what are people's thoughts on spencer's attacking style and the overall look of the team this year? i love the pace, skill, and willingness of most of our players to beat opponents one on one... but it feels like our sense of urgency is killing us any time things aren't completely clicking. our fast transitions into the attacking 3rd are beautiful when they work, but haven't resulted in many goals from the run of play, and leave us vulnerable to counterattack. worst, when we concede a goal it's like we enter a panic state that leads to many more mistakes. do we have the personnel we need to make this style of play work, or are we still lacking talent in critical areas? how far are we from turning our inconsistently brilliant timbers into real contenders, and what are the vital next steps?
spencers style is EXTREMELY direct, probably the most direct in the league. there is very little possession and knocking the ball around, we work hard through the midfield, jewsbury and chara, to get the ball quickly up top to the forwards. jeld wens tiny field forces this even more as there is so little space to truly be a possession oriented team. there are quite a few long balls up and over the top and obviously the number one focus right now is getting set pieces around the area. the timbers need a true target forward, futty has done well to take advantage of his size and prowess in the air on set pieces. now if we just had that all game long and not just on free kicks we might be more dangerous. we also need to work on service into the box from the wings, get the speedsters out there and have them ping balls into dangerous areas. a number of our goals have come from getting that ball in their quick (columbus, RSL, dallas, etc) and catch the defense off guard. we've got to keep that up and perfect that work. it seems like our defense is feast for famine, we feast on teams and shut them out or we give up a whole wash of goals. like you said, we MUST work on our composure when going down a goal or more. its very hard to replicate those conditions in practice, a smart way would be to play something like 6 v 4 (6 offensive players vs 4 defenders) and have the defense practice like they are down 1 or 2-0. this will make the defense work on their shape and composure. the pace of timbers games seems very fast, i've got no problems with this as the personnel we have right now can keep up that pace.
one of the things i actually like about the timbers so far is their ability to put the ball on the ground and switch the point of attack. it certainly doesn't look like they're the most direct team in the league-- they spend plenty of time getting numbers forward and pinging the ball around the box, rather than trying to free someone over the top for a run at goal-- it just doesn't look to me like they know when to try to go for a knock out counter and when to try to build something. i really do appreciate the skill of our midfielders, and i think we'd be better off working on our combination play and trying to create space to play behind the defense before we're crammed around the opponent's box. one dedicated target forward isn't going to solve our problems. given improved service there's no reason cooper shouldn't be at least as productive as edson buddle was last year, they have a similar game. i really don't think launching more balls into the box from the wings is going to work for us. if we're going to commit to fast transitions, we also need to commit to getting back on defense and re-winning the ball after we turn it over. this is a major problem for us. i know we're not spain, but they're actually a decent blueprint for what we *could* be doing with these players-- a lot of smaller, quick, skilled players, including attacking outside backs. we have the ability to play one-touch football and should use that to open holes in the defense, as well as giving a full-team effort to win the ball back when it's lost. spain excels at both of these things, and they know how to do them without becoming frantic. i think what frustrates me the most about this team right now is that they really aren't playing to their full potential, and i certainly don't think it's the size of the pitch that's producing this style of play.
