I'm not so sure this was a "game of two halves" as much as it was a game of three minutes. The sending off was the Timbers' ticket to success in this game, but outside those two goals, they kinda reverted to their most-of-the-season form, instead of riding the wave from the RSL win. I still don't love Dairon Asprilla, but there's no doubt he has the Sounders' number lately and it is delightful.
Whatever; I'll take the point and the few moments of entertainment.
C’mon. You’re cheating yourself if you don’t give in to Dairon.
He’s no Chara or Valeri, but he’s a role player Timbers legend. A make-good maturity story that reflects well on both player and club. Big goals in big moments.
Especially in garbage time like the rest of 2023 is, and maybe/hopefully playing a little less next year among a strengthened roster (but still getting a good 15 at the end of a Sounders match): Lean in to Dairon.
I guess I'm tired of folk heroes? I want a team of consistently good performers, not a team full of super good stories that occasionally pop up and score wondergoals. If that means a boring team, so be it, but that's what I want because they'll win more and play better.
I don’t know what more you could ask a team than to win MLS Cup. Like in 2015 when Dairon scored that wicked, necessary (ok, important) goal against Dallas in the playoffs.
Even Messi money won’t change the need for guys like Asprilla to find moments like that for teams to find glory.
This team you want isn’t arriving before spring at the most optimistic. We got a bunch of hollow games to play now. No stakes. Use this house money to buy into Dairon.
It’s like I said in this song I wrote: If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.
"I don’t know what more you could ask a team than to win MLS Cup."
I said it in 2015, 2016, and have said it every year since; 2015 was wonderful, magical, and being at that final was the best sporting experience of my spectating life. But what I didn't want then, and still don't want, is for that to be the ONLY CANDIDATE for that title in my life.
I don't want the Timbers to be one-and-done, title-wise. I don't want them as an organization to coast on the nostalgia of that One Magic Season; I wanted that to be an entry point, not a pinnacle.
And yes, there were two finals appearances after that, but in neither one were the Timbers actually all that competitive; I wouldn't go so far as to say they "don't count", but in neither 2018 nor 2021 did I get a season-long feeling of "this is a championship-level team". And THAT's what I want. I don't want them to have to win a championship every year to be deemed a success; I do want them to be in the championship conversation more years than they aren't.
"Like in 2015 when Dairon scored that wicked, necessary (ok, important) goal against Dallas in the playoffs."
But that's exactly my point! That was 8 years ago now, and in the intervening 8 years, Dairon has not been up to the challenge, except in short bursts. I'm very, very tired of following a team that had glory once and ever since has just had...stories. I want a team that is consistently in the running for a home playoff game in the first round, and in the conversation for the Supporter's Shield, even if they don't win it.
THOSE are the stories I want - the "Timbers were two points shy of the Shield, they could have won it on the last weekend but they drew against (whoever) and didn't get it done, but now it's the playoffs and they're in good shape" type story is so much more satisfying to me than the "hey remember that one goal that one guy scored eight years ago" story. Your mileage may vary on that, but that's where my brain is at.
I want the new team that spring will (hopefully) bring. I don't want more from this group than it is capable of; I'm just tired of this group. They're playing better under Joseph, for sure, and I'll still go to the rest of the home games this season; It's just...I'm just as done with them as they were with Gio.
Again: I don't dislike Dairon. I just feel like he's one of those "oh right, that dude played here" guys who I'll almost completely forget was a Timber in five years.
What I’ve been trying to say is this: Whatever the best version of the Timbers is (God I hope we haven’t seen it already, but these days it kind of feels like that) will have role players, too.
We’ll be lucky if they provide half the magic Dairon has. I certainly won’t ever forget him. In fact, once he retires I’m getting his jersey.
I don't mind good stories and talented role players. I just don't like when good stories are all I have to root for, and that's what the Timbers have been for the last several years.
It seems like this is just a matter of taste. It sounds to me like RCTEyeD would favor more aggressive talent acquisition and moving on from players when they regress and don't recover, whereas Burpy would like to hang on to players like Asprilla because they believe that keeping role players is important.
If I've got that correct, I'd be curious to know more about where the line is for each of you. Should we be moving players every 2-3 years? Should we plan for and welcome more players like Asprilla in future?
You know what I like about that guy? He actually tries to make goals. He has that drive. He might not make it a lot of the time - I have witnessed four attempted bicycle kick goals in person, three failed but were super inspiring, and the one that made it was transcendental - but he certainly goes for it. Need more if that energy out there.
Burly, I mostly agree. Darion is an enigma. At times, he makes me crazy. I would love to know “his story.” Does anyone have insight to his journey? I am not interested In projections or “stories made up “ as we watch him perform.
