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Portland Timbers

Santiago Moreno against the Philadelphia Union.
Portland Timbers

Timbers fail to react, dealt 2-0 home loss by Union

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers needed a result. They did not get it.

After a bipolar pair of games last week (scoring seven in a home win and losing late away), Portland needed to show they were ready to compete with the league’s best.

Instead, they got complacent.

Aljaz Ivacic watched two Philadelphia goals trickle past him and the Timbers sunk back down to 10th in the Western Conference.

Philadelphia stole a goal just five minutes in through Daniel Gazdag’s overhead kick off a long throw-in. The ball slowly trickled past Ivacic, who stood rooted to his spot.

Ivacic redeemed himself five minutes later with a reaction save against Alejandro Bedoya, but he would again stand still as Pedro Santos gave the Union a 2-0 lead early in the second half.

Portland struggled to respond. When they finally did so in the 69th minute, Sebastian Blanco’s rebounded goal was called back for offside in the build-up.

In reality, it never felt like Portland had a chance in this game. They passed and passed and passed their way into the final third, but were horrendously uncreative once they got there. The home side’s first shot on goal came in the 86′.

Notes

Eryk Williamson left the match in the 15′ with an apparent leg injury, being replaced by Santiago Moreno. Williamson missed the second half of last season with a torn ACL. He walked off the pitch under his own power.

Portland tried in vain to equalize before half, but shots from distance by Moreno and Justin Rasmussen were off target. The Timbers’ only other first-half shot was a Bill Tuiloma header — also wide — compared to Philadelphia’s 10 attempts.

Portland’s next match will be a cross-country trip to Miami. That match will be at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday, May 28th.

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Portland Timbers

Timbers score historic seven goals in rout of SKC

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

Sebastian Blanco is back.

After a lengthy injury recovery stemming from last season, Blanco reminded everyone in Providence Park why he’s Portland’s best attacking player.

“We can’t be afraid to attack 1-v-1,” Blanco told broadcasters postgame. “We scored enough to make up for the last five or six games,” he joked.

Two goals and two assists in the second half cemented Blanco as the best player on the pitch Saturday night as the Timbers buried Sporting Kansas City 7-2. Nathan Fogaca scored a brace of his own on his MLS debut for the Timbers, starting in place of Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Felipe Mora.

Nine goals, two red cards, 10 cautions, and (hopefully) a midseason revival for the struggling Timbers.

Highlights

An unmarked Bill Tuiloma headed home the opener off an Eryk Williamson set piece 12 minutes in.

Kansas City immediately put the pressure on after the opener, attacking rookie left back Justin Rasmussen with winger Johnny Russell. The Scot peeled away from Rasmussen to finish the fourth goal of the second half in the 56th minute.

Portland nearly doubled their advantage just before halftime. Williamson stole the ball in midfield and played it through for Nathan, but the MLS debutant had his shot saved by Tim Melia.

As soon as the second half kicked off, though, it was clear it would be Portland’s night. Blanco doubled the lead just after halftime with his first goal of the season — a volleyed effort from a Cristhian Paredes lob — closely followed by a cutback chip of Melia and a pair of assists to Nathan.

Even after a Josecarlos Van Rankin birthday red card and a Marinos Tzionis goal a minute later, Portland seemed in full control of the game. A second yellow for Robert Voloder reduced SKC to ten as well, and the shootout continued — for Portland, at least.

At 5-2, the Timbers still weren’t done. Marvin Loria pounded the ball past Melia with his left foot and Santiago Moreno dribbled past the veteran ‘keeper on a breakaway. Portland’s seven goals were the most in club history, and the most by any MLS team since 1998.

Sure, SKC desperately pressing for goals opened up the counterattacking options for the Timbers, but the home side took their chances ruthlessly.

Notes

Seven Timbers missed the match with injuries, while Larrys Mabiala sat out due to health and safety protocols.

Dario Zuparic and SKC’s Kortne Ford had a head-on collision in the 39th minute, causing a lengthy first-half stoppage. Both players stayed in the game.

SKC are now without a win from their last seven MLS matches.

Portland still have never produced an individual hat trick in MLS play. Yimmi Chara put three past CD Marathon in the Concacaf Champions League last season, but both Blanco and Nathan were taken off before they got real chances to make individual history.

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Loria NYRB
Portland Timbers

Timbers fight for a point in New Jersey

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

Any result would is worthy of applause in Harrison, NJ for a depleted Timbers squad which hadn’t scored in three games.

