Us working it out of the back scared the heck out of me with McGraw being such a lumbering center half. Constantly making sketchy passes back to Crepau and along the back line. NEVER forward. Having a dead midfield didn’t help the situation…
Not sure I have a cogent comment regarding this game other than I still think Crepeau is overrated, I'd start Pantemis, Ortiz did not look like an upgrade at LB, ProRefs still suck IMHO
I’m all in on Da Costa, he looks elite already. I like Surman a lot. Ortiz looked alright. This game fucking sucked and Neville is directly responsible for the lack of improvement there, but y’all’s doom and gloom is really tiring. It’s the first game and we were down a man for 80 minutes. We can’t make any real judgements
I think da Costa looked ok but I'd temper expectations. He will be limited by the talent - mostly awful to mediocre - around him. Not to say we don't have tealnt; we do. But not enough to make up the gap. Neville is responsible for the team flat out sucking today despite some not having John, Santi, etc. But the FO and MP absolutely deserve most of the blame. Hell, just look at T2 and the academy? And what's up with Jura? Basically, we're stuck in MLS 2.0 mode and soon - probably already happened - San Diego will overtake us. This franchise needs a reboot. New owners and new staff. PERIOD.
Bro, yeah we can. Look at the signings and da Costa elite? Elite for what? Mls? He will probably be a 7 goal 8 assist player. Not bad but elite. You are stretching. Messi, Evander, Acosta, almaron, highly unlikely.
I’d agree a bit soon for words like elite… but by my eye he was our best player in some ways - super quick, great first touches, just seemed completely comfortable right outta the gates
He reminds me of a better Moreno. Quick, good in transition, good technique, higher IQ than moreno, but he is SMALL. He is gonna have trouble with the physicality of the league. Evander was very good at holding off players. Likely da Costa won't be able too. Meaning portland are gonna have to learn to play the gaps and make quick decisions on and off the ball to be effective. It could happen, but nothing from today showed me they are gonna be a well oiled machine any time soon.
Slackers (Japan scored is 18 seconds v Colombia)! ;)
In all seriousness, the US v Japan match for all the marbles on Wednesday should be a good'n. The Nadeshiko will be rotated back to their preferred 11 (they had a good few changes today) and Mina Tanaka has been bossing it: of Japan's gaudy 8 goals in two matches, Tanaka-senshu has four of them...and three assists on the other four. But it's never easy beating the US at home...
She absolutely is and has been delivering the goods for a while now (that solo goal v Spain at WWC23 was brilliant). Kinda hate she's playing for Utah now, though. Looking at our current defense and thinking of what she can do... *long, low whistle*
I wouldn't worry about Shaw. Hayes isn't Neville. I'm sure she'll figure it out. I'm just glad that Crocker swung for the fence to land Hayes and Poch. Unlike the Timbers FO which can't seem to do much right these days.
Someone explain this to me - a handball is a foul, right? Any time, any where? So why does the fact that he maybe didn’t make a motion towards it intentionally even matter? It was a clear handball, it bounced right to another Van player and directly led to the goal… why does that stand? Shouldn’t play have stopped right then and there?
The handball rule is notoriously abstract for non-intentional fouls (i.e it's up for interpretation whether the arm is outside the body line or whether the player leans into the path of the ball), but that one seemed pretty clear, especially since it was VAR-able.
It was a pen. He handed it in the box. The rule is, "If the hand is in an unnatural position away from the body" the only time it isn't given is if it hits his body then the arm. Or if the ball is kicked at his hand but his hand is by his side. That was a pen.
Things will probably look better down the line with a healthy attack and 11 men, but I don't *really* see it looking better than last year...which is the whole issue. Marginal improvements around the edges and none at all to the central defense unless Surman hits big time isn't "building with youth," it's just poor roster building period. Also seems clear going back to last year that Phil has no idea how to design a well-functioning three back system.
(I hope to be wrong about Kelsy and he's very young, but I really don't get what exactly he does well enough to be a starting striker on a playoff team)
Becasuse the braintrust took one look at him and saw he was starting for a playoff team. Let's face it - it is mls 4.0 and the owner/FO is cheap. Like with CHEAP. Heck, de Costa cost less than Evander. I wasn't impressed by Kelsy and have no idea why we acquired him other than he's cheap and the Grabavoy was working the internal trade system. What boggles the mind is getting Lassister. He's barely mls quality right now. Just another useless winger. Yay.
