MLS Five Points: Timbers unsettle Crew SC to win MLS Cup
The long and arduous road to this MLS Cup triumph provided Portland Timbers with plenty of information along the way. Their travails over the past few years -- including a defeat in the Western Conference final in 2013, the inability to even reach the playoffs a year ago and the inevitable ups and downs this year -- laid the groundwork for the ultimate success at MAPFRE Stadium on Sunday.
Portland improved as the season unfolded and figured out how to extract the best from this group along the way. Those strides manifested in this playoff run and reaped the ultimate benefits in the 2-1 victory over Columbus Crew SC on Sunday. It served as a testament to how the Timbers invested in themselves and leaned on their ability to evolve to claim their long-awaited prize.
"Well, I believe there's no failure, there's just feedback," Timbers coach Caleb Porter said after delivering the Timbers' first title. "And if you're a growth mindset person, then you take the feedback, and you learn from it and you get better. It doesn't mean you tell everybody about what you're learning and tell everybody that you failed at your game. I don't think you have to do that, but, privately and internally in this locker room, we have a group that looks at ourselves in the mirror. If it's not working, they're honest, I'm honest -- we change it and correct it. We're not naïve. Like I said, we're humble and we know what we need to do to win games and you saw that today."
All of those factors rose to the fore at the most critical time. Portland seized control inside the first seven minutes and sustained it through the duration of the affair. It supplied the perfect example of how this Timbers team figured itself out and played to its strengths on the way to the title.
High pressure leads to huge mistake inside the opening 30 seconds
Columbus Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark gets caught out by Diego Valeri in the opening minute of the game.
Portland varied its pressure at different points during the postseason. There were points when the Timbers sat back, soaked up pressure and sprung forward on the counter. And there were other times where they focused on pushing high up the field to win the ball in good areas.
Timbers coach Caleb Porter chose the second approach at the start on Sunday. It made sense because Columbus likes to play out of the back and occasionally struggles to find the right tempo under duress. Diego Valeri essentially manufactured the first goal by implementing those principles and punishing Steve Clark harshly for a poor touch inside his own goal area.
"We knew that they take risks to play," Valeri said. "That's their way. We knew that the aggressiveness in the first 20 minutes from us had to be there. We tried to press them, because most of the situations that they create come from their backline."
Second goal essentially sealed Columbus' fate
Portland Timbers defender/midfielder Rodney Wallace celebrates after scoring the second goal against Columbus.
If Columbus steered toward safe ground after that early error, then Crew SC might have extricated itself from a difficult possession. It took them several more minutes to settle down and work themselves into the game.
By that juncture, it was simply too late. Portland procured a second goal through a calamity of errors -- the assistant referee somehow missed the ball going into touch, while Tony Tchani stopped playing and the rest of the Crew SC defense essentially followed suit -- and a rare Rodney Wallace header at the back post. It proved a devastating blow to Crew SC's chances.
"What I would say is that we put a lot of effort into the game," Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter said. "We pushed the tempo and we tried to attack them, but they played a very good game. They really did. Defensively, they were very solid. [They had] some decent counter attacks. When you're up 2-0, it becomes a different game and they managed it pretty well."
Resolute core forces Columbus into wider areas ...
Columbus Crew midfielder Ethan Finlay battles for the ball with Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Chara
Portland spent most of this final relying on its strength in central midfield and central defense to frustrate Columbus. The firm spine of this Timbers side -- particularly with Diego Chara sweeping up anything and everything in front of the back line and Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell winning aerial battle after aerial battle -- left little room for Crew SC to operate through the middle of the park.
"Honestly, we had a game plan," Borchers said. "We wanted to press them. We wanted to put them under pressure. They were saying things like our defense wasn't that tough. They were saying things like we like the matchup. That's great. We liked the matchup, as well. And I thought we executed our game plan well. It was just a fantastic group effort and we just held it down."
... and Crew SC floundered in its attempts to make anything of the game.
Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp collides with Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi.
Some of Portland's success stemmed from Columbus' inability to pose much of a threat in possession. Crew SC dominated in possession (61 percent, per Opta statistics) without mustering the necessary incisiveness and movement to make anything of it.
Everything started with a lack of cadence on the ball. Columbus knocked it around well enough, but it carried out the task slowly enough to allow Portland to adjust its shape accordingly. It left Crew SC to flail around against a well-drilled opponent and trust the wide players to conjure something to create space.
It did not unfold according to plan, though. The state of the game encouraged Alvas Powell and Jorge Villafana to adopt more conservative positions. The inability to move the ball quickly permitted them to keep Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram in manageable spots and limit the effectiveness of Harrison Afful on the overlap.
Those issues -- plus the dearth of quality in the final ball and the dominance of Borchers and Ridgewell in the air -- essentially left Crew SC without a way to break down the Timbers' organized defense.
"I think we could have been more methodical getting the ball to the flanks and penetrating and getting crosses in," Berhalter said. "I think it's difficult. You're down 2-0, you want to stick to the plan and it's difficult sometimes. Overall, I think we could have moved the ball much quicker over to the wing area and got the ball in the box or looked to penetrate deep. We didn't do that effectively."
Timbers rely on deep line to see out the game
Columbus Crew forward Justin Meram battles for the ball with Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Chara.
All of those factors allowed the Timbers to meander through the second half without facing much of a threat. Columbus produced its best chance in the early stages -- Federico Higuain puzzlingly opted to pass instead of shoot on the edge of the goal area -- and spent most of the second half posing little threat to snatch an equalizer.
"We were never in danger," Porter said. "We were comfortable. We were tight. And that's what the game called for in the second half. We invited them forward. We could've been a bit better on the counters, and we had some good moments to put the game away. We could have been a little more clinical there, but we saw the game out. We shut it down and that's a part of winning."
The routine nature of the procession -- particularly in such a big match away from home -- showed why Portland succeeded so often on the road this season and underscored the Timbers' growth over the past few years. They grasped the opportunities presented to them with both hands and relied on their core to see out the game. It proved a fitting way for the Timbers to claim their first trophy.
