Portland's Strategy
John Spencer reverted to a 4-4-2 after experimenting the past few weeks with a 4-5-1. To pair with Jorge Perlaza, Kenny Cooper was recalled to the lineup only after Eddie Johnson suffered a concussion in warmups. Sal Zizzo and Darlington Nagbe operated on the wings with Diego Chara and Marcelin anchoring the center of midfield. Chara was the engine behind Portland's attack while Marcelin did the dirty work.
LA's Strategy
With David Beckham back in the Galaxy lineup, Bruce Arena moved Sean Franklin back to right back and AJ DeLaGarza to his usual center back. Beckham and Juninho paired in central midfield with Stephens and Birchall on the flanks. Donovan, like in the second half v Vancouver started up top along side Angel.
Galaxy Control Possession But Portland Lead
The first half saw the Galaxy control 59% possession but register zero shots. LA easily passed the ball around the back but had no ability to create in the Timber's half. Angel received zero service from out wide or to his feet. Donovan tried to make runs in the left channel and also failed to collect a pass.
The central midfield pairing of Juninho and Beckham did not work. They each tried to create from deep with creative long balls but neither of them got forward to link up with the strikers. Additionally, the two midfielders failed to get close to Chara which allowed him space to find Timber attackers. Also, Birchall found space out wide but failed to deliver a dangerous cross, which Beckham could have provided.
On the other hand, Portland's 4-4-2 dropped off when they conceded possession and allowed LA to hold the ball in non dangerous areas. The Timbers were perfectly placed to win the ball back deep in their own half and counter. Chara resembled a basketball point guard and received the outlet passes from defense. He would then find Perlaza, Nagbe or Cooper in space. The runs were either in behind the defense by Perlaza or to hold up play with back to goal like Cooper. The runs from Perlaza especially troubled DeLaGarza as he could not match the Colombian stride for stride. Perlaza kept himself onside and thus found himself behind the defense.
Contrary to Vancouver on the weekend, the dominant start paid off in the 26th minute. Mike Chabala, newly acquired from Houston, played a nice one-two down the left with Nagbe. Nagbe's return ball put Chabala in space inside the box and he fired a right foot shot by Saunders.
The lead was doubled seven minutes later. Off a throw in, Chara found Perlaza in space at the top of the 18. The speedy striker let the ball roll by him and caught DeLaGarza looking. Perlaza caught back up to the ball and steered it beyond Saunders.
Arena Changes Yield Similar Results
Going into the break down two goals, Arena was not content with his lineup. Thus, he brought on Lopez and Cristman to play striker. Beckham moved to the right, Donovan to left wing and Birchall to the center while Stephens and Angel were taken off.
The sweeping changes failed to deliver. Beckham was able to swing in crosses but the strike force could not latch onto them. Donovan pushed high up the left side but could not find space to shoot. Cristman and Lopez's movement were predictable and never found space.
Meanwhile Portland maintained the same tactics and achieved the same results. The partnership of Cooper and Perlaza looked fluid. One would drop back to pick up the ball while the other played higher, tip toeing the Galaxy's offside trap. This spread out the LA defense leaving one v one matchups in space.
The Timbers sealed three points in the 68th minute. A corner kick was swung in to the back post where Bruner was free to beat Saunders. Sean Franklin allowed the central defender to get goal side of him which made for a simple finish.
Conclusion
Credit to Portland for a sharp and inspired performance. They out hustled LA and were more tactically prepared to execute a simple game plan based on a compact defense and a quick counter attack. The Timbers have a young squad that should be able to build on this performance going into next season.
For LA supporters, you hope that this was blip in the season instead of a massive problem. The Galaxy seemed flat and overwhelmed by the Timbers which may have been from a second consecutive road match in the past 5 days.
Thoughts?
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