Facts. Every single player they signed were trash. No one player they brought in was a top quality player where they were before they came here. Ffs mls is trash. Anyone who doesn't think that doesn't know ball. Even championship teams would run over mls. The athleticism, the speed of play, the quality around the field, is substantially higher than mls. What can you expect when a 6m dollar player is supposed to be a dp here and 6m around the world is a bench level depth player. What's worse is we went even lower in the quality pool and signed unproven, mediocre players from south america. Not one league in south america is ranked higher than the leagues in Europe. All top players go to Europe. Everyone else goes to the middle east, and south america. It's crap.
We are scouting like it's mls 2.0 and everyone else is trying to get to mls 5.0
And that's why WE THE FANS need to force a sell. How about a season long empty TA and no season ticket renewals. And you made my point
"Merritt Paulson doesn't care about your well-being" well I'm a consumer and an Oregonian. If he doesn't care then he doesn't deserve the right to be the steward of this club.
Name one company that says I don't care about the customer and I will show you a company that went under.
I am pissed. We should have moved on from valeri and blanco sooner than we did. We should have went back to the transfer pool and gone big after the BF debacle. We should have moved on from mabiala way before we did. We should have a coach that knows mcgraw and Miller can't play a back because they are too slow. They should have moved on from gio way sooner.
I'm tired of seeing the poor signings and terrible decisions year after year and being right. Seeing what's wrong and what needs to be fixed and yet these "professionals" can't see it. Then watching a rinse and repeat of year after year crap performances.
For years this team has had every excuse under the sun. Off field issues, stadium construction, roster rules, covid, ect, ect, ect, for why they suck. Why they don't make the playoffs. Why they can't start the season strong. Why they can't sign quality players. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of this team absolutely embarrassing our city and state. It's the Blazers all over again. It's the ducks all over again. I'm so tired of excuses and low expectations for our city and state. I was born and raised in Oregon. It's disrespectful how this organization represents us.
I could accept the limitations of MP's money if we had a competent FO. But we don't. From the academy to player acquisition we are so hit and miss - very much miss right now - that we suffer in comparison to teams like the Galaxy, Dincy, Charlotte, Miami - that can cover up their mistakes with cash - mainly to bring in new DPs and new young talent either by way of the academy/u22. Instead we're realiant on u22 scouting cause our DPs will be relative bargains to folks like Reus or Zaha. Plus our god awful draft record. We can't even try moving up the board to even take someone worthwhile. Instead we acquire more useless players for the T2 team. And then cut them a year later. Wash, reinse, repoeat.
I know Chicago has been horrible the last few years but Mansueto actually does care. He finally figured out that Heitz sucked and canned him. Don't know how Berhalter is going to do in coming back to a better league. But at least here is money for support and the owner made moves to bring in competent personnel to support the coach. Us? Ned Gtrabavoy and Phil Neville surrounded by apparently useless scouts - do we have any - and even worse subpar coaches at the academy/T2. Just a recipe for distaster.
Of course Mansueto has money and spends it. But teams like RSL or even Dallas? What's our excuse, then?
Deeply concerned about keeper. Teams press more and harder all the time and you need your keeper to be up to the task of NOT TURNING THE BALL OVER. This golden rule becomes double platinum when you are shorthanded.
It's worth noting that he's a keeper that likes to distribute playing behind a completely clueless back three (which quickly turned to a back two) that couldn't pass their way out of an empty room in a completely unstructured shape. He's made a couple of pretty big saves too.
I know. There's so many but we've learned the value of a quality keeper. However, a keeper is really only as good as his backline. Let's see how they do without a red card.
He never pretended to want to settle here; he wanted to use the exposure to build his brand to move to a bigger club, a Liverpool or Barca-level club. That was his issue with the FO’s refusal to include a buyout clause in his contract.
The clumsy way Ned & Co. handled his post-playoff tantrum powered his desire to move sooner rather than later.
You ain't ever going from Portland to barca or Liverpool. The likelihood is that you will go from mls to championship, eredivise, or a bottom dweller league 1, serie A team.
