Wow. Charlotte is a horrible team, and our B team can't even compete, which says something about our depth.
First off, get over yourselves that McGraw was any good, that he has regressed. I'm pretty sure if you did a deep dive you'd find he was never fit to be a first teamer. He can head the ball, but that's about it. Sorry! He seems like a great dude, and maybe that is his downfall, because a cb needs to be one mean dude and go into tackles like he wants to take your lunch money. Zac will dangle a leg and the guy will waltz right by him. It's embarrassing that he worked his way into the team, which also speaks to Gio and now, Neville's evaluation skills. This isn't a one time bad game thing; he's been really bad for a long time. Sorry to be so negative, but those two goals he gave away are just, I don't know what to say.
Second, I didn't think Mosquera should have started after his performance against LAFC. E. Miller, you picked a bad time to get sick. But that shouldn't matter to the coach. He should find somebody else to play right back out of principle. Maybe even Asprilla.
Third, can we get over Ayala already. He's just not it, guys.
Fourth, Williamson, no words. Horrible game. Like McGraw you have one talent: set piece delivery.
Phil, this was a chance to get a result. Charlotte is horrible. If there was a game where the coach needed to win it, this was it. And you blew it. Don't give me any excuses about how your team is decimated and no one is available. You should be able to cobble it together and get a result. I don't know how many times you need to see some of these players play to realize that they are not going to cut it.
Paredes, the only guy who looked good. I think he's the six of the future. Put Moreno as the eight and Evander when he gets back as the 10. Or play Chara and Paredes in the midfield and Moreno as the 10 if Evander is out.
I just can't believe they lost to that team. It may be awhile before I comment again. I just, I can't continue to watch some of these players that should not be on the field.
McGraw was decent at first. I wouldn't say he was all-star world-beating level, but he was decent. I don't know what happened, but in the last season-plus, he's been utterly terrible. He's followed the Alvas Powell path; looked good at first but that seemed to be a mirage the closer we all look. It's tremendously disappointing but he needs to at the very least not start, and ideally be gone this summer.
He would be excellent if he lost 15 pounds and got lean. I would make that clear to him and bench him till he does. He is slow and this year he looks retirement slow. But he is excellent in the box and good positionally. He is just too slow to recover anything.
Ayala was one of our best players until he got taken off. Him and Paredes were about equal, but both just “ok.” That level being our best player levels on the day is no bueno. Moreno was our best player imo which it seems I’m alone in thinking, but Phil agrees
That was a terrible game for the Timbers. There were a number of times I commented that Charlotte was just bad, and then was reminded that we were losing to them. Charlotte could have scored 4+ goals in this game, and it never really felt like the Timbers were going to score at all. Its a road game, and at the end of a road trip, with a number of games that felt like they Timbers were turning a corner. But this was a total regression in play, and one that could have been seen in the last game (2 goals that were created out of nothing). I've been critical of the hiring of Neville, and I'm not feeling any better about it. At this time there isn't any discernable identity of the team, and losing Evander really turns that into a glaring problem.
Who is this team? What do they want to do? How do they create something when things just aren't working? None of these questions have been answered, and its time that the coaching staff starts to work on all of this.
What's funny about the Timbers is they defend a terrible roster that they've kept together while dominating the bottom of the table, but will nuke it the moment they reach a championship final.
They lost nagbe, blanco, clark, and then keep all of the mediocre players. The only reason we reached these MLS cups were for the players mentioned. Without blanco in 2018 we were no one, same with 2021. In 2021 our defense was average but Steve Clark was super human. Look at what he did in Houston. The Timbers front office is beyond stupid. They also all cover up sex abuse/domestic violence etc... what else would I expect from a bunch of free masons. No sane person should ever support this club. They all act like they are professional LMAO! How can you even show your face after what happened with Andy Polo and the Thorns? How do you explain to children that our owner is a piece of shit that covers up heinous behavior? Our town is cursed because we support and tolerate this crap. And it shows in their personnel decisions... the inability to see McGraw as nothing more than USL tier shows how stupid the people at Portland are. I remember a couple months ago I decided to pick a random game last year where McGraw played and he was directly responsible for letting in 3 goals against SKC.
