Portland Timbers 0:0 Sporting Kansas City

Another draw is not what any of us wanted.  It's hard to be enthusiastic about a hard fought match in which the Timbers looked good, but once again, failed to get the job done against a side that, while certainly not a pushover, very much did look as though it was ripe for a solid beating.

Since this is so, let us start by focusing on the positive aspects.

There are a few things that the Timbers continue to do right;

• Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgwell continue to gel, forming what I think any objective person will readily admit is one of the most formidable backlines in all of MLS.  
• Darlington Nagbe is still by far one of the finest offensive players in the league.  While he's not quite up to Diego Valeri's ability in terms of making plays down the center, there's no reason to think that he won't be up to great things as the season progresses, especially once he has Valeri to play off in the wings.  
• Diego Chara is back, and how do I know?  Because he got a yellow card tonight and so long as Chara is getting yellows, we all know that he's wreaking havoc across the midfield which, after all, is basically why we hired the guy in the first place.  Chara is the soccer version of an anarchist; he doesn't care about the rules and if you want to go toe to toe with him, by god, win or lose, by the end of the match you will know you've been in a fight.
• Jack Jewsbury.  Say what you will about Jack's lack of pace, but the guy is solid and generally capable of doing what he was hired for.  Add to that his ability on set-pieces --hands down, he's better than Valeri on corners-- and what you have is an old Timbers stand-by who is is still very much worth a shit.    

That said, on the downside, we have a series of complaints that, all else being equal, are basically fair game here.  A list of them might look something like this:

• What do you mean with your gaudy players like Darlington Nagbe or Fanendo Adi who, for all their skill cannot seem to get their shit together for a single goal?
• How do you expect us to believe in you when you seem to be incapable of playing to your real potential in the absence of Johnson and Valeri?  

And finally, if you can't get your shit together to win these early season matches in the absence of Valeri and Johnson, how can we expect you to get the job done once your two big-name players come back from injury?


That said, in all honesty I think the Timbers are doing alright.  A slow start, so long as it does not include any losses, given the lack of Johnson and Valeri, is actually pretty auspicious.

What we are looking at is a well-oiled side that's used to playing under a single coaching system and that by any reckoning should, once reinforced by the presence and skills of its two primary play-makers, kick serious ass for the rest of the season.