Game 5: Portland Timbers v. Crystal Palace Baltimore

2010 Match-Up Images Courtesy of Spacewalk Creative

With nearly two weeks having past since their last game, Portland Timbers will host USSF II’s worst side in Crystal Palace Baltimore on Thursday night. The Timbers have lost their ranking as top of the table as Rochester and Austin have played more games and now accrued more points, but Portland do remain one of just two unbeaten sides in the league (Miami FC being the other having played four and drawn four, amazingly). Palace on the other hand are sitting on a single point through four matches, having scored only one goal in this young season.

Baltimore have only existed for three years prior to 2010 and were created specifically by and for Crystal Palace Football Club of London. The club played in the USL second division for its first three seasons before jumping up to USSF II this year. Palace are a combination of teenagers and veterans of many of the world’s second and third divisions. Perhaps that is why they have scored only one goal this season (a Matthew Mbuta penalty in a 3-1 home loss to Puerto Rico) and earned just that one point (a nil-nil draw away to Vancouver on Saturday).

As for the Timbers, Thursday’s game cannot come soon enough. A long layoff after such a strong start must be frustrating as the club will not want to lose the early momentum gained by an undefeated start. Portland were last in league action on April 29 in a 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps. The immediate question will be whether or not the Timbers are rusty after two weeks off. The second question is whether or not the team will be complacent against lesser competition. Saturday’s scoreless draw in Vancouver should awaken the Timbers to the fact that despite their terrible record, Palace are good enough to record a clean sheet away to a side the Timbers barely beat at home.

Regarding the starting XI, it will be interesting to see who Gavin Wilkinson plays up front. George Josten and OJ Obatola seemed to be the favored combination in the early games but the pairing of Mandjou Keita with OJ late in the friendly against Puntarenas was dynamic, particularly against a Costa Rican side who prefer to sit back and counter-attack. Obviously Keita has a history of scoring in Portland but Josten’s work rate is excellent and he legs are much younger and less burdened by the full season in India played by Keita. Elsewhere, expect the rotation of Steve Purdy and Stephen Keel to continue in order to preserve both for bigger matches down the road. Alex Nimo and Rodrigo Lopez both made convincing cases for additional playing time with their outstanding play against Puntarenas. Whether or not Wilkinson grants them more time will only be revealed come game-time, but this space expects both to be featured more frequently over the next two weeks.

The Timbers need to acquire as many points as possible in this stretch of home games early in the season as the road will be a long and weary one late in the summer. With four games in ten days, including the first three at home, Portland will again be faced with difficult decisions regarding personnel. The club’s purposeful depth should be useful in such situations but it will certainly not be an easy set of games.

Category: Portland Timbers, USSF Division II