Agree about a game of 3 minutes. The Timbers never seemed able to muster up some energy in this game. We still could have given up a goal late against an old and gassed team playing with 10 men... That was a great goal by Evander. His contributions though usually seem to be a wash between the negative and the positive.
My own theory is that Blanco needs to mix it up verbally with someone to truly "get into" the game. He has garnered plenty of yellows for this over his career. Those yellows probably matter even less now with his diminished role (he knows to stop once on a yellow, if he gets suspended for accumulation it isn't a huge team issue - like a CB or Chara or Evander where the cupboard is bare behind them), so it is almost like he has free reign now to "power up".
I do think that the team went out with a "manage" mentality. They were slow, didn't manage pressure well and some really bad passes and poor decision making. I'll take the draw, but if only we could have been more ruthless when everything was one way traffic there for a but ... we let Shittle not just take the air out of the advantage, almost pull a rabbit out of a hat with a late goal.
I made peace with the fact that this season was a total loss weeks ago, honestly thought this season was the "wait it out for the rebuild in earnest" season before it started. We are in a good spot for that, new coach and some big expiring contracts who won't be back. Next year potentially will look very green (not in a good / Timbers way) in spots.
Blanco, for all of his faults (which is primarily just age / broken down body) still has the fire and is mostly a competent player in his limited minutes. I am glad he can still contribute even if not 90, or even 45.
I love him. What a competitor. I'm surprised how lenient the refs have been with him the last two games. He really gets in their face. Maybe they are just used to him. Blanco being Blanco...
I realize this might be off message, but could I return to the whole MLS Season Pass spoilers problem? I'll admit: I wasn't tuned into this game live. But obviously PTFC vs. Seattle is a BFD in my world. I was looking forward to watching it. And I just failed in my attempt to navigate through the maze of spoilers on the MLS Season Pass site, when viewing it online. It's just impossible. You make one wrong move and then 20 cliplets and buttons tell you the score. It's ridiculous. Is there any way some group of MLS fans might take this issue up with someone? I can't imagine I'm the only one out there who has been frustrated with an inability to just watch a game on this much hyped new service. I can write a lonely voice in the desert e-mail to customer support, but I guess I'm just wondering if there's a petition or something I could sign on to or generate or something. I know this season is in the tank but I'm hoping some well timed feedback could get Apple or MLS to bother thinking about this issue? It 100% has made me less of a fan this year, in terms of tuning into other teams games, watching MLS more generally. Every Sunday I wake up to a full slate of Bundesliga games not knowing the score, or I can desperately try to maneuver around the MLS Season Pass interface to try to find a game that hasn't been spoiled for me. And fail, 99% of the time, because five screens in the final button has the frikken score built into it. Why is so hard to be an MLS fan?
And i thought I was the only one who used the web interface....
There are 2 things you can do that I tweaked that help:
1) use an ad blocker, the good one that runs on donations with the stop sign logo. And when on the MLS pass home screen, click "block an ad", then move your mouse carefully over one of the score boxes so it turns light pink, test it so that it disappears, and then click ok. No more scores, it just keepsthe "final" text.
2). Bookmark the Timbers rewatch page in your browser. You probably don't need any other page anyway, and this way it takes you directly to the past games archive and nothing else. They are listed in reverse chronological order. Hope this helps, I know I kicked over a few potted plants in the process.
Ublock Origin is better, at least for Chrome; it uses fewer system resources/CPU to do its work. It has the same ability to block individual elements, and is almost endlessly customizable (although super easy to use for this purpose).
Perhaps if a ton of people gave Apple feedback they'll take action. Maybe this is just something to iron out over the off-season.
Meanwhile I'm on the fence about getting SP for the remainder of the season - I reeeeally want to watch games but my work schedule makes it impossible for me to see them all live. Also I feel weird about giving Lionel Messi even more money than he's already got, but can't do much about that one.
And just to clarify, I know about the 'turn off scores' function. That kind of works when you're using the Apple TV app (on iOS, or Roku) but it doesn't work at all when you're using a web interface. AND the real problem is that even with the 'scores off' Apple laces the screen with filler content that reveals the scores. Thus they don't say the score, they just put the game next to highlight reels that show all of the goals in detail, from which it's really not hard to guess how the game went. It's like they don't actually want you to watch the game.
The UX is deplorable. Maybe such issues will be sorted out in the off-season.
My hope is that eventually language model interface will be built into these platforms so one can say "Show me the Sept 2 2023 Seattle v Portland Match, no spoilers please" and they'll just show you the freakin game.
I'd be seeing just about zero of these games if I hadn't been added as a friend/family. What I've seen hasn't made me want to pay for it next season, for sure. The stream is so glitchy. At the beginning of this game it even went to the Apple+ equivalent of the "Technical Difficulties" graphic. Portions of the game were borderline unwatchable because of the stops and pauses and re-streams.