Jaroslaw Niezgoda gave the visitors a 53′ lead with a near-post finish before Aaron Long swept in a knocked-down corner  for the 67′ equalizer. Final score: 1-1.

Portland’s starting XI was without at least six potential starters against a Red Bulls team which hadn’t earned a win at home.

Patryk Klimala, New York’s No. 9, was in health and safety protocols and missed this match.

New York (predictably) pressured Portland’s inexperienced outside backs, sentencing Portland to long clearances and fewer recoveries.

When the Timbers did work the ball up the pitch, Santiago Moreno was on another level. Portland’s U-22 midfielder kept the ball in tight spaces and mixed defenders with ease.

He had a beautiful would-be assist to Chara, who skied the shot, and an even better strike from distance which hit the crossbar.

New York were not without their chances. John Tolkin squared a ball instead of shooting it in the first half. Tom Barlow hit the side-netting from a decent angle in the 59′. Bingham dropped a couple saves that could have been held.

In all, though, the Timbers showed good fight in a match where everyone expected them to roll over. Gio Savarese once again proved he can motivate his team, even when they have no business being in a tie.

Portland visit LAFC in a cup match Tuesday before hosting Sporting Kansas City next Saturday.

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Nathan Fogaca Timbers
Portland Timbers

Why Portland’s new striker news is underwhelming to some

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

As reported by MLS’s Tom Bogert this morning, the Portland Timbers have signed T2 forward Nathan Fogaca to a first-team contract.

This came after multiple promises from Timbers GM Gavin Wilkinson that the club would sign a new striker. Wilkinson explicitly mentioned they were looking to use their third U-22 slot on said striker on the Soccer Made in Portland podcast last week.

He even put out a teaser last night through The Oregonian.

“We’ll have a number nine signed within the next 24 hours that will help the club and put us in a better spot and give us some positional depth,” Wilkinson told Clarke.

“We originally had three options: one in Mexico, one in Switzerland and one in Costa Rica. There were different challenges with each, and it got to a stage where the value for the expense couldn’t be justified.”

Bogert followed that up by mentioning Portland were looking at a youth national team striker from Europe, but that they didn’t want to force anything prematurely.

Essentially, it looks like the Timbers struck out on their main targets and settled for Nathan.

So what?

I have nothing against Nathan. He has experience playing in a tough Brazilian league and had a solid scoring record in the USL Championship last year. He has a good first touch and is a genuinely good finisher.

Let me be clear: I want Nathan to succeed on the Timbers. I’m excited for him. Nathan, if you’re somehow reading this, I’m rooting for you.

But there’s a few problems with this dynamic that’s been created.

Problem #1: This was not the signing fans were “promised.” More than that, it’s another slight against a fanbase that’s tolerating more than enough of them already.

It’s also a slight against Nathan himself. What a terrible way to be introduced to the first team: not with praise for making the jump, but with disappointment for not being someone else.

Problem #2 (and the question that keeps burning a hole in my skull): Once Wilkinson knew Nathan was the guy, why release yesterday’s teaser? Sure, the language was guarded…

“We’re going to keep our powder dry and, if we need to, use the (U-22) funds that we have to acquire a player coming into the secondary window this summer,” Wilkinson said. “The number nine we are signing right now is somebody that can be in quick, it’s somebody that can join the club immediately, and is someone that won’t have a long transition period.”

…But fans already expected a striker signing. Any piece with the “we’re signing a new striker” headline is going to be underwhelming when the result is a second-team guy. This seems obvious.

Problem #3: Jeremy Ebobisse was a fan favorite both on and off the pitch. Portland sold him to San Jose because they had too many forwards on the roster — Felipe Mora and Jaroslaw Niezgoda were deemed to be more than enough goalscoring firepower.

Portland now find themselves with an invisible DP and two second-teamers complementing the injured starter.

Problem #4: The elephant in the region. The Seattle Sounders are playing for the biggest trophy in North America tomorrow night. They’re the favorites against a Liga MX team. If they win, they’ll be the first MLS club to ever do it.

Seattle re-signed one of their MVP candidates to a TAM deal last offseason. They also poached the best attacking player (Albert Rusnak) from the team that beat them in the playoffs (Real Salt Lake) because they felt like it.

Meanwhile, Timbers fans are stuck trying to hype themselves up about a player who scored nine open-play goals in 29 second-tier starts last year. The gap between front Portland and Seattle’s front offices has never been more apparent than right now.

Upshot

Ahead of the Colorado loss, I caught a little flack for asking whether or not the Timbers would make the playoffs. It was a serious question, and there’s no way anyone can look at this squad and think they’re playoff bound without bringing in more players.

The club wants to be good throughout the entire season. It’s okay if you don’t care or think it will be fine, but it’s also okay to hold them accountable for poor performances (amongst other things) at any point during the season.

This entire piece could go down as an overreaction by the end of the season. Who knows, maybe Nathan scores a hat trick off the bench next week. Maybe Portland goes on a patented winning streak and grabs a Champions League spot of their own for 2023.

I think the more likely outcome is this: we see just enough good things to get the fans somewhat excited, followed by key players returning from injury, and a solid summer signing that gets the Timbers back on track for the playoffs.

At least I hope so.

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Portland Timbers

Portland’s goalless streak continues with dismal loss at 10-man Rapids

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

Two goals conceded in three matches? Not terrible.

Zero goals scored in three matches? Disastrous.

This result was bound to peg consecutive scoreless draws as positive or negative for the Portland Timbers, who fell to the Colorado Rapids 2-0 on the road Saturday evening.

Diego Rubio’s first-half free kick and a smooth stoppage-time finish from Mark-Anthony Kaye gave the Rapids a well-earned win.

Despite going down a man, Colorado maintained control of the match. Aljaz Ivacic saved a 1-v-1 chance from Jonathan Lewis and Portland never gained any sort of momentum, even after using all five substitutions.

The Timbers’ best chances were all wasted:

  • Marvin Loria had a decent shot go right to Yarborough. Loria also skied a shot from close distance into the parking lot.
  • Zac McGraw’s header was saved comfortably by William Yarbrough.
  • Dairon Asprilla skipped a left-footed shot wide from the top of the 18.
  • Even a beautiful one-two between Yimmi Chara and Bill Tuiloma failed to hit target.

Ivacic had a standout performance in goal, making four difficult saves. He also went face-to-face with Auston Trusty in the 66′ after Trusty invaded his space during a high claim. Both players received cautions.

Those were two of the 11 total cautions in Commerce City Saturday night.

Match summary

The Rapids hadn’t lost a regular season* home game in over a year — with the asterisk being Larrys Mabiala’s 90th-minute playoff winner on Thanksgiving 2021, of course. He wouldn’t be as fortunate this time.

A sleepy first half woke up with a Diego Rubio free kick in the 30′. Mabiala received a yellow card for the hard foul leading to the free kick, and Rubio hit it right over the center back’s head for the opening goal.

Rubio’s fortunes turned in the second half, though. His slide tackle on Justin Rasmussen earned him a second yellow, bringing Colorado down to 10 men for the remaining half-hour.

Colorado had a goal called back by VAR in the 22′. Lewis blocked Ivacic in a narrow offside decision, denying Lalas Abubakar the opener.

Portland had a few key injuries in this one:

  • Marvin Loria replaced Sebastian Blanco in the starting XI.
  • Eryk Williamson made his second consecutive start for Diego Chara.
  • Justin Rasmussen started in place of Claudio Bravo at left back. 

Blanco and Chara were listed as out on this week’s injury report, but Bravo wasn’t.

Colorado’s newest player, Gyasi Zardes, missed a golden opportunity to open his Rapids account in the 55th minute. Zardes, who’s fallen out of favor with Caleb Porter in Columbus, started and played 80 minutes in his Rapids debut after signing on April 22nd.

Next up

Portland has a tough stretch ahead, with a trip to New Jersey next weekend and a midweek cup match at LAFC.

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Gio Savarese and Aljaz Ivacic celebrate a rivalry win in Vancouver.
Portland Timbers

Three positives from Portland’s big win in Vancouver

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers entered BC Place with reasons for skepticism last Saturday.

The Timbers had earned just one point from their three preceding matches, two of which were at home. The squad was still suffering from important injuries, as well. And despite their poor league record, Vancouver had only lost once at home under Vanni Sartini (7-1-1 coming in).

Nevertheless, second-half goals from Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Yimmi Chara were enough to lift Portland to a crucial victory. This match should have been over as soon as Niezgoda made it 2-0, though Cristian Dajome scored on the stroke of 75 minutes to keep Vancouver in it. Yimmi responded and despite some late diceyness, the Timbers held on for a win.

So what went right for the Timbers in Vancouver? What did they do to separate themselves from such a poor run of form? And, most importantly, can they keep this momentum going?

DPs stepped up

Yimmi Chara and Jaroslaw Niezgoda have not been Designated Player-level performers for the Timbers this season, full stop. Niezgoda had one (meaningless) goal before this match, and everyone knew Yimmi Chara’s pair of bicycle kicks wasn’t sustainable.

But against Vancouver, these two had the Timbers’ only two chances of the second half, and both got converted.

Niezgoda’s goal in particular was a phenomenal display of skill. It’s a striker’s goal, through and through: after receiving the ball from Blanco, he spun Florian Jungwirth and smashed it past Thomas Hasal with his left foot.

All three DPs were involved in this goal. Yimmi created the counterattack opportunity by flicking the ball past his defender. Sebastian Blanco then created the chance by relaying the ball to Jarek, who finished the chance.

Yimmi Chara’s goal wasn’t anything to write home about, but he was in the right place at the right time and took his chance well. It ended up being the match winner, and he earned an MLS Team of the Week nod for his efforts.

Chance of sustainability: above average

Niezgoda needs confidence more than anything else, and this is just the sort of goal to keep a striker hungry. His window of opportunity to compete for the starting spot is closing, but he has plenty of time to prove himself before Felipe Mora returns.

Blanco’s been his usual self when he plays, and he’s only getting healthier. So far he’s logged 244 total minutes, less than half of his potential ones.

Yimmi Chara remains an inconsistent enigma. His output seems to wax and wane every week. Sometimes he’ll score a world-class goal and other times he’ll be a non-factor in the final third. But if he gets hot, this Timbers side will destroy some unprepared teams.

Aljaz Ivacic breakout game?

This isn’t something you can usually say after conceding two goals, but Portland’s goalkeeper did more than enough to earn three points. Ivacic made five solid saves, including the first of two penalties, and avoided any glaring mistakes.

His first big save was a diving effort to deny Sebastian Berhalter’s long-range shot. The next, an acrobatic tip over the bar off a header. The next was his biggest yet as a Timber: a diving stop to save Dajome’s 88th-minute penalty.

Neither of Vancouver’s goals were Ivacic’s fault, either — Portland’s back line fell asleep on the first goal and goalkeepers are never expected to save penalties.

Chance of sustainability: medium

The worst things I can say about Ivacic are (1) he still struggles to hold the ball after saving it and (2) his distribution could improve. But like Niezgoda, his biggest hurdle is confidence, and he should feel more confident after this win.

The Timbers are healing

Sure, Blanco only played 45 minutes, but Larrys Mabiala’s full 90 should be celebrated. Giovanni Savarese has been saying the Timbers have four starting-caliber center backs, and he means it.

“I felt very good. I felt very well this game,” Mabiala said. “A little bit shaky at some moments, but I just needed to get the rhythm back. But overall, I felt very well today.”

Gio commented on Blanco’s health postgame:

“Having Blanco play two matches on turf, we needed to manage the minutes and I felt that [Marvin] Loría has looked very well in practice and gave us a very high level for 45 minutes in the way he did during the first half,” he said. “Then just making sure we put in another fresh player into the game because we knew that the match was going to be very physical with ups and downs. The guys did a very good job to manage those situations.”

Eryk Williamson is recovering despite his exclusion from this game. Felipe Mora is too. It’s only a matter of time before Portland have their full complement of options available. And when they do, they’ll be one of the deepest teams in MLS.

Chance of sustainability: high

Looking ahead

Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of problems with this team.

Earlier I lauded Portland’s potential depth. That being said, a frank discussion about outside backs is in order. They continued their poor run of form Saturday — Bravo nearly gave the game away all by himself — and there’s been no sign of improvement.

Maybe help arrives in the summer or Gio gets these guys into shape somehow, but the room is still averaging a red card every other match. Let’s fix that.

The “aging Timbers” narrative died down after Diego Valeri and Steve Clark left, but the Timbers are still the 10th-oldest team in MLS. I’m not ready to label that a necessarily bad thing, but just something to keep an eye on if injuries keep piling up.

The Houston Dynamo may still be a random Western Conference team in Timbers fans’ heads, and they will still be the inferior team talent-wise, but consider these factors:

(1) Houston are one of just six teams to score at least 10 goals so far this season (LAFC, Austin, Columbus, Montreal, Dallas, and Portland are the others). That includes seven goals in their last two games.

(2) Houston are undefeated at home this season (two draws, two wins) and the Timbers never win in Texas.

(3) According to American Soccer Analysis’ “goals added” metric, the Dynamo have the second-most goals added via passing against the outside back-occupied zones (per 96 minutes).

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Portland Timbers

Opinion: Timbers need stability after latest loss

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers fell to the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 Sunday afternoon in Providence Park.

This result was unacceptable on many levels to Timbers fans, who have dealt with waves of club scandals over the past few seasons. Even national anthem singer Madison Stanley voiced her opinion against the club’s recent actions.

Off-field frustrations can often boil over to overly-harsh on-field criticisms. Some fans are more concerned with the community aspect the Timbers provide than the on-field results. Others couldn’t care less and are purely concerned with goals in nets and points on the table.

But absolutely no one is happy when the team is losing.

Portland now have six points from six matches in 2022. Their undefeated home streak since October 20th, 2021 officially came to an end Sunday, though losing MLS Cup to NYCFC on penalties hardly felt like a draw.

Excuses

Let’s get this out of the way. The Timbers have a TON of injuries. No single combination of this back line has played consecutive full 90s together this season.

The two starting center backs, Dario Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala, both began the season injured. Only the former has returned. Pablo Bonilla just got back into the squad after a visa issue.

Sebastian Blanco, Portland’s best player, is not fit. He made his first start last weekend, but was taken off after 73 minutes with a planned substitution. The game changes when he’s on thew pitch, and he’s only been there about a third of the time this season.

Eryk Williamson just got back from injury. He hasn’t fully recovered from a torn ACL last year.

Felipe Mora, Portland’s leading goal scorer last season, has not played a single minute yet. Portland’s third-string striker, Tega Ikoba, hasn’t either.

There are dark clouds hanging over the organization. None of the current players or coaches are at fault for that.

That being said, goals drive progress.

Necessary improvements

Bluntly, two of Portland’s Designated Players are underperforming, while the other one is injured.

There’s an argument to be made that Yimmi Chara is performing at a DP-level this season, but not in the last few weeks. Other than his bicycle kicks (which, yes, we do need to acknowledge and appreciate), Yimmi only makes the easy pass in the final third. He’s not going to break a team down like Blanco can.

I’ve defended Jaroslaw Niezgoda in the past, especially during his first season when he had an insanely good scoring rate (1.04 per 90). But he hasn’t reached that level since tearing his ACL in November of that 2020 season.

He has the skill to do so, too. That amazing flick in Dallas showed us his quality. But we need to see it on the pitch, otherwise he’s never winning the starting spot over Felipe Mora.

I tend to think Gio knows what he’s doing tactically, but I still don’t understand dragging “Jaro” out wide. I guess he created the chance that led to a penalty against Orlando from the wing, but still. It’s weird.

Aljaz Ivacic hasn’t been good enough, either. We knew he wasn’t going to be as good as Steve Clark, and I still commend the club’s decision not to splash money for an aging goalkeeper, but Ivacic needs to be better. His PSxG-GA number (+0.02, 52nd percentile in MLS) is bang-average. I’ll stop short of blaming him for any of the Timbers’ problems (we’ll get to the back line in a second) but he can certainly be part of the solution.

Dairon Asprilla reached an elite level last season, but he’s been nearly invisible since scoring in week one. He’s another guy who could step up.

Alright, time for the defense discussion. Portland brought in both Claudio Bravo and Josecarlos Van Rankin prior to the 2021 season. They were supposed to hold down starting spots with consistent performances, and did for much of last season.

But 2022 has been a disaster for both of them. Each have a red card and have struggled to do what their position says — DEFEND!

Moreover, the replacement options have also been rough. Pablo Bonilla’s sending off may not have been deserved, but it wasn’t like he was having a great match anyway. Justin Rasmussen is their only other fullback option, and he’s a rookie. He replaced Bonilla at right back despite being left-footed.

Both Bravo and Van Rankin have the ability to play well. We saw it last year when Portland made MLS Cup. (Bravo in particular has some great attacking movements.) But it’s time for them to start doing it, because it hasn’t been here yet this season.

How can the Timbers change?

(Despite the obvious changes that could but won’t occur at the highest level of the club, of course.)

Have the players play better. I have full confidence in Gio Savarese. That’s the good news. These matches barely matter if the Timbers can get hot going into the playoffs, which his Portland teams do more often than not.

This Saturday’s match in British Columbia is a chance to turn things around. Vancouver have four points from five matches. It’s a rivalry. Both teams are in really bad spots despite making big signings in recent years.

