There are differing levels to rivalry games. There are those regional rivalries, like the one Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids share, that simmer over the fire and only occasionally froth over onto the floor. There are in-state rivalries, like San Jose Earthquakes-LA Galaxy, that more often than not feel like a big brother holding his younger sibling at arm’s length. And there are historic rivalries, like D.C. United-New York Red Bulls, that are appreciated for their longevity as much as their heat.
And then there’s Seattle-Portland. The rivalry to end all MLS rivalries.
The true hallmark of an all-time rivalry is that the thing never seems to quit. The pot in the center of the poker game seems to stack higher and higher each time you look up from your cards. Building since the teams played their first match against one another in 1975, it reached a new height last week in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The game went into extra time, Seattle ended on seven men and the refs were escorted off the field by police. By the end, Sounders FC had lost its first ever U.S. Open Cup match at Starfire Stadium.
If this all sounds like Europe, don’t be fooled. Just another day in the Pacific Northwest.
“It’s Seattle-Portland. I think every game is chippy,” said Seattle centerback Chad Marshall. “Even the preseason game isn’t a friendly. It’s heated and you want to win every time you play your rival, no matter who’s out or whatever. You want to win that game. I’m sure that chippiness will carry over, and there will be some kicks and some people will have some choice words for each other. But that’s the rivalry.”
When Seattle and Portland clash at Providence Park on Sunday, it’ll be the rivalry’s 93rd installment. The teams have faced each other now in four different leagues and six competitions total dating back to their first meeting in the old NASL in 1975. Going back to the beginning, Sounders FC owns a winning record over the Timbers in the NASL (13-8-0), USL-1 (20-13-5), U.S. Open Cup (2-1-1) and MLS (6-2-4). All told, Seattle has a 46-34-12 edge in the all-time series.
And this one will most likely be edgier than most. With the heated U.S. Open Cup match in the rearview, this is Portland’s first crack at Seattle since. That’s significant from both a player and fan standpoint. Few fan bases can match the Timbers’ boisterous home support. All except perhaps one.
“Always going down to Portland, the crowd is vocal and loud, just like our crowd is at home,” Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said. “Our crowd’s better, but their crowd is vocal and loud as well. It’s a great atmosphere. It’s the usual challenge of the derby game.”
The first MLS match between these teams earlier this year showcased Portland coach Caleb Porter’s newfound directness, and Sounders FC managed to shut off the valve and earn three points with a 1-0 victory. At the time, the Timbers were struggling with consistency issues and were below the playoff line. Since, they found a stride that whisked them as high as third in the Western Conference.
Of course, that all tumbled in a heap last weekend, when the Timbers clattered to the asphalt in an embarrassing 5-0 loss to the LA Galaxy. The team isn’t defined by that loss, of course, but it certainly wasn’t an encouraging sign for Timbers faithful.
While the Timbers are still among the most direct teams in the league, Sounders FC has to cope without, among others, attacking talisman Clint Dempsey for one more match. His three-game suspension stemming from the Timbers match last week reaches its terminus after this weekend, but he’ll have to miss the rivalry game. Which is a shame for Seattle, considering Dempsey’s six goals against the Timbers since joining the club in August 2013 are his most against any one club.
The bigger question for Sounders FC, however, is how to make do from an attacking perspective in his absence. It’s not one they’ve quite discovered yet.
With both Dempsey and top striker Obafemi Martins out, the latter with injury for at least another two weeks, Schmid’s largely gone to a 4-2-3-1 formation in lieu of the team’s more typical 4-4-2. While that addresses Seattle’s dearth of strikers, it hasn’t quite fostered the fruitful chance creation from deeper positions that leads to goals.
Seattle has yet to score during Dempsey’s absence, and its once-prized possession game that produced three goals of 17 or more passes has withered with star midfielders Osvaldo Alonso and Gonzalo Pineda unable to get a game together due to concurrent injuries.
The vexing prospect of replacing Dempsey in particular is overwhelming. No team in the league can plug-and-play for a player like Dempsey, whose position is so nebulous and yet effective that it defies description. He’s somewhere between an aggressive playmaking No. 10, a dropping No. 8 and a shadow striker. In Latin American terms, he’s an Enganche, or the midfield hook, but he’s become even more than that for Seattle.
Without Dempsey, Sounders FC has had checkered results with the creative playmaking role. In a 2-0 loss to San Jose last weekend, Andy Rose was pushed up to a more unnatural position underneath striker Lamar Neagle. While he managed to complete 84 percent of his passes, Rose generally gravitated back toward more comfortable deeper positions, and Seattle couldn’t manage to put a shot on frame in the second half. In a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union at midweek, Marco Pappa was moved inside from the left flank to fill that role.
Pappa was tremendously efficient against Philadelphia, completing 89 percent of his passes and managing to stay tethered to Neagle and then substitute
Darwin Jones
. Note how high Pappa (the yellow-ringed No. 10 attacking upward) is here, tucked neatly underneath Neagle (27). This is precisely where you want a central attacking midfielder to live.
But even still, there wasn’t much of a rapport between Pappa, who’s more comfortable wide, and the disconnected front line, murky viscera where Dempsey excels in unequaled measure. Seattle only generated two shots on target on relatively untested goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre.
These are the natural outflows of a team dealing with a spate of absences during the dog days of summer. That they’re happening during arguably the toughest road trip of the season is unfortunate, but look on the bright side. The most intense rivalry in MLS is always good for a surprise or two.
“Every year you’re going to have injuries,” Marshall said. “Ours seem to have come at once all the sudden. It’s tough. Obviously those guys are important to our team. But it’s a next man up attitude, and we need guys to step up and we need to start scoring goals and keeping zeroes in the back and doing what Sounders do, and that’s win games.”