Well....let's see. The weather sucks for someone from South america. The city is a crap hole. The FO is a joke. The team sucked outside of the attack. Could be a lot of reasons.
From what I've read, seems like he didn't think the FO was investing in the team's success. He did allude to this somewhat in his comments last post season. Also heard it was due to salary; like his agent screwed up on that. But I do believe he took a look around and saw a train wreck. So bailed to save his career. That's my theory, anyway.
Gotta have some empathy for Surman; he's actually the least culpable of the defenders because our issues predate his arrival. And he really didn't play last season. Plus he's depending on Miller, McGraw, and the rest to help him out. As for Miller and McGraw - is there some CPL side that we can ship them off to? Forget any transfer fee. Just get them out of here. With these guys, who needs enemies? Just look at friendly fire!
Is that what the Apple TV guys said? I'm listening to the radio feed cuz Bretos and Dunseth are so annoying. Intent isn't supposed to matter, but the way it's called, it does.
Us working it out of the back scared the heck out of me with McGraw being such a lumbering center half. Constantly making sketchy passes back to Crepau and along the back line. NEVER forward. Having a dead midfield didn’t help the situation…
Not sure I have a cogent comment regarding this game other than I still think Crepeau is overrated, I'd start Pantemis, Ortiz did not look like an upgrade at LB, ProRefs still suck IMHO
I’m all in on Da Costa, he looks elite already. I like Surman a lot. Ortiz looked alright. This game fucking sucked and Neville is directly responsible for the lack of improvement there, but y’all’s doom and gloom is really tiring. It’s the first game and we were down a man for 80 minutes. We can’t make any real judgements
Da Costa looked better than Evander did his first game with us. Is he an Evander no, but we looked much better and showed improvement when he came in
I think da Costa looked ok but I'd temper expectations. He will be limited by the talent - mostly awful to mediocre - around him. Not to say we don't have tealnt; we do. But not enough to make up the gap. Neville is responsible for the team flat out sucking today despite some not having John, Santi, etc. But the FO and MP absolutely deserve most of the blame. Hell, just look at T2 and the academy? And what's up with Jura? Basically, we're stuck in MLS 2.0 mode and soon - probably already happened - San Diego will overtake us. This franchise needs a reboot. New owners and new staff. PERIOD.
And they just did....very prescient
Come on, by any measure he looked a lot better than ok
Bro, yeah we can. Look at the signings and da Costa elite? Elite for what? Mls? He will probably be a 7 goal 8 assist player. Not bad but elite. You are stretching. Messi, Evander, Acosta, almaron, highly unlikely.
I’d agree a bit soon for words like elite… but by my eye he was our best player in some ways - super quick, great first touches, just seemed completely comfortable right outta the gates
He reminds me of a better Moreno. Quick, good in transition, good technique, higher IQ than moreno, but he is SMALL. He is gonna have trouble with the physicality of the league. Evander was very good at holding off players. Likely da Costa won't be able too. Meaning portland are gonna have to learn to play the gaps and make quick decisions on and off the ball to be effective. It could happen, but nothing from today showed me they are gonna be a well oiled machine any time soon.
Good point on his size. Definitely small.
US up 1-0. After Lynn Biyendolo (nee Williams) scored in the first minute things slowed down a bit. I think Jayden Shaw is a likely Macario casualty.
Slackers (Japan scored is 18 seconds v Colombia)! ;)
In all seriousness, the US v Japan match for all the marbles on Wednesday should be a good'n. The Nadeshiko will be rotated back to their preferred 11 (they had a good few changes today) and Mina Tanaka has been bossing it: of Japan's gaudy 8 goals in two matches, Tanaka-senshu has four of them...and three assists on the other four. But it's never easy beating the US at home...
I'm looking forward to it. Tanaka looks to be special.
She absolutely is and has been delivering the goods for a while now (that solo goal v Spain at WWC23 was brilliant). Kinda hate she's playing for Utah now, though. Looking at our current defense and thinking of what she can do... *long, low whistle*
I wouldn't worry about Shaw. Hayes isn't Neville. I'm sure she'll figure it out. I'm just glad that Crocker swung for the fence to land Hayes and Poch. Unlike the Timbers FO which can't seem to do much right these days.
