Dynamo 2, Timbers 4: Rate the Players and Quick Thoughts

It’s another week of rating player performances! These ratings would be tallied up and averaged to see how we all feel the players performed in matches. When you rate players keep in mind some perspective. Players that score 1 goal don’t necessarily merit a perfect 10. How I rated players in the past was that it was very difficult to reach a 10, and very difficult to reach a 1. Usually players fall in the middle as single mistakes or achievements should cause a player’s score to rise or fall, but the entire game should not be overlooked (how well a player passes, tackled, and so on) and should be considered as well.

Quick Thoughts about the Game:

1) While it would have been nice to pick up a perfect 9 points in 3 games, this team probably needed a loss in order to grow. Wilmer Cabrera’s counter attacking offense worked wonderfully well in the first half, but he was outmatched by Caleb Porter’s tactical adjustments in the second as the Dynamo could not muster much of anything as their lead transformed into defeat. Looking ahead, Cabrera can learn from this and how he can finish out matches more effectively.

2) Old problems resurfacing. One of my biggest complaints with last year’s team was how it managed leads. The team would get an early lead and sit back which invited opponents to possess and create chances to score. While Cabrera struggled to equalize or regain the lead, the Dynamo did Porter an enormous favor after halftime by allowing Portland to possess the ball for extended periods in our defensive third of the field. Portland is too good a team to try that on. This team relies on the top 3 of Alberth Elis, Romell Quioto, and Erick Torres who were all absent in the 2^nd half. Essentially we allowed Portland space in our half to operate and we took ourselves out of the game and the Timbers capitalized.

3) Stark contrast between the halves. The first half played out wonderfully as the Dynamo’s speed and play on the wings absolutely devastated Portland’s mids and defenders. The passing by the Dynamo was very good which facilitated the active offense. Defending was also good as the Dynamo’s style of pressing higher up the field kept Diego Valeri and Fanendo Adi out of the game. The second half on the other hand was different. As I mentioned above, the Dynamo hurt their chances by not letting our attacking trio to be more involved in the game, but the supply to them was especially poor as well. Passing was just abysmal as was the defending.

4) This team actually managed the game exceptionally well in the first half. There were concerns about how it could handle being down a goal and the team answered with two goals of their own. More importantly, going down a goal (to a questionable penalty) didn’t stop their style or swagger. They played with heart, looked like they were having fun, and the system seemed to be working. I just don’t know where all of that went in the second half.

Rate the Players: