Why does Jordan Morris struggle against the Portland Timbers?

Morris has been 1 of the Sounders beat attackers in the clubs history. So 1 would assume he would score and contribute often against our matches vs the Portland Timbers but in his 19 matches vs the stupid Timbers but guess how many total goal contributions against them? If you guessed only 2 then either you already knew or are very lucky either way pretty bad isn't it? 19 matches and only 1 goal and assist in our games our against our greatest foe, that's what I'm here to find out!

1st we should hear from the man himself so what did he say? He does say that they don't play him more psychically than other teams so it can't be that. And while he says he feeds off the energy of the fans, that Seattle fans travel well so even games in Portland fell like home games and that the atmosphere is electric his stats don't show that. So could it be a pressure thing, more on that later. In another interview Morris did on facing the Portland Timbers this time with the Cascadia Cup on the line. Morris said nothing that had nothing to do with the article so we're moving on.

In many games vs Timbers as you may have guessed many fans have complained about his play vs our rival who still have 1 less MLS Cup than us. And some have even come up with theories. According to u/Mitch1musPrime (who was watched Morris for years) He was 2 flaws that coaches always look for are The fact that Morris has 0 confidence in his left foot and will always take the extra touch to get it back on his right foot and that he doesn't have that ability to be able to shoot accurately without having to look at where he shoots. Which makes him more predictable compared to many elite strikers. This does have a lot of merit by nature of being rivals they do play us a lot more often and would be more likely pick up on glaring weaknesses like that. Morris should take longer shots and dribble into the box for 1 on 1s less. With some observing he's missed 1v1 chances often. Almost like he shouldn't be a striker or something. But I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't explore every argument so let's continue.

As for never coming up in big games. Something that should be noted is in the lead up to our 2019 MLS Cup final victory in the playoffs vs FC Dallas leading the way to a 4-3 victory that helped us get to the final. Though he hasn't scored in any of the 4 MLS Cup finals he's played in nor in the 2022 CCL final and failed to do so in both legs. Though he did have a assists in the final leg and scored 3 goals in the lead-up to the final. So as for if he can't come up in big games it's tricky. Most things are a spectrum and big games are as well. From my limited research it seems he can come up great in big games but maybe in really big games. And our games vs our biggest rival could count. For contrast against our other Cascadia Cup rival, the Vancouver Whitecaps whom we have 2 more MLS Cups than. In 16 games he's had 3 goals and 3 assists, which is much better.

So there could be something to it but I actually more lean on the side that the Timbers due to playing him more often are better at taking advantage his weaknesses. And again the whole he isn't meant to be a striker thing. Thanks a bunch for reading!