Going to be a numbers game in the end. This new generation of 18-22 year olds has a lot of talent.
So we had 56 goals scored agaist last season - 1.56 per game. What's the over/under for 2025? We're on our way right now being down 4-1.
And really should be 5-1
Someone explain this to me - a handball is a foul, right? Any time, any where? So why does the fact that he maybe didn’t make a motion towards it intentionally even matter? It was a clear handball, it bounced right to another Van player and directly led to the goal… why does that stand? Shouldn’t play have stopped right then and there?
The handball rule is notoriously abstract for non-intentional fouls (i.e it's up for interpretation whether the arm is outside the body line or whether the player leans into the path of the ball), but that one seemed pretty clear, especially since it was VAR-able.
It was a pen. He handed it in the box. The rule is, "If the hand is in an unnatural position away from the body" the only time it isn't given is if it hits his body then the arm. Or if the ball is kicked at his hand but his hand is by his side. That was a pen.
Things will probably look better down the line with a healthy attack and 11 men, but I don't *really* see it looking better than last year...which is the whole issue. Marginal improvements around the edges and none at all to the central defense unless Surman hits big time isn't "building with youth," it's just poor roster building period. Also seems clear going back to last year that Phil has no idea how to design a well-functioning three back system.
(I hope to be wrong about Kelsy and he's very young, but I really don't get what exactly he does well enough to be a starting striker on a playoff team)
Becasuse the braintrust took one look at him and saw he was starting for a playoff team. Let's face it - it is mls 4.0 and the owner/FO is cheap. Like with CHEAP. Heck, de Costa cost less than Evander. I wasn't impressed by Kelsy and have no idea why we acquired him other than he's cheap and the Grabavoy was working the internal trade system. What boggles the mind is getting Lassister. He's barely mls quality right now. Just another useless winger. Yay.
Facts. Every single player they signed were trash. No one player they brought in was a top quality player where they were before they came here. Ffs mls is trash. Anyone who doesn't think that doesn't know ball. Even championship teams would run over mls. The athleticism, the speed of play, the quality around the field, is substantially higher than mls. What can you expect when a 6m dollar player is supposed to be a dp here and 6m around the world is a bench level depth player. What's worse is we went even lower in the quality pool and signed unproven, mediocre players from south america. Not one league in south america is ranked higher than the leagues in Europe. All top players go to Europe. Everyone else goes to the middle east, and south america. It's crap.
We are scouting like it's mls 2.0 and everyone else is trying to get to mls 5.0
Yeah, it's been really frustrating, but you're taking it way too personally! Merritt Paulson doesn't care about your well-being.
And that's why WE THE FANS need to force a sell. How about a season long empty TA and no season ticket renewals. And you made my point
"Merritt Paulson doesn't care about your well-being" well I'm a consumer and an Oregonian. If he doesn't care then he doesn't deserve the right to be the steward of this club.
Name one company that says I don't care about the customer and I will show you a company that went under.
Mr. C, It's fun to complain, but you seem to be super pissed off! What's the deal?
I am pissed. We should have moved on from valeri and blanco sooner than we did. We should have went back to the transfer pool and gone big after the BF debacle. We should have moved on from mabiala way before we did. We should have a coach that knows mcgraw and Miller can't play a back because they are too slow. They should have moved on from gio way sooner.
I'm tired of seeing the poor signings and terrible decisions year after year and being right. Seeing what's wrong and what needs to be fixed and yet these "professionals" can't see it. Then watching a rinse and repeat of year after year crap performances.
For years this team has had every excuse under the sun. Off field issues, stadium construction, roster rules, covid, ect, ect, ect, for why they suck. Why they don't make the playoffs. Why they can't start the season strong. Why they can't sign quality players. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of this team absolutely embarrassing our city and state. It's the Blazers all over again. It's the ducks all over again. I'm so tired of excuses and low expectations for our city and state. I was born and raised in Oregon. It's disrespectful how this organization represents us.
