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Beyond the Box: Punching Back

Mike Tyson once famously said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. For soccer teams, it seems like the plan before every season is to play possession-based soccer, to control the middle of the field, to put pressure on the other team with the ball. And then they get punched in the mouth.

The Portland Timbers have long been a team notorious for absorbing the opposing team’s energy and relying on the tough, heady play of Diego Chara in the defensive midfield to redirect it back up the pitch on the counter. That approach, though, has often exposed their own defense to counterattack.