If there is any question that will define the remainder of the Portland Timbers’ season, it is probably this: Can they break down a team sitting in a low block? After a few games into a team-record ten-game homestand, the answer to that question has been a disconcerted “maybe.”
The Timbers have shown glimpses of what they are capable of in possession; recent results— a pair of 4-0 home results against the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo come to mind — but it also has to be said that those teams foolishly attacked the Timbers and played right into their hands.