Preseason Friendlies: Portland Timbers vs UW/OSU

By: Bob Kellett | April 6th, 2008

The Portland Timbers continued their preseason preparations with a pair of victories over local college teams on Saturday at the Clive Charles Center at the University of Portland. In the first scrimmage, the projected Timbers starters started slowly but came away with a 3-0 win over the University of Washington. The second scrimmage saw the Timbers defeat Oregon State University 5-2 behind a hat-trick from Chris Bagley.

Portland Timbers vs. University of Washington

Timbers lineup:
Burse
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Karalexis
Olum Dombrowski Gregor Higgins
Brown Suzuki

The players who could turn out to be the Timbers starting XI on opening day started slowly against a physical University of Washington team. The Timbers got on the board just before the end of the first half thanks to a goal from Chris Brown. Takayuki Suzuki took advantage of a dreadful mistake from an UW defender and waltzed in towards the goal, passing to Brown at the last possible moment. The former UP player notched his first goal of the preseason. In the second half, the Timbers came alive and attacked the UW goal without mercy. Shaun Higgins scored early on a chip shot that beat the Huskies backup keeper. Andrew Gregor finished the scoring on a set piece from just outside the box. His shot dove over the wall and into the back corner of the net to give the Timbers a 3-0 victory.

Random Thoughts

* Once again it took a half for the Timbers to wake up. They didn’t look awful in the first half, but they looked disjointed with the attack breaking down in the final third. The defense also looked slow and was almost beaten on a couple of counterattacks.

* This was our first chance to see Tim Karalexis play at left back. I wish I could say he convinced me he can play there, but he was not all that impressive. There were a couple of instances where he lost control of the ball or showered a pass out of bounds with his non-dominant left foot. The verdict is still out on whether he will be a long-term solution at the position. I hope Gavin Wilkinson has a direct line to Leonard Griffin now that he has been released by the Crew.

* Shaun Higgins is turning into one of the more creative attacking players on the roster. He might be a utility type of player, but when giving the chance to play off of Suzuki and Brown, he has been able to create a lot of scoring chances. Whoever ends up playing at the wings this year is going to get some goals because of the passing and skills of the players up front.

* Justin Thompson looks like he lived on maple syrup and Canadian bacon this winter. He has always been a big lad, but he hopefully will work off a little weight in the coming weeks. Still, he played well and it is great to see him and Knowles kicking college kids all over the pitch.

* Ray Burse needs to be more vocal. He wasn’t tested in this game, but he also wasn’t in command of his backline. I am worried about his assertiveness and his ability in the air.

* When Gregor plays well, the team plays well. He looked like dog poo in the first half and an all-league player in the second.

* There were almost a couple of fights in the game. One of the UW punks tried to get Olum to swing at him. Larry gave a shove and a love tap and that was it. Gregor proceeded to spend five minutes explaining life to the college kid and things settled down after that.

* UW’s captain looks like this man. He’s the tallest playmaking midfielder I’ve laid eyes on.

* This might be the most skillful starting XI I have seen for the Timbers since the overpaid, underachieving team in 2001. The team may not finish on top of the table and all kinds of things could go wrong, but I think we are going to see an amount of skillful play at PGE Park that we haven’t seen before.

Portland Timbers vs. Oregon State University
Timbers starters:
James
Adzemian Karalexis Bolkan Guante
Watson Lara Poltl Taylor
Suzuki Bagley

The reserves got a run in against Oregon State. They fell behind 1-0 on a goal in the fourth minute. Tim Karalexis was beaten on a run and the OSU player fired a goal into the corner. The Timbers quickly responded with an excellent turn and fire goal from Chris Bagley. Trialist Jamie Watson scored on a shot from just inside the area and Tom Taylor made it 3-1 at the half with a diving header goal off of a cross from Kiki Lara. I left at halftime and all I have been able to piece together is that Bagley scored two more goals and the Beavers got a goal that may or may not have been offside. 5-2 final

Random Thoughts

* Suzuki looked like a men among boys. He continued to play hard despite playing a full game against UW earlier in the morning. I am impressed with his work ethic. His skill level speaks for itself. If you don’t believe me, ask the three OSU defenders he schooled in the box before firing a shot that hit the post. Even the Timbers players on the bench were pumped up seeing that.

* Tom Taylor had his name on his shirt. He is on the team. I don’t know why. Maurice Hughes is no longer on trial. Anyone who watched him play in Forest Grove last week knows why.

* Jamie Watson is a new face in the fray. He most recently played for Real Salt Lake and had been training with Toronto. He looked pretty good on the right wing. The fact that he is here tells us that it is a position that concerns Gavin Wilkinson, even if Olum has played decently there this preseason.

* James looked a little shaky with his feet in goal.

* Kiki Lara played well in the first half. He was creating opportunities for his teammates and his set pieces were on target.

* I couldn’t be happier to see Bagley scoring goals this preseason. The guys worked so hard last year and couldn’t break through. I think he is going to get his chances this year even if he does come off the bench. I’d love to see him paired with Suzuki up front and Brown playing the Gregor attacking midfield role. It could happen if Gregor gets hurt or earns his usual card suspensions.

* Sorry I couldn’t get these thoughts up earlier. Real life trumped Timbers life yesterday. I also apologize for saying Arsene Oka has been in camp. I was confused. He’s been in the Ivory Coast and will arrive later this week. Bad blogger, Bob. Bad blogger.

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