I could accept the limitations of MP's money if we had a competent FO. But we don't. From the academy to player acquisition we are so hit and miss - very much miss right now - that we suffer in comparison to teams like the Galaxy, Dincy, Charlotte, Miami - that can cover up their mistakes with cash - mainly to bring in new DPs and new young talent either by way of the academy/u22. Instead we're realiant on u22 scouting cause our DPs will be relative bargains to folks like Reus or Zaha. Plus our god awful draft record. We can't even try moving up the board to even take someone worthwhile. Instead we acquire more useless players for the T2 team. And then cut them a year later. Wash, reinse, repoeat.
I know Chicago has been horrible the last few years but Mansueto actually does care. He finally figured out that Heitz sucked and canned him. Don't know how Berhalter is going to do in coming back to a better league. But at least here is money for support and the owner made moves to bring in competent personnel to support the coach. Us? Ned Gtrabavoy and Phil Neville surrounded by apparently useless scouts - do we have any - and even worse subpar coaches at the academy/T2. Just a recipe for distaster.
Of course Mansueto has money and spends it. But teams like RSL or even Dallas? What's our excuse, then?
Deeply concerned about keeper. Teams press more and harder all the time and you need your keeper to be up to the task of NOT TURNING THE BALL OVER. This golden rule becomes double platinum when you are shorthanded.
Have to wonder what's up with Max. He's looks far worse than last season. Like total regression.
It's worth noting that he's a keeper that likes to distribute playing behind a completely clueless back three (which quickly turned to a back two) that couldn't pass their way out of an empty room in a completely unstructured shape. He's made a couple of pretty big saves too.
It's true, he made some good saves. But that terrible kick that led to the goal was unforgivable.
Something to watch although it's only one game. They have a viable backup sitting there if needed.
Eh, bad giveaway today, but Crepeau is pretty far down my list of roster concerns and Pantemis has shown himself plenty capable if needed.
I know. There's so many but we've learned the value of a quality keeper. However, a keeper is really only as good as his backline. Let's see how they do without a red card.
We avoided a shutout!!! Yay!! It's still bad out there but we need sometihing positive to take away.
Gotta say Da Costa looks good out there
About the only positive from this shit show. Saw some moments of actual skill.
The comeback is on! Lol
Well, nice to avoid the shutout
Have we ever found out why Evander wanted out?
Uummmmm it was a rhetorical question.
He never pretended to want to settle here; he wanted to use the exposure to build his brand to move to a bigger club, a Liverpool or Barca-level club. That was his issue with the FO’s refusal to include a buyout clause in his contract.
The clumsy way Ned & Co. handled his post-playoff tantrum powered his desire to move sooner rather than later.
You ain't ever going from Portland to barca or Liverpool. The likelihood is that you will go from mls to championship, eredivise, or a bottom dweller league 1, serie A team.
Well....let's see. The weather sucks for someone from South america. The city is a crap hole. The FO is a joke. The team sucked outside of the attack. Could be a lot of reasons.
Beef with Grabavoy over what Evander thought were unkept promises on pay and visas for family members, or something like that
From what I've read, seems like he didn't think the FO was investing in the team's success. He did allude to this somewhat in his comments last post season. Also heard it was due to salary; like his agent screwed up on that. But I do believe he took a look around and saw a train wreck. So bailed to save his career. That's my theory, anyway.
Sounds like he has wanted out forever.
Gotta have some empathy for Surman; he's actually the least culpable of the defenders because our issues predate his arrival. And he really didn't play last season. Plus he's depending on Miller, McGraw, and the rest to help him out. As for Miller and McGraw - is there some CPL side that we can ship them off to? Forget any transfer fee. Just get them out of here. With these guys, who needs enemies? Just look at friendly fire!
Max is another Canadian to dump
I’m so over him. Job should absolutely be JP’s to lose at this point
Dang, Surman got crossed up like a box in tic-tac-toe
That was such a clear hand ball. Absolutely insane
I’d love another angle on that handball
The explanation they just gave was yes it hit his hand but he didn’t make a movement towards the ball.
Is that what the Apple TV guys said? I'm listening to the radio feed cuz Bretos and Dunseth are so annoying. Intent isn't supposed to matter, but the way it's called, it does.
That was the explanation given to them by Pro
I heard that. I didn’t think that mattered
no it just conveniently dropped to his foot leading to a breakaway.
Oh I think it is the worst explanation. Rivas has been terrible today.