Don't really care what it is, just really want to win some silverware with Villa here.
Home - 09/09 Portland
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Villa deserves a parade through the Canyon of Heroes.
Win the Cup and the SS in the same season and it will shut them down forever with no opportunity to ever talk smack.
I feel a lot better about this game without Adi. I still think we can get a bit burned on the wing for a cross, and Adi is a pretty good finisher. Obviously Nagbe and Valeri are concerning, but there isn't much else to be afraid of on this Timbers roster -- plus they've been pretty horrible on the road at 3-7-4. The west as a whole is atrocious on the road, bless em. Also, the Timbers have given up the third most goals in the West -- more than any team in the entire Eastern Conference. We have a really good shot at 3 points Saturday.
Haven't seen much of the responses to this as i've been busy and given a sudden and surprise road trip today.
Just wanted to say that neither is a perfect way of determining the better team. Sure, one team can be pretty good for an entire season and finish with 55 points maintaining a consistent pace, while another team can suck but then get hot late in the season to finish with 55 points. Both played 34 games, which team is better? Especially in MLS, where our schedule aligns poorly with other countries, we tend to get key impact players midseason. Take Seattle last year, they sucked hard early in the year. Then, they fired Sigi, brought in Nico Lodeiro and then became a dominant force and went on to win the league. Seattle was a 48 point team last season, but that is not an accurate portrayal of the quality of team they were at their peak.
MLS Cup playoffs are imperfect as well obviously, as a team can slip up in one game. Or have an injury or two which does not properly reflect the true caliber of the team.
Judging teams based upon a 34 match season which takes place over nearly 8 months with a transfer window is not the best way to determine who was better. Neither is a 5-6 game playoff, or a one month every 4 years tournament. However, sports are designed to entertain the fans, so a relatively short competition involving elimination games and winner take all final games will always be more popular to the masses than a long 34 game season which can be over for some teams 7 games in. Whatever is most important to the most people is the most coveted prize.
Is this a portland pre match or a shit show about who is right? Well both are important, and yes in Europe winning the league is the big prize... But imagine if Champions League was won by playing 30 games and whoever had the most games at the end won the Cup. It would be so anti dramatic until the 27th game when Barcelona finally clinches the Cup against a team that wasn't even in the running. That is why #MLSCUP is the big prize here, but something like the #SS is also very pristigious
Back to Portland. This is a tough game. They are 4th in the West on PPG and 2nd in points only. They are on a 3-game unbeaten run and were ranked 8th in SI's last power rankings.
They are well rested too. The one thing in our favor is that they have been poor on the road and prone to conceding goals in other people's stadiums.
They are well rested too. The one thing in our favor is that they have been poor on the road and prone to conceding goals in other people's stadiums.
Without Adi in the lineup, Valeri is going to be the biggest threat. He's scored in 6 straight games, so would like to not make that a seventh.
If Ring doesn't play, does Herrera drop into the 6 role without Mikey? Whose the third midfielder, TMac or Pirlo. Or does Lewis and Wallace start on the wings and Harrison move back to midfield.
And while Portland is well rested, they may be too well rested, as they could be rusty after not having played for 2 weeks
If Ring doesn't play, does Herrera drop into the 6 role without Mikey? Whose the third midfielder, TMac or Pirlo. Or does Lewis and Wallace start on the wings and Harrison move back to midfield.
And while Portland is well rested, they may be too well rested, as they could be rusty after not having played for 2 weeks
Portland could get 3 by us or their coach could be fired at halftime. What a funky and inconsistent team. When they are on a roll, they are as much fun to watch as NYCFC or Toronto.
I think PV said that players start to get rusty and loose fitness after 10 days without a match.
I hope we blow them out by 5+ goals, I want the team to be responsible for a coach being fired midseason.
Is Porter being considered for replacement? He's one of anointed ones according to the American Soccer Media hive mind. With Arena and Kreis.
He's actually a good coach with a lot of tactical awareness. In college, he routinely took a small school, Akron, and went toe-2-toe with the larger silver spoon programs and won out, while developing some serious talent in the process - it was like the poor-man's version of old UVA when Arena was there, or UCLA under Sigi, or the current Wake Forest program.
He failed to advance the U-23 team to the Olympics because of a 94th minute goal by El Salvador that knocked them out. Not exactly a coaching mistake, unless he had the wrong players out there to kill the match, but losing the previous game 0-2 to Canada is more of an issue considering the crazy talent he had on the squad.
At Portland he's been up/down every other year while winning the Cup once.
I'd say he's got a lot more to offer as a coach than Kreis ever did. And he hasn't yet achieved the success Arena enjoyed (at club level) but he's also not had the same caliber of players Arena had at LA or the ease of coaching a stacked team (DC) during MLS 1.0. That's not to say he's a future savior or castoff, just that he's one to watch and not write off.
Dude is 2 years off an MLS Cup and has his team battling for top in the West. He's not going anywhere.
Of course, there is always this...
For god's sake. Scratch Yangel Herrera too...
So: Villa, Herrera, Ring all came back injured from this international break.
Yes, Ring is available. Phew.
Meaning winning the game off a random body part, or in regards to the Villa injury?
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