Portland Timbers FO disrespect club legends and cover up the abuse of women. They are a disgrace to even wear green and gold. I am out. I have read this blog for years and will not return until the owner has left along with the front office.
New here. I read content and comments at times. Not sure if I will post again but I am so pissed. I use "Enough is enough" because this is what Phil Neville said in the press conference and that is exactly how I feel about him and Grabavoy. Watch the press conference and notice the following: Neville can't look at a camera, ever. His fingers go to his nose constantly, something he does regularly at press conferences. This man is a downgrade from Savarese in all aspects. Sure, Savarese needed to leave, horrible last year, cycle completed, etc; no questions about that, it was his time; but, aside from the last year, maybe last 2 years, during his tenure, even with multiple injuries at times, the Timbers showed better soccer, more cohesion, certainly better defense, we reached a final..... I am upset because they could have found a better coach. We chose two English coaches (England is not at all notorious for producing coaches) two lead a bunch of latinos with a drastic soccer and cultural mentality. One coach with just 1 year of experience, the other one with a proven bad record and concerning attitudes. Here we are, 8 games without a win, and let's face it, it could have been more but we were extremely lucky in a couple of games, or a player like Evander got us out of trouble with 5 seconds of magic.
I don't agree this is entirely about the players. I actually feel sorry for some players. Defenders get isolated in 1v1 all the time. Sure, McGraw made huge mistakes and it isn't the first time this year, but can I really blame the game on him? he isn't and never was a great defender, but he has not regressed, he just played in a more cohesive defensive environment. A DP like Jonathan gets completely isolated in an entire game against one of the worst teams in the league. How is that tactically possible? Same with Mora. And, no, this wasn't a B team. Most players were starters, we were just missing the guy who has saved us with seconds of magic under the same mess. Or we forgot some of the first 45min in the past several games WITH Evander in the field?
Then there is Ned, the man responsible for the hiring of the coaches, the same guy who did not find the defender we needed so badly for 2 years and even conceded he didn't, and then got Araujo, by no means the defender we needed. How come nobody holds him responsible? Why didn't we get a defender 2 years ago?
And sure, then there are the players and today was bad. I agree with Lefhanded99 and his player assessment. Although I think Mosquera needs to start because he is much better than the alternative we have, by a lot (again, thanks, Grabavoy).
A team relying in Evander, a player who at times is casual and just happens to be well above the rest, technically speaking will not last. The super goals he scored recently to save us will not happen all year. There has to be an actual good coach, there has to be better player acquisition and sure, there are players that should go, but I would be careful to tell who without giving a chance for players to show under cohesion, with compact organization as well as association.
It is early, and I certainly hope things change. Otherwise, enough is enough
Funny, I just went back and watched the first Ned and Phil press conference since I don’t recall Ned saying it either. Ned refers to him and Merritt meeting with multiple candidates including Phil and how “we” made a decision. Phil refers to meeting with “Ned and Merritt.” So perhaps Ned personally owned the decision in some other statement or interview, but it wasn’t at that press availability.
Phil did say one thing that I had forgotten about and that I supposed cuts a little (but not a lot) in his favor: when Phil was hired, the expectation was that Miles Joseph was staying on as his assistant and that they we about to hire another assistant with significant experience, which I’m guessing was a reference to Kreis. Neither happened, leaving Neville with less experienced staff.
Well, that’s a bit of hindsighting on the CBs. Zupe, Mabs, Araujo and McGraw were all under contract coming into the season (McGraw got his extension in ‘22). No one was going to take a trade for Mabs and the team had to use its amnesty on Ivacic. I supposed they could have traded Zupe, but if he wanted to stay he’s the last of the group I would part with. That leaves Araujo, who they just acquired half way through last year and McGraw, who folks remained positive about. Frankly, between the four CBs on the roster and cap considerations, K. Miller wasn’t a bad addition. And they can always look to offload McGraw, Araujo, or Zoe in the next window. If you’re going to point fingers of second guess, I’d say the lack of any outside back signing (beyond renegotiating E. Miller as your in case of emergency, break glass two sided backstop) is far more glaring (although still salvageable if they bring someone in).