If you're gonna make me pay to watch your league, you've gotta make your broadcast/stream watchable. But as long as they've got enough subscriptions out of it, they're not going to work to make any changes.
To quote the hockey coach from Letterkenny, "Fuckin' embarrassing!" *** kicks waste basket ***
The Timbers, otoh, have been a little easier to watch over the last week.
Odd, I find their stream through the app to be the best I’ve come across for sports with excellent visual quality. Admit I haven’t had to use the web interface, but the app has been good. Not so much, though, for the bulk of their boring announcers.
I end up watching 15 minute recaps on YoutTube cause I can do that without spoilers so long as I don't open a Google browser or "X". I wish I could just do some reasonable pay per view and watch the freakin game.
I was on the verge of saying eff it and paying Apple for the service, but then I saw they advertise "free" games, indicating that they'll charge you for individual games on top of the streaming service? So you pay a monthly fee then on top of that pay for important games, plus it is glitchy, plus the commentary sucks, plus there are spoilers?
Damn.
I seem to recall the old days when local sports teams games were always available on network TV. I grew up in the Bay Area and we certainly didn't have any trouble tuning in to Giants or Niners games.
Guess I'm back to using sketchy Russian streaming services, and preparing to wipe my hard drive every time I take on a virus....
Damn, I signed up with an Apple account (I'm an Android / Windows guy) just to poke around the Season Pass website, maybe watch some of the free content... and I know what you mean about spoilers, they're tacked on to every single thumbnail!
"I wish I could just do some reasonable pay per view and watch the freakin game."
I mean...that's essentially what this is? It's PPV, but you get a whole league instead. And it's the way all sports work now - at a minimum you have to have cable to watch any sport, which costs money, and now, even if you're a cord-cutter, every league has its own OTT service/dedicated app, where you pay for access to the bulk of their games on top of/instead of that. The days of yore with sports on free, over the air TV are long dead, because live sports are the only thing people will reliably pay for cable/streaming services for.
"but then I saw they advertise "free" games, indicating that they'll charge you for individual games on top of the streaming service? "
Nope. It's the whole "first taste is free" concept - there are a few games every week that you can watch on Apple's MLS service without having to pay, the theory being that then you'll like it enough to subscribe.
To me, this game was largely a missed opportunity. Now if you told me we’d come back and tie 2-2 at halftime I would have taken that and ran with it. However, we were up a man for 20 minutes after our two goals. This was a golden opportunity to get three points that we desperately need, and Seattle was there for the taking. We need to take these chances because we don’t get many of them. And winning in Seattle would’ve done wonders for the mentality of this team... I think we’ve won once on the road this year
I think Bravo needed to come on as soon as we went up a man, Miller gives us nothing going forward and we didn’t need his defensive stability anymore. Seeing him bomb up field and do nothing when we had an extra sub to use and the perfect option off the bench was infuriating. That was a huge oversight from Miles Joseph imo
I thought Chu’s second yellow was pretty soft, but perfect karma for a kid who took his shirt off to celebrate a goal in the 30th minute that he only scored because Chara deflected the ball off his foot. What an idiot, I mean seriously. And after the soft second yellows we’ve gotten for Evander, I will take it
At the 50th minute: Let's get back into this thing.
At the 53rd minute: Hmmm. This could get interesting. Maybe we can get a result.
67th minute: The Sounders' nightmare begins
70th minute: We can win this thing!
I was bummed that Moreno got pulled. He was the energizer bunny in the middle of the field and we had all kinds of momentum. Maybe take off Mosquera or Miller and go three in the back there. Again, I think he really shines as an 8/10. Moving forward, I'd really like to see Antony get a start and have Moreno take Paredes' place.
Speaking of Paredes - It's almost been a lost year for him. He's been playing high up the field a lot, and I don't think that's his strong suit. He should be working on his "6" game, but he hasn't really been doing much of that. Also, Diego Chara is not really doing much offensively as a six to bring the ball up. He really does not go and get it these days. I think this is something that needs to be worked out in the midfield. Enter Moreno! Slot him in the midfield and watch it cook with Evander and either Paredes or Chara underneath. One other thing about Paredes - DC put him in a bad spot on the second goal, and maybe he wasn't aware of Chu cheating inside. Also, Paredes does a lot of work defensively, so I don't like to dog him.
Great comeback and I was glad for the result, but the three points were there for the taking!
