Martiball Shows Promise - Portland Timbers vs St Louis City & FC Dallas

It’s Timbers Time and this week we cover the team’s last two fixtures, with a really entertaining 2-2 draw against St Louis followed by a narrow loss to Dallas in Texas, but the team showed a lot of promise if not a lot of points…, are we seeing the positive beginnings of Martiball beginning to form? There’s lots to talk about as Velde has quite the birthday, Kamal Miller continues his regression and Chara looks revitalized… RCTID!This episode's key talking points include:Marti tells us what’s going with the penalty taking battleIf the best defenders are “Rolls Royces”, what is Kamal Miller?We compare terrible footballer tattoosSt Louis show their appreciation for Janssen’s hold up play by kicking him repeatedly from behindDoes Bassett officially have the shooting yips?Does Chara and Ortiz playing together give us a better balance between attack and defense?Velde’s on ball decision making has improved drastically recently, does Marti get the credit?Have our near post corner routines been scouted out of effectiveness?Chara is having a new lease of life since Neville left and is about to break the MLS record for any appearances by a Timber in the leagueThe Timbers broadly defend really well in the heat in Dallas despite 3 changes to the back 4Marti has quickly adapted to how to get the best from Gage GuerraAntony’s inability to beat his man off the dribble holds the timbers back in TexasFinn Surman's passing game is definitely improving, good news for him thriving under Marti’s system While individual errors were the obvious problem, a lack of ball pressure in a deep block cost the timbers a goal in both gamesThe studs up challenge on Waterman was an obvious red, and the VAR failure to overturn the on field call was mystifyingThe Lassiter / Hernandez right side combination looked promisingContent Warning: One “f” word, a few “s” words and similar moderate swears Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(1:00) Chit Chat - Lake Life & Janssen Doubters(3:38) St Louis (H) - Pre-Game & Lineups Analysis(11:10) St Louis (H) - First Half Analysis(22:41) St Louis (H) - Second Half Analysis(30:21) St Louis (H) - Post Game Thoughts - Pressers, MOTM & Notable Performances(35:25) Dallas (A) - Pre-Game & Lineups Analysis(41:28) Dallas (A) - First Half Analysis(49:52) Dallas (A)  - Second Half Analysis(1:02:44) Dallas (A) - Post Game Thoughts - Pressers, MOTM & Notable Performances(1:08:29) Timbers News & T2 Update(1:13:07) MLS News Roundup(1:15:40) Next Episode PreviewListener Topics and Questions!Thanks for listening and please do send us your questions or topics for analysis for the next episode: ⁠⁠⁠timberstimepod@gmail.com or DM us on IG: timberstimepod or leave us a Reddit comment on our episodic r/Timbers post