MLS 2019: Portland Timbers vs Sporting KC – tactical analysis

While the MLS regular season is almost finished, many teams are still fighting to either keep or win a playoff spot. Before their match, both Portland Timbers and Sporting KC sat just outside the Western Conferences top seven. With Portland in eighth and Sporting KC in ninth, the game was a must-win for both teams.

In the end, Portland Timbers managed to overcome a 0-1 deficit to win the game 2-1 in stoppage time. The win pushed them past LA Galaxy and FC Dallas and into a playoff spot. Sporting KC remain in ninth place. This tactical analysis will explain how Portland Timbers managed to win the game.

Lineups

Regular readers of TFA will know that this section usually includes a Wyscout graphic showcasing both teams lineups. Unfortunately, an accurate graphic for this game was unavailable. Instead, I will do my best to outline how the two teams lined up.

Portland Timbers head coach, Giovanni Savarese, lined up in a 4-3-3. While the shape of this formation changed during the match, it looked something like this:

GK: Steve Clark (#12)
RB: Jorge Moreira (#2)  CB: Bill Tuiloma (#25)  CB: Claude Dielna (#5)  LB: Jorge Villafaña (#4)
CM: Andy Polo (#11)  CM: Diego Chará (#21)  CM: Eryk Williamson (#30)
CAM: Diego Valeri (#8)
RF: Dairon Asprilla (#27)  LF: Jeremy Ebobisse (#17)

Sporting KCs head coach, Peter Vermes, opted for a 4-1-4-1. His team took this shape:

GK: Tim Melia (#29)
RB: Graham Zusi (#8)  CB: Graham Smith (#16)  CB: Matt Besler (#5)  LB: Luís Martins (#36)
CDM: Ilie Sánchez (#6)
RM: Gerso Fernandes (#12)  CM: Benny Feilhaber (#30)  CM: Roger Espinoza (#17)  LM: Dániel Sallói (#20)
ST: Erik Hurtado (#19)

Portland Timbers Buildup

In transition, Portland Timbers were patient in possession. When fullbacks Jorge Moreira and Jorge Villafaña pushed up into wide areas, centre backs Bill Tuiloma and Claude Dielna spread, creating space for Diego Chará to drop and receive the ball.

Diego Valeri, Dairon Asprilla and Jeremy Ebobisse overloaded the centre of the field, ensuring Sporting KCs defenders remained compact. This allowed Portlands high and wide fullbacks to receive the ball and attack the space or circulate possession.

In transition, Chará would often look to hit his fullbacks if the pass was on. If no pass was available. Chará was able to circulate the ball between his centre backs and two central midfield partners, Andy Polo and Eryk Williamson. This resulted in a more patient approach to the game and Portland Timbers achieving 60 percent of the games possession.

We can see the beginning of Portlands build-up in the images below. Chará drops between Tuiloma and Dielna to receive the ball. He can either maintain possession with his centre backs or play a ball direct to his fullbacks further up the field. Left-back Villafaña can be seen highlighted in red, while right-back Moreira is high and wide out of the frame.

If the ball was played into Chará, he was able to turn into space and find a passing option higher up the field. He would often look to hit the wide channels. In the images below, we can see Chará hitting both fullbacks in quick succession while in possession just past the halfway line.

In the above image, Chará plays a lobbed ball into space for Moreira. This causes Sporting KC to shift to towards that side of the field. Moreira dribbles the ball backwards and passed to Chará again who switched the ball to the other side to Villafaña who made his run up the field before Chará had made his initial pass to Moreira.