When your team is 1-8-4 at a place all-time, a tie is a good result. When you were eliminated the game before and are at risk of a “season’s over” collapse, then a tie is a good result.
So good point, fam.
“It was a great response. We know that it’s not easy to come to this field and to play like this. In the end, it was sacrifice, it was a fight, we had good sequences with the ball. We need to keep improving but tonight we saw a team with fight and a great attitude.”
Interim Coach Peter Luccin
Let’s break it down.
Lineups and Tactics
Finally, amazingly after being eliminated, Interim Coach Luccin shifted to a back four. A 4-3-3 specifically.
“To be honest, we’ve been struggling since Day 1 this season in terms of too many goals conceded. We have to keep working on what’s the best shape for this team. In the beginning of the season, with the back-4 we conceded a lot of goals, with the back-5 we conceded a lot of goals, so maybe we changed too much but it was to find the best shape for the players. In my mind, I have a shape, I’m sure with that shape but at the same time we need to think about what players we have. Today, I was pretty pleased by what I saw defensively.”
Interim Coach Peter Luccin
Nkosi Tafari was back on the bench with Marco Farfan and Sebastien Ibeagha at center back. Sam Junqua was a surprise inclusion at left back and Paul Arriola at right back.
Despite no official acknowledgment from FCD, actions say Petar Musa was benched for his straight-to-the-locker-room sub stunt last week. In the new shape, Bernie Kamungo got a run out at his natural position at the cost of Jesus Ferreira (rather than Alan Velasco as one might expect on turf).
Jimmy Maurer gets the call in the net with Maarten Paes having a sore wrist. With FCD eliminated I am 100% cool with that.
A three-man midfield gets Sebastian Lletget back on the field as well.
At halftime, Tsiki Ntsabeleng replaced Velasco, perhaps for injury, more on that below.
75th minute, Ferreira came on for Logan Farrington. 85th minute, Eugene Ansah replaced Kamungo. 93rd minute, Patrickson Delgado came on for Lletget.
Portland Timbers are clinched for the playoffs but are still fighting the points and position. Again with chicken socials, we go to MLS for the shape of their 4-2-3-1.
64th minute, Miguel Araujo and Anthony replaced Kamal Miller and Santiago Moreno.
72nd minute, Cristhian Paredes and Eric Miller replaced David Ayala and Claudio Bravo.
Goals
None.
Lo Bueno
My Man of the Match was Jimmy Maurer. Perhaps fired up by the San Jose game, Maurer came out and put in another mic-drop performance. 7 saves, fantastic. He got himself an MLS Team of the Match Day bench nod.
“He means a lot to us. After the game we played in Vancouver, for example, you can see he’s a leader. He’s a leader by example but he can also be vocal. He’s a top man and he deserves today’s performance.”
Interim Coach Peter Luccin
Sebastian Lletget was the other player I had in consideration for MotM. I thought he was bright all game. 72 touches, 83% passing, 7 progressive passes, 6 shot-creating actions, 2/2 on tackles, and 11 progressive receptions.
There’s no question FCD was better in the 2nd half and Tsiki Ntsabeleng was the catalyst for that replacing Alan Velasco. I’m not bashing Velasco, I’m celebrating Ntsabeleng as his numbers would be a good complete game for some people. (I stick with my prediction, Velasco shouldn’t have started this game.)
| Stats vs Portland | Velasco | Ntsabeleng |
|---|---|---|
| Passing | 73% | 78% |
| Progressive Passes | 1 | 6 |
| Shot-Creating Actions | 0 | 4 |
| Final-third Passes | 0 | 5 |
| Progressive Carries | 2 | 1 |
| Take-ons | 0/3 | 1/1 |
| Tackles | 0/0 | 2/3 |
| Progressive Recptions | 0 | 4 |
| Recoveries | 0 | 5 |
It’s amazing how much more comfortable Bernie Kamungo looks in his natural position as an actual left wing. I’m not even going to look at his stats cause it was enough to see his flow back.
Camino del Medio
Logan Farrington wasn’t poor by any stretch but just didn’t quite come through. 30 touches is plenty and he managed 4 shots with 1 on target (which is right on Petar Musa’s per 90 numbers). 2/2 on take-ons, 3 progressive carries, 5 shot-creating actions, 4 progressive passes, and 2/2 in aerial fuels. All solid. But FCD needed him to bag one. His xG was 0.7, that’s where a big-time 9 comes through.
Something happened with Alan Velasco with this leg a moment before halftime. He then sprinted off the field and into the locker room. I really hope he was hamming it up for the ref and something isn’t wrong. It’ll be a real shame if he got hurt on turf in a meaningless game.
FCD Dead horse alert but stick with me a moment… 18 shots great, 6 on target, boo. That’s just a third, 33%. On the other hand, FCD had 9 shots blocked. So shooting when covered or a hectic defender by the Timbers? I walked away feeling like it was a bit of hectic defending on the Timbers’ part. \
Muy Feo
If FCD has only 6 shots on target, why does The Timbers keeper, James Pantemis, have 7 seaves (on MLSsoccer.com)? What did I miss?
Maybe it’s just the bad season, but Asier Illarramendi and Show Cafumana were not on the same page quite a few times. Both had good games, but there was a lot of gesturing, pointing, and hand-waving going on.
Instant Reaction – 3 Things
