Minnesota United vs Portland Timbers: 3 things we learned

The Portland Timbers dismantled expansion side Minnesota United 5-1, in front of a packed house at Providence Park. Here are 3 things that jumped out:

1) Minnesota still has a long way to go

Expansion teams almost always struggle in year one, and the reasons for that were very evident on Friday night. Minnesota lacked cohesion, and a true identity. The team hasn’t been together for long, and you could tell. While they had a few bright moments, misplaced passes were the norm, and Minnesota struggled in the final third for the majority of a wet, rainy night in Portland.

This should improve as the season wears on and the players get more familiar with each other, but on Friday night, the normal growing pains of an expansion side were on full display.

2) The Portland Timbers are a very good team

This should sound obvious after a 5-1 drubbing, but there is more to it. It wasn’t just Minnesota’s struggles that led to the 5-1 result, but it looks safe to save that the Timbers aren’t missing the playoffs again this season. The attack looked deadly, as Fernando Adi was pretty much unplayable, and new signing Sebastian Blanco looked as though he’d been with the Portland Timbers for a lot longer than a couple of months.

Then of course, there’s Diego Valeri, who scored 2 goals and assisted a third, as well as U.S International Darlington Nagbe, who looked dangerous throughout. Despite all the attacking firepower however, arguably the best player on the pitch throughout the night was new signing David Guzman.

The Costa Rican was relentless in midfield, consistently breaking up possession, and winning the ball back for the Timbers. He should help out Portland’s back line immensely throughout the season, as well as helping out Diego Chara, who is now able to move further up the pitch into his more natural #8 position in more of a box-to-box role.

3) Minnesota needs to figure out an identity in the midfield

Once Christian Ramirez was subbed on at striker, and Johan Venegas fell deeper back into a #10 role, Minnesota suddenly looked much better. To start the match, Adrian Heath went with a central midfield trio of Mohamed Saied, Rasmus Schüller, and Collen Warner, which wasn’t working at all. They’re not bad players, but all three have the same strength, which is keeping possession.

This resulted in a lot of backwards and sideways passing, and very little going forward, and the trio was not able to win the ball back enough for the attackers in front of them to supplement this. For the most part, the Loons’ attack looked stagnant until Ramirez replaced Schüller and Venegas moved from striker to attacking mid.

That is just what the Loons needed, and what they should continue to do. A midfield consisting of two #8s and a possession-minded #6 was not working, and Venegas should continue to play the #10 role with Ramirez at striker. That enables Venegas to offer some attacking ability in midfield, and Schüller or Saied can still play as a #8 to provide passing ability, with Warner playing as a #6 to keep possession, just as they did for the final 20 minutes tonight.

Next: 2017 Season Preview: Minnesota United

A DP signing of a true midfield destroyer in the summer to win back the ball wouldn’t hurt either, but they certainly need Venegas’ playmaking ability in the midfield moving forward.