Your Paredes point is another reason I don’t like the 4-3-3 for this team. I think we’ve seen a noticeable decline in both Evander and Paredes since that change. Evander because he’s playing deeper, and Paredes because he’s playing higher. Paredes has always been one to go forward and be that late runner into the box, but in this formation he’s no longer the late runner, he’s just another runner and he ends up crowding the middle of the box where we play so. damn. narrow. And he presses so high and ends up leaving so much space in the middle of the field next to Chara and is often late to getting back. He’s good on defense when he’s, you know, in position to defend. And him being out of position almost costed us a goal last night. However, the other side of the coin is last week where his run (and I credit Chris Rifer to pointing this out) opened up so much space for Moreno which led to Mora’s goal. Unfortunately we don’t see that very much, and his performances have been lacking for the past two months or so after a fantastic start to the season.
I think the easiest fix is just to switch back to the 4-2-3-1. Keep Paredes disciplined and play Evander higher up the field so he doesn’t have to defend and can float around, and where he’s performed better this year
Yes, but the 4-2-3-1 doesn't put Moreno in the mix in the midfield, which I would like to see more of, especially with more wingers available. I do think Paredes is valuable defender with a lot of bite (something LAFC our next opponent lacks), but I'd rather see more offense and fluidity in the midfield. Maybe Paredes starts, but Moreno slides in later.
I liked Moreno in the middle too but he does just fine on the wing cutting in. His position on the field is the least of my worries, it’s more about his form. If he’s in form he’ll kill it no matter where he is. I do like the idea of a 3-5-2 but as of now, if we’re sticking to what the team is used to, I think a 4-2-3-1 would immediately help us compared to the 4-3-3
How do you incorporate Antony? We bought him with four million ? I'm thinking they have to move him in there at some point and I'm thinking they have to move Moreno into the midfield to accommodate.
Well if we start him -- which I’m not sure will happen -- just stick him on the opposite wing. Yimmi has been really bad recently, and Asprilla is Asprilla. It’s really an open challenge over there for anyone who wants to claim it. And I know you’ve been the captain of the “start Blanco” train but I’m not on board with that and think he’s better used as a super sub
Yeah, I'd be all right with that. Maybe we are not strong enough on the wing just yet, and Moreno can hold down that fort. But I do like later in the game when we're making subs and he does slide inside to the midfield. He really comes alive.
Another thing. That second goal illustrates how effective Moreno is in the middle. He draws all kinds of attention and can deal with it, leaving all kinds of space for Evander who can just focus on laser strikes.
Before he scored, I was getting a little irritated to see Evander staying back with DC and Paredes up in the offense - sure, CP has scored a few nice goals, but of the two of them I want to see Evander closer to the goal.
One consistent thing about this years Timbers is that in some games they show a few spotty moments during a game where they look good and dangerous but that is just a few times during a game, never for a full match. They never really look to be in control of a match. They always can look vulnerable at a blink of the eye. There are way too many easy give aways of the ball.
Robin Fraser out as head coach of the Rapids. Dead last place but Colorado has possibly the worst ownership in the league in terms of investment. He’s a candidate we should consider, he took a mediocre team to first place in the west in 2021. He’d most likely be an upgrade over Gio. It’s not an ambitious hire and I’d be extremely tentative that he could very well be a one season wonder, but he’s worth a call. Just an option
He was bad at Chivas USA (again, admittedly, with an underinvesting owner), was a decent assistant under some good coaches at NYRB and Toronto, then went to Colorado and was a bad coach again except for that one lightning-in-a-bottle season. Underinvestment in players isn't his fault, but he only won 24% of his games at Chivas and 36% at Colorado, and at least in Colorado it has to be assumed that he had some input into player acquisition (even if the budget wasn't his) under the Kroenkes.
The Timbers just got rid of a coach who couldn't get the most out of a badly constructed lineup; I'm not sure why they'd want another one.
I saw some Colorado fans opine that it seemed like he lost the locker room after their Thanksgiving defeat to us in 2021. If so, that's not who we want to bring in given that next year could be a slow start
It just all goes back to: how ambitious do the Timbers want to be? If, as I hope, they want to be very ambitious, and reestablish contact with the upper echelon of MLS, this winter is a blank slate. There's tons of money coming off the books, tons of roster spots potentially open, and an opportunity for a top-shelf coach to take the reins and hopefully shape PTFC into something far better than it has been in recent years.
I just don't see Robin Fraser as being that ambitious or, frankly, that talented. If they even seriously consider Fraser, it will tell me all I need to know about the level of ambition currently in the Timbers FO.
I'm not so sure this was a "game of two halves" as much as it was a game of three minutes. The sending off was the Timbers' ticket to success in this game, but outside those two goals, they kinda reverted to their most-of-the-season form, instead of riding the wave from the RSL win. I still don't love Dairon Asprilla, but there's no doubt he has the Sounders' number lately and it is delightful.
Whatever; I'll take the point and the few moments of entertainment.
C’mon. You’re cheating yourself if you don’t give in to Dairon.