I would love to see Gio shake up the starting XI and remind usual starters that they need to perform better. These are the types of matches that can either bury a team mentally or spark better performances.

Point of clarity

Before this rant is over, I’d like to make just one more point: There seems to be a disconnect in discourse which conflates the “Timbers Army” and 107IST.

As it’s broadly understood, the Timbers Army is the people occupying sections of general admission seats in Providence Park. The Timbers Army waves flags and chants, but 107IST makes the decisions for the Timbers Army. Personally, I consider myself a member of both. As of this year, I’ve paid my dues to 107IST and can join in on meetings should I choose to.

There’s obviously a ton of crossover between people sitting in GA and 107IST, but the difference was apparent during the “five minutes of silence” against Orlando City. Prior to the match, 107IST sent out an email detailing the planned demonstration. But many fans sitting in the TA section didn’t know about it, and there was understandable confusion.

I don’t see a clear solution to this. Some fans don’t want to pay the yearly 107IST fee to be part of the more “official” fan club — constantly purchasing tickets is enough of a financial barrier. I was also in this boat until last December.

But there is something to be said about everyone in the section being on the same page. It makes demonstrations more effective and creates a better community. Again, I don’t see a simple solution to this tension.

What I can say, though, is that protecting your own “relevance” as a fan is never worth alienating people. The TA has had its share of gatekeeping issues in the past, and they do no good for anyone. We all go to the stadium for the same reason: to watch the Timbers play soccer.

Thank you for reading this rant. If you’d like more rants, check out the Double Post Podcast, which I run with my friend Reece. We post weekly during the season.

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Portland Timbers

Timbers sign Marvin Loria to contract extension

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers announced their re-signing of winger Marvin Loria today. His new extension will run through 2024, with a club option year for 2025.

From the Timbers.com press release:

Loría, 24, enters his fourth season with Portland after playing a season with T2 in 2018. The San José,
Costa Rica native has started in 31 of 65 appearances for the Timbers, tallying four goals and nine
assists. In his 2021 campaign, Loría scored two goals and tallied a career-high of six assists. Notably,
Loría scored the game-winning goal for Portland in a 2-1 win against Sporting Kansas City on June 19,
2021.
Loría has made several appearances for Costa Rica at the youth and senior level, including three
appearances (one start) at the 2017 Concacaf U-20 Championship in Costa Rica. Loría received his first
call-up to the senior men’s national team on Feb. 2, 2019, earning a start in his first appearance for Costa
Rica.

Loria has been a key rotation player for the Timbers, making a key start in Portland’s win over Real Salt Lake in the 2021 Western Conference Final.

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Ismaila "Ish" Jome was the first team backup left back prior to an injury in the 2021 season.
Portland Timbers

Everything you need to know about T2 in 2022

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers’ second team, Timbers 2, are back for the 2022 season. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

“T2” have not played a match since their 2020 season in the USL Championship. MLS Next Pro is a different competition, effectively at the third tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid.

What the hell is “MLS Next Pro”?

USL was tired of MLS second teams competing in their highest-level league (the USL Championship) and MLS didn’t want their second teams to be all the way down in USL League One, so MLS started their own league.

There are 21 MLS Next Pro teams for the 2022 season. Almost all of them are second teams for MLS clubs. Only one is not affiliated with an MLS first team: the Jamie Vardy-co-owned Rochester New York FC, formerly the Rochester Rhinos.

Interestingly, MLS is looking to expand the absolute heck out of this thing. MLSsoccer.com’s Andrew Wiebe interviewed the head honchos of MLS Next Pro, and they want to expand to 40-plus teams, including more independent clubs.

Any weird competitive twists?

So glad you asked — of course there are! After 90 minutes, regular season draws will be settled by a penalty shootout. Each team in the shootout gets a point and the shootout-winning team gets a second point. (This is similar to the NHL’s shootout system.)

MLS Next Pro will have two groups inside each Western and Eastern conference. T2 are in the “Pacific Division” with Real Monarchs, San Jose Earthquakes II, Tacoma Defiance, and Whitecaps FC 2.

The top two teams from each division qualify for the playoffs, with the next two highest points earners also going to the playoffs. Playoff games are single-leg and hosted by the higher seed (determined by points).

Other MLS Next Pro notes:

  • 24 total matches: 12 home, 12 away
  • Five substitutions per match in three windows
  • