San Jose Earthquakes Look Like The Better Team In Win Over Portland

The San Jose Earthquakes took control of the Portland Timbers in the first half and never looked back in defeating the defending champs.

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On Sunday, at Avaya Stadium in Santa Clara, the defending MLS champion Portland Timbers marched in hoping to once again assert their dominance over the west coast. The San Jose Earthquakes however, armed with a potent attack, held steady at the back and were able to maintain possession of the ball for most of the match, neutralizing the Portland strike force.

From the onset, it was clear what San Jose manager Dominic Kinnear’s match plan was: keep possession, and break quickly. San Jose is known for its attack much more than for its defense, with strikers Chris Wondolowski and Quincy Amarikwa leading the charge.

On Sunday however, the story of the match — besides the wonder goal Amarikwa scored at the end of the first half — was the strength of the Quakes’ defense and midfield.

Portland likes to play a quick-strike counter attack that can often run past teams in a blink. Portland’s attacking force possesses a crazy amount of pace, which makes getting by defences with the aid of long over the top balls easy. A key to stopping this attack, obviously, is to simply keep possession off the ball — because if you don’t have the ball, obviously, you can’t score

Secondly, and probably more importantly however, your midfield has to be very strong. Many counterattacks build out wide, where the faster players are usually located. What that means for the defending team is that if your wingers can’t track back and make a few tackles a game, you’re going to be in for a tough match.

This is where Earthquakes’ wingers Simon Dawkins and Alberto Quintero really shone through in Sunday’s match. They were able to more or less stop Portland’s attacks before they happened. And on the strength of their contributions on both offense and defense, the Quakes were able to take a comfortable 2-0 lead into halftime.

Mar 13, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski (8) celebrates after a goal against the Portland Timbers during the first half at Avaya Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Alberto Quintero (RW): 8/10

A great game from Quintero. The right wing attacked with menace, taking on pretty much any defender he could find one-on-one. When not attacking, Quintero was throwing his body into every tackle he could.

It was almost a perfect game for a winger in the 4-4-2 that San Jose likes to play. Where Quintero struggled, however, was in possession. He is a very pacey, exciting player, but he lacks the passing ability to keep possession for a long time. He would much rather simply run at a defender and get by him, than play a clever pass.

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Defence:

Kip Colvey (LB): 9/10

Almost a perfect game from the first-time starter. He’s also a rookie! Colvey never made the careless mistake that you would expect from someone making their first MLS start. And he actually outsmarted some of the Timbers’ attackers. Many found themselves very, very surprised with Colvey, and hopefully it is a sign of good things to come in his career.

Clarence Goodson and Victor Bernardez (CB): 9/10

Yes, the center backs are being grouped together. Why? Because every center back partnership should play as a partnership, but it usually doesn’t happen. Against Portland, however, these two center backs were in perfect harmony with each other.

Their very different physical appearances aside, it was hard to tell these two apart. When one marked ball, the other dropped. When one dropped, the other would go mark ball. It was exactly how you would want your center backs to play.

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Marvell Wynne (RB): 7/10

A very good game from Wynne. In any other match, he probably would have been the best defender, but the rest of his line played so extraordinarily great on Sunday, that he almost looked bad by comparison. That’s no insult to Marvell, who played a great game (as usual), but more of a compliment to his defensive teammates.

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