He’s no Chara or Valeri, but he’s a role player Timbers legend. A make-good maturity story that reflects well on both player and club. Big goals in big moments.
Especially in garbage time like the rest of 2023 is, and maybe/hopefully playing a little less next year among a strengthened roster (but still getting a good 15 at the end of a Sounders match): Lean in to Dairon.
I guess I'm tired of folk heroes? I want a team of consistently good performers, not a team full of super good stories that occasionally pop up and score wondergoals. If that means a boring team, so be it, but that's what I want because they'll win more and play better.
I don’t know what more you could ask a team than to win MLS Cup. Like in 2015 when Dairon scored that wicked, necessary (ok, important) goal against Dallas in the playoffs.
Even Messi money won’t change the need for guys like Asprilla to find moments like that for teams to find glory.
This team you want isn’t arriving before spring at the most optimistic. We got a bunch of hollow games to play now. No stakes. Use this house money to buy into Dairon.
It’s like I said in this song I wrote: If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.
"I don’t know what more you could ask a team than to win MLS Cup."
I said it in 2015, 2016, and have said it every year since; 2015 was wonderful, magical, and being at that final was the best sporting experience of my spectating life. But what I didn't want then, and still don't want, is for that to be the ONLY CANDIDATE for that title in my life.
I don't want the Timbers to be one-and-done, title-wise. I don't want them as an organization to coast on the nostalgia of that One Magic Season; I wanted that to be an entry point, not a pinnacle.
And yes, there were two finals appearances after that, but in neither one were the Timbers actually all that competitive; I wouldn't go so far as to say they "don't count", but in neither 2018 nor 2021 did I get a season-long feeling of "this is a championship-level team". And THAT's what I want. I don't want them to have to win a championship every year to be deemed a success; I do want them to be in the championship conversation more years than they aren't.
"Like in 2015 when Dairon scored that wicked, necessary (ok, important) goal against Dallas in the playoffs."
But that's exactly my point! That was 8 years ago now, and in the intervening 8 years, Dairon has not been up to the challenge, except in short bursts. I'm very, very tired of following a team that had glory once and ever since has just had...stories. I want a team that is consistently in the running for a home playoff game in the first round, and in the conversation for the Supporter's Shield, even if they don't win it.
THOSE are the stories I want - the "Timbers were two points shy of the Shield, they could have won it on the last weekend but they drew against (whoever) and didn't get it done, but now it's the playoffs and they're in good shape" type story is so much more satisfying to me than the "hey remember that one goal that one guy scored eight years ago" story. Your mileage may vary on that, but that's where my brain is at.
I want the new team that spring will (hopefully) bring. I don't want more from this group than it is capable of; I'm just tired of this group. They're playing better under Joseph, for sure, and I'll still go to the rest of the home games this season; It's just...I'm just as done with them as they were with Gio.
Again: I don't dislike Dairon. I just feel like he's one of those "oh right, that dude played here" guys who I'll almost completely forget was a Timber in five years.
I promise I won’t keep dragging this on.
What I’ve been trying to say is this: Whatever the best version of the Timbers is (God I hope we haven’t seen it already, but these days it kind of feels like that) will have role players, too.
We’ll be lucky if they provide half the magic Dairon has. I certainly won’t ever forget him. In fact, once he retires I’m getting his jersey.
I don't mind good stories and talented role players. I just don't like when good stories are all I have to root for, and that's what the Timbers have been for the last several years.
It seems like this is just a matter of taste. It sounds to me like RCTEyeD would favor more aggressive talent acquisition and moving on from players when they regress and don't recover, whereas Burpy would like to hang on to players like Asprilla because they believe that keeping role players is important.
If I've got that correct, I'd be curious to know more about where the line is for each of you. Should we be moving players every 2-3 years? Should we plan for and welcome more players like Asprilla in future?
You know what I like about that guy? He actually tries to make goals. He has that drive. He might not make it a lot of the time - I have witnessed four attempted bicycle kick goals in person, three failed but were super inspiring, and the one that made it was transcendental - but he certainly goes for it. Need more if that energy out there.
Burly, I mostly agree. Darion is an enigma. At times, he makes me crazy. I would love to know “his story.” Does anyone have insight to his journey? I am not interested In projections or “stories made up “ as we watch him perform.
Agree about a game of 3 minutes. The Timbers never seemed able to muster up some energy in this game. We still could have given up a goal late against an old and gassed team playing with 10 men... That was a great goal by Evander. His contributions though usually seem to be a wash between the negative and the positive.
They seemed a step slow all night - slow to balls, slow to challenges, just sorta lethargic, and I can't figure out why.
I know. Important game for much needed points. Big derby. Big crowd. Blanco was one of the only players that seemed fired up.
My own theory is that Blanco needs to mix it up verbally with someone to truly "get into" the game. He has garnered plenty of yellows for this over his career. Those yellows probably matter even less now with his diminished role (he knows to stop once on a yellow, if he gets suspended for accumulation it isn't a huge team issue - like a CB or Chara or Evander where the cupboard is bare behind them), so it is almost like he has free reign now to "power up".
I do think that the team went out with a "manage" mentality. They were slow, didn't manage pressure well and some really bad passes and poor decision making. I'll take the draw, but if only we could have been more ruthless when everything was one way traffic there for a but ... we let Shittle not just take the air out of the advantage, almost pull a rabbit out of a hat with a late goal.
I made peace with the fact that this season was a total loss weeks ago, honestly thought this season was the "wait it out for the rebuild in earnest" season before it started. We are in a good spot for that, new coach and some big expiring contracts who won't be back. Next year potentially will look very green (not in a good / Timbers way) in spots.
Blanco, for all of his faults (which is primarily just age / broken down body) still has the fire and is mostly a competent player in his limited minutes. I am glad he can still contribute even if not 90, or even 45.
I love him. What a competitor. I'm surprised how lenient the refs have been with him the last two games. He really gets in their face. Maybe they are just used to him. Blanco being Blanco...
I realize this might be off message, but could I return to the whole MLS Season Pass spoilers problem? I'll admit: I wasn't tuned into this game live. But obviously PTFC vs. Seattle is a BFD in my world. I was looking forward to watching it. And I just failed in my attempt to navigate through the maze of spoilers on the MLS Season Pass site, when viewing it online. It's just impossible. You make one wrong move and then 20 cliplets and buttons tell you the score. It's ridiculous. Is there any way some group of MLS fans might take this issue up with someone? I can't imagine I'm the only one out there who has been frustrated with an inability to just watch a game on this much hyped new service. I can write a lonely voice in the desert e-mail to customer support, but I guess I'm just wondering if there's a petition or something I could sign on to or generate or something. I know this season is in the tank but I'm hoping some well timed feedback could get Apple or MLS to bother thinking about this issue? It 100% has made me less of a fan this year, in terms of tuning into other teams games, watching MLS more generally. Every Sunday I wake up to a full slate of Bundesliga games not knowing the score, or I can desperately try to maneuver around the MLS Season Pass interface to try to find a game that hasn't been spoiled for me. And fail, 99% of the time, because five screens in the final button has the frikken score built into it. Why is so hard to be an MLS fan?
And i thought I was the only one who used the web interface....
There are 2 things you can do that I tweaked that help:
1) use an ad blocker, the good one that runs on donations with the stop sign logo. And when on the MLS pass home screen, click "block an ad", then move your mouse carefully over one of the score boxes so it turns light pink, test it so that it disappears, and then click ok. No more scores, it just keepsthe "final" text.
2). Bookmark the Timbers rewatch page in your browser. You probably don't need any other page anyway, and this way it takes you directly to the past games archive and nothing else. They are listed in reverse chronological order. Hope this helps, I know I kicked over a few potted plants in the process.
That ad blocker you mention is AdBlock Plus (or maybe AdBlock+).
Ublock Origin is better, at least for Chrome; it uses fewer system resources/CPU to do its work. It has the same ability to block individual elements, and is almost endlessly customizable (although super easy to use for this purpose).
I looked at Apple's community forum page, and saw plenty of MLS fans bringing up these issues, good example post : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254954004
One can register one's issues with Apple through this link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/apple-tv-app/
Perhaps if a ton of people gave Apple feedback they'll take action. Maybe this is just something to iron out over the off-season.
Meanwhile I'm on the fence about getting SP for the remainder of the season - I reeeeally want to watch games but my work schedule makes it impossible for me to see them all live. Also I feel weird about giving Lionel Messi even more money than he's already got, but can't do much about that one.
Look elsewhere on this forum or Reddit for a solution to the spoiler problem on windows - android, idk
And just to clarify, I know about the 'turn off scores' function. That kind of works when you're using the Apple TV app (on iOS, or Roku) but it doesn't work at all when you're using a web interface. AND the real problem is that even with the 'scores off' Apple laces the screen with filler content that reveals the scores. Thus they don't say the score, they just put the game next to highlight reels that show all of the goals in detail, from which it's really not hard to guess how the game went. It's like they don't actually want you to watch the game.
I know how ya feel..
The UX is deplorable. Maybe such issues will be sorted out in the off-season.
My hope is that eventually language model interface will be built into these platforms so one can say "Show me the Sept 2 2023 Seattle v Portland Match, no spoilers please" and they'll just show you the freakin game.
It's not too much to ask, or pay, for.
