ball winners in either Johnson or Chara into an attacking position. For the Fire to not get exposed much of the responsibility is on Patrick Nyarko and either the Brazilian Alex or captain Logan Pause to track back and fortify the right side.
Much of what Portland does well can be traced to Will Johnson and/or Diego Chara patrolling the middle of the pitch, winning the ball and starting counter attacks from a deep position, the job of breaking up play, crowding space and disrupting the rhythm of the match falls mainly to Larentowicz and his central midfield partner which in most cases is Pause. The plan is really simple for Chicago, as the old saying goes “cut of the head and the body will die” and in this case the brains of the Timbers operation are Johnson, Chara and sometimes Valeri or Nagbe dropping into a deep position.
Here is how I see both sides lining up:
Portland Timbers:
Chicago Fire:
Prediction
Portland Timbers 3-1 Chicago Fire
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