I have very little interest in talking about this team when they play a game that’s that bad, but I will say that I’ve been wrong on McGraw this year. He’s 100% taken a massive step back, both those goals are directly on him. But no, he was not always this bad, and no, he’s not USL level. He was very good the last two years, and I’m not going to go back on that just because he’s not playing well now. Even in this game, as much as a liability as he was, he had 4 big blocks and 8 clearances, and 5 recoveries. To me he looks completely out of confidence, so many times there were 50/50 balls that in the past he would’ve just barreled through the other player and gotten the ball. That includes the second goal. Now he’s just stabbing, afraid to make a mistake. As RCTEyeDee has pointed out many times, the high line we’re playing just doesn’t fit him at all. His mentality needs to be strengthened, same with the rest of the team. There was no urgency except the 5-10 minutes after their first goal. It’s starting to look like Gio ball where everyone just stands around waiting for someone to do something. You can’t wait. Players need to move around always, either looking for the ball or making space by pulling defenders. Otherwise nothing will happen and we’ll look static as we did. Moreno did this the best, which is why I believe Phil singled him out as the only player on the field that had the right mentality. The players gotta work.
Oh well, guess I did talk about this team a bit. I suppose I prefer talking about how to make things better, not argue over whose fault it is, because right now it’s everyone’s fault. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to leave (that’s not how this works), it means that it’s everyone’s responsibility to raise the level. I look forward to the Seattle game, I believe this team will be up for it finally back home. Our hard schedule is over and we’ll have Evander back. No excuses
Have you followed Sunderland’s current campaign? Painful. If the Timbers don’t make a dramatic turnaround, they’re in a race for the Wooden Spoon (with no fear of relegation for better or worse). While I assume the Timbers will win another game this season (it’s MLS after all), I don’t see how this season gets much better. And that’s tough to stomach. I still support the players and would love to see them succeed. But this front office, ownership and coaching staff doesn’t inspire confidence.
Everyone lays a turd on the road sometimes. Especially coming out of a real tough stretch, it doesn't surprise me. We were also missing three key components of our spine here.
Neville's Timbers usually suck a half at a time. I'm curious to see the response -- against Seattle at home.
It's too early for any of this, but Paulson is prideful (to be diplomatic, I find him downright petulant), and he got a lot of blowback for the dubious coach hire. But he also spent money on top of money spent. Ned defended a much worse roster against coach amidst similar results (though we haven't had the blowout level performance that finally got Gio fired). Very curious to watch the Phil/performance/expensive roster/FO dynamic. Not super optimistic about Phil figuring it out.
My prediction for Seattle: we go down 3-0 and lose 4-3.
Given the absences for this game, the loss on the road doesn't really surprise me or, to be honest, really disappoint me. What surprises and truly angers me about this particular loss was the utter and complete lack of actually trying. The team looked completely clueless, they had no intensity and no focus, and they were disjointed and seemingly completely without a plan for 99% of the game. That can't be blamed on the absent players, and that's a huge, structural problem.
Also, tangentially, is there a coach whose MLS stock has fallen further than Caleb Porter's? Did great things here, won another Cup in Columbus, but utterly fell off a cliff in both places after the Cup winning seasons and now is completely underwater in New England.
"Kickoff of the greatest rivalry in American soccer is set for 1:45 p.m. PT"
Currently the Timbers are on 0.91 PPG and the Sounders are on 0.9. The Timbers have scored 20 goals and sport a GD of -3, and the Sounders have scored 13 and are at a GD of 0 (at least until they play tomorrow).
Let's just say that next week's game isn't shaping up to be an all-timer.
Also, Seattle have a game in hand as do Dallas - PTFC could lose to Seattle and San Jose then reside at the very bottom of the table by the end of the month. Maybe Neville wants to relive his days at Inter Miami...
With the Sounders draw at LAG today, by the standings the Timbers and Seattle are now exactly the same team. Same points, same W/D/L, and only by GD are the two teams separate - Sounders are still at 0 after the draw.
If San Jose and Dallas win Saturday, Seattle and Portland will be fighting to stay above dead last in the conference. But, SJ Dallas and Seattle all have to play mid week fixtures thanks to Open Cup, and Chara will be on the pitch and perhaps Evander will be better... so maybe there's some hope for PTFC to not completely crater out this coming weekend.
I would be shocked if Seattle played anything resembling a full strength lineup on Wednesday night. They've already started rotating a few kids into their MLS lineup, and I would expect a few more bench guys and kids on Wednesday, and I don't think they'll risk most of their big guns. I could be wrong but I don't think most MLS teams prioritize USOC at this point until/unless they make it to the later rounds.
Just as I thought, the Sounders started 9 bench guys last night, a couple of which I think were on loan from Tacoma, so I'm not sure the midweek game will affect Sunday in any meaningful way.
Yeah, except that the Timbers have had games (or at least halves) when they’ve shown all the characteristics you claim they lack. And the Thorns were pretty darn hard to watch until Norris got reassigned and have been playing with much more cohesion, direction and grit ever since.
Wow. Charlotte is a horrible team, and our B team can't even compete, which says something about our depth.
First off, get over yourselves that McGraw was any good, that he has regressed. I'm pretty sure if you did a deep dive you'd find he was never fit to be a first teamer. He can head the ball, but that's about it. Sorry! He seems like a great dude, and maybe that is his downfall, because a cb needs to be one mean dude and go into tackles like he wants to take your lunch money. Zac will dangle a leg and the guy will waltz right by him. It's embarrassing that he worked his way into the team, which also speaks to Gio and now, Neville's evaluation skills. This isn't a one time bad game thing; he's been really bad for a long time. Sorry to be so negative, but those two goals he gave away are just, I don't know what to say.
Second, I didn't think Mosquera should have started after his performance against LAFC. E. Miller, you picked a bad time to get sick. But that shouldn't matter to the coach. He should find somebody else to play right back out of principle. Maybe even Asprilla.
Third, can we get over Ayala already. He's just not it, guys.
Fourth, Williamson, no words. Horrible game. Like McGraw you have one talent: set piece delivery.
Phil, this was a chance to get a result. Charlotte is horrible. If there was a game where the coach needed to win it, this was it. And you blew it. Don't give me any excuses about how your team is decimated and no one is available. You should be able to cobble it together and get a result. I don't know how many times you need to see some of these players play to realize that they are not going to cut it.
Paredes, the only guy who looked good. I think he's the six of the future. Put Moreno as the eight and Evander when he gets back as the 10. Or play Chara and Paredes in the midfield and Moreno as the 10 if Evander is out.
I just can't believe they lost to that team. It may be awhile before I comment again. I just, I can't continue to watch some of these players that should not be on the field.
McGraw was decent at first. I wouldn't say he was all-star world-beating level, but he was decent. I don't know what happened, but in the last season-plus, he's been utterly terrible. He's followed the Alvas Powell path; looked good at first but that seemed to be a mirage the closer we all look. It's tremendously disappointing but he needs to at the very least not start, and ideally be gone this summer.
He would be excellent if he lost 15 pounds and got lean. I would make that clear to him and bench him till he does. He is slow and this year he looks retirement slow. But he is excellent in the box and good positionally. He is just too slow to recover anything.
Ayala was one of our best players until he got taken off. Him and Paredes were about equal, but both just “ok.” That level being our best player levels on the day is no bueno. Moreno was our best player imo which it seems I’m alone in thinking, but Phil agrees
That was a terrible game for the Timbers. There were a number of times I commented that Charlotte was just bad, and then was reminded that we were losing to them. Charlotte could have scored 4+ goals in this game, and it never really felt like the Timbers were going to score at all. Its a road game, and at the end of a road trip, with a number of games that felt like they Timbers were turning a corner. But this was a total regression in play, and one that could have been seen in the last game (2 goals that were created out of nothing). I've been critical of the hiring of Neville, and I'm not feeling any better about it. At this time there isn't any discernable identity of the team, and losing Evander really turns that into a glaring problem.
Who is this team? What do they want to do? How do they create something when things just aren't working? None of these questions have been answered, and its time that the coaching staff starts to work on all of this.
What's funny about the Timbers is they defend a terrible roster that they've kept together while dominating the bottom of the table, but will nuke it the moment they reach a championship final.
They lost nagbe, blanco, clark, and then keep all of the mediocre players. The only reason we reached these MLS cups were for the players mentioned. Without blanco in 2018 we were no one, same with 2021. In 2021 our defense was average but Steve Clark was super human. Look at what he did in Houston. The Timbers front office is beyond stupid. They also all cover up sex abuse/domestic violence etc... what else would I expect from a bunch of free masons. No sane person should ever support this club. They all act like they are professional LMAO! How can you even show your face after what happened with Andy Polo and the Thorns? How do you explain to children that our owner is a piece of shit that covers up heinous behavior? Our town is cursed because we support and tolerate this crap. And it shows in their personnel decisions... the inability to see McGraw as nothing more than USL tier shows how stupid the people at Portland are. I remember a couple months ago I decided to pick a random game last year where McGraw played and he was directly responsible for letting in 3 goals against SKC.
Portland Timbers FO disrespect club legends and cover up the abuse of women. They are a disgrace to even wear green and gold. I am out. I have read this blog for years and will not return until the owner has left along with the front office.
“ and the entire free mason front office has been cleaned out.” Ummm, what?
New here. I read content and comments at times. Not sure if I will post again but I am so pissed. I use "Enough is enough" because this is what Phil Neville said in the press conference and that is exactly how I feel about him and Grabavoy. Watch the press conference and notice the following: Neville can't look at a camera, ever. His fingers go to his nose constantly, something he does regularly at press conferences. This man is a downgrade from Savarese in all aspects. Sure, Savarese needed to leave, horrible last year, cycle completed, etc; no questions about that, it was his time; but, aside from the last year, maybe last 2 years, during his tenure, even with multiple injuries at times, the Timbers showed better soccer, more cohesion, certainly better defense, we reached a final..... I am upset because they could have found a better coach. We chose two English coaches (England is not at all notorious for producing coaches) two lead a bunch of latinos with a drastic soccer and cultural mentality. One coach with just 1 year of experience, the other one with a proven bad record and concerning attitudes. Here we are, 8 games without a win, and let's face it, it could have been more but we were extremely lucky in a couple of games, or a player like Evander got us out of trouble with 5 seconds of magic.
I don't agree this is entirely about the players. I actually feel sorry for some players. Defenders get isolated in 1v1 all the time. Sure, McGraw made huge mistakes and it isn't the first time this year, but can I really blame the game on him? he isn't and never was a great defender, but he has not regressed, he just played in a more cohesive defensive environment. A DP like Jonathan gets completely isolated in an entire game against one of the worst teams in the league. How is that tactically possible? Same with Mora. And, no, this wasn't a B team. Most players were starters, we were just missing the guy who has saved us with seconds of magic under the same mess. Or we forgot some of the first 45min in the past several games WITH Evander in the field?
Then there is Ned, the man responsible for the hiring of the coaches, the same guy who did not find the defender we needed so badly for 2 years and even conceded he didn't, and then got Araujo, by no means the defender we needed. How come nobody holds him responsible? Why didn't we get a defender 2 years ago?
And sure, then there are the players and today was bad. I agree with Lefhanded99 and his player assessment. Although I think Mosquera needs to start because he is much better than the alternative we have, by a lot (again, thanks, Grabavoy).
A team relying in Evander, a player who at times is casual and just happens to be well above the rest, technically speaking will not last. The super goals he scored recently to save us will not happen all year. There has to be an actual good coach, there has to be better player acquisition and sure, there are players that should go, but I would be careful to tell who without giving a chance for players to show under cohesion, with compact organization as well as association.
It is early, and I certainly hope things change. Otherwise, enough is enough
The only thing I'm unsure of is if Ned actually hired Phil. That hire, to me, has the stink of MP all over it.
I honestly don't remember him saying that, so I don't think he lied. I just forgot he said that. If this is his decision, it was a very bad one.
Funny, I just went back and watched the first Ned and Phil press conference since I don’t recall Ned saying it either. Ned refers to him and Merritt meeting with multiple candidates including Phil and how “we” made a decision. Phil refers to meeting with “Ned and Merritt.” So perhaps Ned personally owned the decision in some other statement or interview, but it wasn’t at that press availability.
Phil did say one thing that I had forgotten about and that I supposed cuts a little (but not a lot) in his favor: when Phil was hired, the expectation was that Miles Joseph was staying on as his assistant and that they we about to hire another assistant with significant experience, which I’m guessing was a reference to Kreis. Neither happened, leaving Neville with less experienced staff.
Well, that’s a bit of hindsighting on the CBs. Zupe, Mabs, Araujo and McGraw were all under contract coming into the season (McGraw got his extension in ‘22). No one was going to take a trade for Mabs and the team had to use its amnesty on Ivacic. I supposed they could have traded Zupe, but if he wanted to stay he’s the last of the group I would part with. That leaves Araujo, who they just acquired half way through last year and McGraw, who folks remained positive about. Frankly, between the four CBs on the roster and cap considerations, K. Miller wasn’t a bad addition. And they can always look to offload McGraw, Araujo, or Zoe in the next window. If you’re going to point fingers of second guess, I’d say the lack of any outside back signing (beyond renegotiating E. Miller as your in case of emergency, break glass two sided backstop) is far more glaring (although still salvageable if they bring someone in).
I have very little interest in talking about this team when they play a game that’s that bad, but I will say that I’ve been wrong on McGraw this year. He’s 100% taken a massive step back, both those goals are directly on him. But no, he was not always this bad, and no, he’s not USL level. He was very good the last two years, and I’m not going to go back on that just because he’s not playing well now. Even in this game, as much as a liability as he was, he had 4 big blocks and 8 clearances, and 5 recoveries. To me he looks completely out of confidence, so many times there were 50/50 balls that in the past he would’ve just barreled through the other player and gotten the ball. That includes the second goal. Now he’s just stabbing, afraid to make a mistake. As RCTEyeDee has pointed out many times, the high line we’re playing just doesn’t fit him at all. His mentality needs to be strengthened, same with the rest of the team. There was no urgency except the 5-10 minutes after their first goal. It’s starting to look like Gio ball where everyone just stands around waiting for someone to do something. You can’t wait. Players need to move around always, either looking for the ball or making space by pulling defenders. Otherwise nothing will happen and we’ll look static as we did. Moreno did this the best, which is why I believe Phil singled him out as the only player on the field that had the right mentality. The players gotta work.
Oh well, guess I did talk about this team a bit. I suppose I prefer talking about how to make things better, not argue over whose fault it is, because right now it’s everyone’s fault. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to leave (that’s not how this works), it means that it’s everyone’s responsibility to raise the level. I look forward to the Seattle game, I believe this team will be up for it finally back home. Our hard schedule is over and we’ll have Evander back. No excuses
moving your feet while defending is U11? that's a BIG back stwp
I'm midway through the first season of "Sunderland 'Til I Die".
I feel like I'm watching the U.S. remake starring the Timbers.
Have you followed Sunderland’s current campaign? Painful. If the Timbers don’t make a dramatic turnaround, they’re in a race for the Wooden Spoon (with no fear of relegation for better or worse). While I assume the Timbers will win another game this season (it’s MLS after all), I don’t see how this season gets much better. And that’s tough to stomach. I still support the players and would love to see them succeed. But this front office, ownership and coaching staff doesn’t inspire confidence.
