So, can the Timbers effectively break down a low block? It’s complicated.

Kris LattimoreIf there is any question that will define the remainder of the Portland Timbers’ season, it is probably this: Can they break down a team sitting in a low block? After a few games into a team-record ten-game homestand, the answer to that question has been a disconcerted “maybe.”

The Timbers have shown glimpses of what they are capable of in possession; recent results— a pair of 4-0 home results against the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo come to mind — but it also has to be said that those teams foolishly attacked the Timbers and played right into their hands.

The worries come from an earlier stretch of home games in which the Timbers took just two points out of six against…