I'd be seeing just about zero of these games if I hadn't been added as a friend/family. What I've seen hasn't made me want to pay for it next season, for sure. The stream is so glitchy. At the beginning of this game it even went to the Apple+ equivalent of the "Technical Difficulties" graphic. Portions of the game were borderline unwatchable because of the stops and pauses and re-streams.
If you're gonna make me pay to watch your league, you've gotta make your broadcast/stream watchable. But as long as they've got enough subscriptions out of it, they're not going to work to make any changes.
To quote the hockey coach from Letterkenny, "Fuckin' embarrassing!" *** kicks waste basket ***
The Timbers, otoh, have been a little easier to watch over the last week.
Odd, I find their stream through the app to be the best I’ve come across for sports with excellent visual quality. Admit I haven’t had to use the web interface, but the app has been good. Not so much, though, for the bulk of their boring announcers.
Yeah, I've never had quality issues with their streams at all - for any game, not just Timbers games - either on my TV or on my computer.
I end up watching 15 minute recaps on YoutTube cause I can do that without spoilers so long as I don't open a Google browser or "X". I wish I could just do some reasonable pay per view and watch the freakin game.
I was on the verge of saying eff it and paying Apple for the service, but then I saw they advertise "free" games, indicating that they'll charge you for individual games on top of the streaming service? So you pay a monthly fee then on top of that pay for important games, plus it is glitchy, plus the commentary sucks, plus there are spoilers?
Damn.
I seem to recall the old days when local sports teams games were always available on network TV. I grew up in the Bay Area and we certainly didn't have any trouble tuning in to Giants or Niners games.
Guess I'm back to using sketchy Russian streaming services, and preparing to wipe my hard drive every time I take on a virus....
The free games mean you can watch without a subscription. Afaik, once you're subscribed there's no games you have to pay for.
Damn, I signed up with an Apple account (I'm an Android / Windows guy) just to poke around the Season Pass website, maybe watch some of the free content... and I know what you mean about spoilers, they're tacked on to every single thumbnail!
Why would anyone want that information anyway?
This. The subscription covers all MLS regular season, playoffs and the new tourney.
"I wish I could just do some reasonable pay per view and watch the freakin game."
I mean...that's essentially what this is? It's PPV, but you get a whole league instead. And it's the way all sports work now - at a minimum you have to have cable to watch any sport, which costs money, and now, even if you're a cord-cutter, every league has its own OTT service/dedicated app, where you pay for access to the bulk of their games on top of/instead of that. The days of yore with sports on free, over the air TV are long dead, because live sports are the only thing people will reliably pay for cable/streaming services for.
"but then I saw they advertise "free" games, indicating that they'll charge you for individual games on top of the streaming service? "
Nope. It's the whole "first taste is free" concept - there are a few games every week that you can watch on Apple's MLS service without having to pay, the theory being that then you'll like it enough to subscribe.
To me, this game was largely a missed opportunity. Now if you told me we’d come back and tie 2-2 at halftime I would have taken that and ran with it. However, we were up a man for 20 minutes after our two goals. This was a golden opportunity to get three points that we desperately need, and Seattle was there for the taking. We need to take these chances because we don’t get many of them. And winning in Seattle would’ve done wonders for the mentality of this team... I think we’ve won once on the road this year
I think Bravo needed to come on as soon as we went up a man, Miller gives us nothing going forward and we didn’t need his defensive stability anymore. Seeing him bomb up field and do nothing when we had an extra sub to use and the perfect option off the bench was infuriating. That was a huge oversight from Miles Joseph imo
I thought Chu’s second yellow was pretty soft, but perfect karma for a kid who took his shirt off to celebrate a goal in the 30th minute that he only scored because Chara deflected the ball off his foot. What an idiot, I mean seriously. And after the soft second yellows we’ve gotten for Evander, I will take it
At the 50th minute: Let's get back into this thing.
At the 53rd minute: Hmmm. This could get interesting. Maybe we can get a result.
67th minute: The Sounders' nightmare begins
70th minute: We can win this thing!
I was bummed that Moreno got pulled. He was the energizer bunny in the middle of the field and we had all kinds of momentum. Maybe take off Mosquera or Miller and go three in the back there. Again, I think he really shines as an 8/10. Moving forward, I'd really like to see Antony get a start and have Moreno take Paredes' place.
Speaking of Paredes - It's almost been a lost year for him. He's been playing high up the field a lot, and I don't think that's his strong suit. He should be working on his "6" game, but he hasn't really been doing much of that. Also, Diego Chara is not really doing much offensively as a six to bring the ball up. He really does not go and get it these days. I think this is something that needs to be worked out in the midfield. Enter Moreno! Slot him in the midfield and watch it cook with Evander and either Paredes or Chara underneath. One other thing about Paredes - DC put him in a bad spot on the second goal, and maybe he wasn't aware of Chu cheating inside. Also, Paredes does a lot of work defensively, so I don't like to dog him.
