Friday night, the Portland Timbers
kicked off their first away game of the season against FC Dallas. Last season,
Dallas shut them out 4-0, but this season they went into the match with
expectations of a better result. Portland managed to squeak out a 1-1 draw.
The Portland Timbers need to improve
on the road this year if they expect to be viable playoff contenders in the
hunt of winning an MLS Cup, which they have the talent and coaching to do.
The key component to the Timbers’ success on the road this year is a calm
sense of urgency during the first 25 minutes of the match. The Timbers need to
attack and be aggressive, firing off shots and counter-attacking like crazy.
Opposing teams will not be given the opportunity to establish their game plan,
which will only benefit the visiting Timbers. To accomplish this, Portland
needs to target newly acquired striker Kris Boyd.
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| The number 9 signals danger for defenders. |
Kris Boyd is the missing link to the
Timbers squad. The 28-year-old, 6’1” Scottish striker has the skill and vision
unseen in a striker for Portland last season. Boyd wears number 9, which in the
early years of soccer was traditionally given to the target-forward on the
field. A notable equivalent for a “9” in American soccer would be Jozy Altidore
of the US Men’s National Team. A “9” is
targeted for passes playing with his back to the goal, is typically very strong,
and has a deadly strike for a shot. These are the very characteristics that
Portland Timbers’ owner Merritt Paulson classifies Boyd as. The Timber’s didn’t
have a player like this in the 2011 season where they just missed the playoffs.
Timbers coach John Spencer classifies
Boyd as a “guy that’s born to score, and it’s up to us to supply him with the
ammo.” Spencer and Boyd are both Scottish, and the connections in their
heritage make Portland the perfect fit for Boyd. While playing in the Scottish
Premier League (SPL), Kris Boyd scored 164 total goals, which stands in the SPL
as first all-time. Henrick Larsson follows Boyd in the record books with 158,
but he hasn’t played since 2004. The 3rd runner up only has 95
goals, which clearly places Boyd in a class of his own. He also has 7 goals in
16 appearances in international play for the Scottish National Team.
The bottom line is this: when Kris
Boyd is on the field, goals are scored.
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| Portland hopes Kris Boyd will be celebrating like this a lot for the Timbers this season. |
The minute he steps on the field,
defenders are forced to focus much of their attention on him. In turn, Boyd’s
mere presence will create opportunities for goals. Defenders around the MLS
know Boyd is a force, and will in turn vary their strategies from man-marking
to dropping a mid-fielder back into the defensive third. This will create space
on the pitch, space that the Timbers can and will capitalize on. A perfect
example is last night’s goal from Darlington Nagbe. The ball was flubbed in
the air by Dallas keeper Kevin Hartman, and a defender that should have been
covering Nagbe drifted over to an already marked Boyd. Deflected in the air,
the ball played itself through to an open Nagbe who finished to equalize the
game. Even without a goal in yesterday’s match, Boyd’s presence led to that
goal being scored.
The signing of Kris Boyd will provide the extra
boost needed to put the Timbers on the same level as teams like the Galaxy and
Red Bulls, both of which have notable Europeans crossovers such as David
Beckham and Thierry Henry. If Boyd continues the fruitful career he’s had in
Scotland, great things can be expected for the Portland Timbers.
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