I haven’t heard anything regarding next year. He’s still in Portland and he tweets Timbers-related stuff now and then, so I think his heart’s still planning to play next year. Let’s hope his body agrees.

I’m going to be so sad if he retires without comming back .

Here is my concern.

Perhaps we have not been getting so many ties because our skill level is so even to our opponents, week in and out. Perhaps we are not getting ties because we would otherwise lose but instead claw our way to avoiding a loss.

Perhaps we have tied so often because our coaching style has been too clinical, too cool, too reserved. Perhaps we have lacked blood thirst.

The tie against Chicago is a great example (and why would I mention it if it weren’t a fine example?). We started the game in excellent “beat-anybody-in-the-league” form. If we played 90 minutes like our first 30 minutes against Chicago, it will be a rare thing to see Portland not sweep the opposition aside.

This is a credit to Caleb Porter. For we are not doing this with talent far and away better than everyone else; if anything, our talent mix is slightly on the down side of half, measured against the other MLS teams. Instead–and we demonstrated this even more vividly in the game against the team who just spanked Seattle–we can play this good even without all of our big guns.

Porter is exactly right in saying that we are not a 1-11 team, but rather a 1-30 team. This is because our playing style maximizes the abilities of good players who are willing to work hard and play disciplined.

Which is why our plethora of draws is disturbing; if this analysis is correct, then we are pulling back–not working as hard–once we get the lead.

I remember enduring Kasey Keller’s commentary last year about how Portland was an immature team because it did not “finish off” games by protecting a lead, looking for opportunities to eat up time and above all, to head to the corners. No doubt he has conventional wisdom down pat. But we are not a conventional team.

When we have a one- or two-goal lead in a game, it is not because we have been fortunate, or because our players have been slightly better than the other side that night. It is because we have worked hard as a team, making smart passes instead of dribbling into trouble and looking for the on-frame shot on goal.

So when we do have a lead, it does not make sense to stop playing the same way we accomplished not only that lead, but similar leads the weeks before. Instead we ought to be careful to maintain the same level of intensity, the same level of teamwork.

This makes sense especially because our style of play tends to tire out our opponents. Thus if we keep up the “possession with pace” into the last 3o minutes of the game, it will be increasingly difficult for our opponents to answer with anything but gasps for air.

I am not certain that it was a bad move to sub out Valeri. I do believe it was a bad move to give up the possession style of play even before Valeri was subbed out of the game. That is where responsibility lies for the tie.