Great comeback and I was glad for the result, but the three points were there for the taking!
Your Paredes point is another reason I don’t like the 4-3-3 for this team. I think we’ve seen a noticeable decline in both Evander and Paredes since that change. Evander because he’s playing deeper, and Paredes because he’s playing higher. Paredes has always been one to go forward and be that late runner into the box, but in this formation he’s no longer the late runner, he’s just another runner and he ends up crowding the middle of the box where we play so. damn. narrow. And he presses so high and ends up leaving so much space in the middle of the field next to Chara and is often late to getting back. He’s good on defense when he’s, you know, in position to defend. And him being out of position almost costed us a goal last night. However, the other side of the coin is last week where his run (and I credit Chris Rifer to pointing this out) opened up so much space for Moreno which led to Mora’s goal. Unfortunately we don’t see that very much, and his performances have been lacking for the past two months or so after a fantastic start to the season.
I think the easiest fix is just to switch back to the 4-2-3-1. Keep Paredes disciplined and play Evander higher up the field so he doesn’t have to defend and can float around, and where he’s performed better this year
Yes, but the 4-2-3-1 doesn't put Moreno in the mix in the midfield, which I would like to see more of, especially with more wingers available. I do think Paredes is valuable defender with a lot of bite (something LAFC our next opponent lacks), but I'd rather see more offense and fluidity in the midfield. Maybe Paredes starts, but Moreno slides in later.
I liked Moreno in the middle too but he does just fine on the wing cutting in. His position on the field is the least of my worries, it’s more about his form. If he’s in form he’ll kill it no matter where he is. I do like the idea of a 3-5-2 but as of now, if we’re sticking to what the team is used to, I think a 4-2-3-1 would immediately help us compared to the 4-3-3
How do you incorporate Antony? We bought him with four million ? I'm thinking they have to move him in there at some point and I'm thinking they have to move Moreno into the midfield to accommodate.
Well if we start him -- which I’m not sure will happen -- just stick him on the opposite wing. Yimmi has been really bad recently, and Asprilla is Asprilla. It’s really an open challenge over there for anyone who wants to claim it. And I know you’ve been the captain of the “start Blanco” train but I’m not on board with that and think he’s better used as a super sub
Yeah, I'd be all right with that. Maybe we are not strong enough on the wing just yet, and Moreno can hold down that fort. But I do like later in the game when we're making subs and he does slide inside to the midfield. He really comes alive.
Another thing. That second goal illustrates how effective Moreno is in the middle. He draws all kinds of attention and can deal with it, leaving all kinds of space for Evander who can just focus on laser strikes.
Before he scored, I was getting a little irritated to see Evander staying back with DC and Paredes up in the offense - sure, CP has scored a few nice goals, but of the two of them I want to see Evander closer to the goal.
One consistent thing about this years Timbers is that in some games they show a few spotty moments during a game where they look good and dangerous but that is just a few times during a game, never for a full match. They never really look to be in control of a match. They always can look vulnerable at a blink of the eye. There are way too many easy give aways of the ball.
Also, Seattle is not as good as they used to be.
Robin Fraser out as head coach of the Rapids. Dead last place but Colorado has possibly the worst ownership in the league in terms of investment. He’s a candidate we should consider, he took a mediocre team to first place in the west in 2021. He’d most likely be an upgrade over Gio. It’s not an ambitious hire and I’d be extremely tentative that he could very well be a one season wonder, but he’s worth a call. Just an option
nooooooooope.
He was bad at Chivas USA (again, admittedly, with an underinvesting owner), was a decent assistant under some good coaches at NYRB and Toronto, then went to Colorado and was a bad coach again except for that one lightning-in-a-bottle season. Underinvestment in players isn't his fault, but he only won 24% of his games at Chivas and 36% at Colorado, and at least in Colorado it has to be assumed that he had some input into player acquisition (even if the budget wasn't his) under the Kroenkes.
The Timbers just got rid of a coach who couldn't get the most out of a badly constructed lineup; I'm not sure why they'd want another one.
I saw some Colorado fans opine that it seemed like he lost the locker room after their Thanksgiving defeat to us in 2021. If so, that's not who we want to bring in given that next year could be a slow start
It just all goes back to: how ambitious do the Timbers want to be? If, as I hope, they want to be very ambitious, and reestablish contact with the upper echelon of MLS, this winter is a blank slate. There's tons of money coming off the books, tons of roster spots potentially open, and an opportunity for a top-shelf coach to take the reins and hopefully shape PTFC into something far better than it has been in recent years.
I just don't see Robin Fraser as being that ambitious or, frankly, that talented. If they even seriously consider Fraser, it will tell me all I need to know about the level of ambition currently in the Timbers FO.