Everyone lays a turd on the road sometimes. Especially coming out of a real tough stretch, it doesn't surprise me. We were also missing three key components of our spine here.
Neville's Timbers usually suck a half at a time. I'm curious to see the response -- against Seattle at home.
It's too early for any of this, but Paulson is prideful (to be diplomatic, I find him downright petulant), and he got a lot of blowback for the dubious coach hire. But he also spent money on top of money spent. Ned defended a much worse roster against coach amidst similar results (though we haven't had the blowout level performance that finally got Gio fired). Very curious to watch the Phil/performance/expensive roster/FO dynamic. Not super optimistic about Phil figuring it out.
My prediction for Seattle: we go down 3-0 and lose 4-3.
Given the absences for this game, the loss on the road doesn't really surprise me or, to be honest, really disappoint me. What surprises and truly angers me about this particular loss was the utter and complete lack of actually trying. The team looked completely clueless, they had no intensity and no focus, and they were disjointed and seemingly completely without a plan for 99% of the game. That can't be blamed on the absent players, and that's a huge, structural problem.
Fortunately Seattle sucks just as bad as we do and can't complain that they're missing their 2 best players.
I posted this on the game thread, but I still think this is really shocking and puts things in perspective:
Timbers MLS full-time managers through their first 11 matches:
Spencer: 1.54 PPM
Porter: 1.63 PPM
Savarese: 1.82 PPM
Neville: 0.91 PPM
(also, Joseph: 1.7 PPM - 10 matches)
Um, wow.
Also, tangentially, is there a coach whose MLS stock has fallen further than Caleb Porter's? Did great things here, won another Cup in Columbus, but utterly fell off a cliff in both places after the Cup winning seasons and now is completely underwater in New England.
Phil Neville?
No, I guess that would imply his stock was high to begin with.
haha right. Nobody rated Neville as a coach except probably MP by the looks of it.
"Kickoff of the greatest rivalry in American soccer is set for 1:45 p.m. PT"
Currently the Timbers are on 0.91 PPG and the Sounders are on 0.9. The Timbers have scored 20 goals and sport a GD of -3, and the Sounders have scored 13 and are at a GD of 0 (at least until they play tomorrow).
Let's just say that next week's game isn't shaping up to be an all-timer.
Also, Seattle have a game in hand as do Dallas - PTFC could lose to Seattle and San Jose then reside at the very bottom of the table by the end of the month. Maybe Neville wants to relive his days at Inter Miami...
With the Sounders draw at LAG today, by the standings the Timbers and Seattle are now exactly the same team. Same points, same W/D/L, and only by GD are the two teams separate - Sounders are still at 0 after the draw.
If San Jose and Dallas win Saturday, Seattle and Portland will be fighting to stay above dead last in the conference. But, SJ Dallas and Seattle all have to play mid week fixtures thanks to Open Cup, and Chara will be on the pitch and perhaps Evander will be better... so maybe there's some hope for PTFC to not completely crater out this coming weekend.
I would be shocked if Seattle played anything resembling a full strength lineup on Wednesday night. They've already started rotating a few kids into their MLS lineup, and I would expect a few more bench guys and kids on Wednesday, and I don't think they'll risk most of their big guns. I could be wrong but I don't think most MLS teams prioritize USOC at this point until/unless they make it to the later rounds.
Just as I thought, the Sounders started 9 bench guys last night, a couple of which I think were on loan from Tacoma, so I'm not sure the midweek game will affect Sunday in any meaningful way.
Hope we don't lose to BOTH the Sounders and Quakes. That would be dismal.
And at home too
Yeah, except that the Timbers have had games (or at least halves) when they’ve shown all the characteristics you claim they lack. And the Thorns were pretty darn hard to watch until Norris got reassigned and have been playing with much more cohesion, direction and grit ever since.