Yes, yes, there was a two-goal scorer in Chicago. Atta boy, Maicon Santos!
And there was another one in Portland, where Ryan Johnson’s pair weighed heavily in Caleb Porter’s first “W” as a pro coach. Those were both PST POW-worthy nights.
But if you dig a little deeper into Saturday’s 2-0 Portland win – easily the Timbers’ top performance this year, with lots of contributions from a fairly overwhelming night in Stumptown – mercurial DP midfielder Diego Chara was absolutely The Man.
Consider that Chara attempted 51 passes on the slick Jeld-Wen Field and failed to connect on just two of them. His cross to Johnson to open the scoring was absolutely pinpoint perfect, a bulls-eye left just behind Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell, but oh-so-perfectly perfectly placed for his onrushing teammate.
Past the numbers, it was the way Chara so flawlessly ran the match that stood out. His ability to win balls and interpret passing lanes set a high defensive standard, but the coup was in how expeditiously he switched on the offense, jetting forcefully up the field to help create Timbers danger on the counter.
At Stumptown Footy, the praise via Man of the Match poll was overwhelming (not to mention his landslide voting). Our own Richard Farley did a fair amount of raving on Chara and how much he contributed. Farley also explained how a tactical adjustment was critical, moving Chara into a slightly better spot, one at which he clearly excelled.
And the Guardian’s combined reporting does a great job of explained Chara’s previously miscasting, and why, exactly, he could be such a force on one particular rainy Saturday in Portland. Here’s a two-graph sample from the Guardian piece:
During his first two MLS seasons, Chara was often miscast as a game-defining midfielder. Instead, Portland found their industrious box-to-boxer was a limited player. Lacking decisiveness in the final third and the stature to influence in defense, Chara’s lots-of-little-things talents were stretched. Instead of being allowed to be what he was, Chara was asked to exhibit what he wasn’t, as evidenced by the league-leading 138 fouls he’s committed since arriving in Portland.
Porter’s system is all about the little things. Instead of creating second balls, Chara is winning them. Rather than craft changes, he’s supporting Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe. In system that relies on industry and intensity, Chara’s strongest traits can finally be leveraged. And yes, sometimes he can snap a defense.