Portland’s turf presents familiar challenge for LAFC
After finishing the first homestand in franchise history unbeaten, the Los Angeles Football Club hits the road again for a Saturday match against the Portland Timbers.
But it’s not so much the site of the game that has LAFC worried as it is the field.
Bob Bradley’s team is one of five in MLS that is still unbeaten at home, and its four road wins are tied for best in the league. The key to its success: LAFC is 4-1-2 and averaging nearly three goals a game on natural surfaces like the one it has at Banc of California Stadium.
Artificial turf, however, is a different story. The team has played in three of the six MLS stadiums that have artificial turf, and on those surfaces the team is averaging just a goal a game. On the FieldTurf Revolution field in Atlanta, LAFC suffered its worst loss of the season, a 5-0 rout that ranks as the second-most one-sided result in MLS this year.
Guess what kind of field Saturday’s game will be played on?
“Playing on artificial turf is just something you have to deal with,” Bradley said of Portland’s FieldTurf Revolution pitch, a blend of monofilament polyethylene fibers tufted into a polypropylene backing. “So you go on the day, you have a good mentality. It helps if it’s wet. It would be perfect in Portland if it were gray and rainy on Saturday.”
Even the weather man isn’t cooperating: The forecast calls for partial sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s.
One problem with artificial turf — especially dry artificial turf — is that the ball reacts differently than it does on a natural grass, and that has caused problems for LAFC’s short-passing, ball-control style of play. But the Timbers appeared to have mastered that surface: After starting the season winless in five road games on grass they are unbeaten in three matches at home.
Portland (4-3-2) has had have some off-field issues to adjust to, though. The team didn’t have a manager until hiring Giovanni Savarese in mid-December, five days after it traded Darlington Nagbe, one of its best players, to Atlanta. And that contributed to the team’s slow start.
“At the beginning of the year they just needed some time,” Bradley said. “New coach, he has to introduce his ideas. When they settled back in to a normal routine, when they got to know each other, when they’re at home, they’re still difficult to play.”
Indeed, Portland’s 26 home wins since 2016 are tied for best in the league over that span. However, LAFC (6-2-2), unbeaten since the Atlanta game on the first weekend in April, is currently the hottest team in the league, riding a six-game unbeaten streak.
Bradley’s team can’t let up, though. Four of its starters have been called up to their respective World Cup teams and will soon be leaving, with most expected to miss at least five games.
“You definitely want to leave the team in a good position,” said defender Steven Beitashour, who is on Iran’s provisional World Cup roster. “You definitely want to leave the guys on a high note and hope [they] continue the momentum while you’re gone.”
Follow Kevin Baxter on Twitter @kbaxter11
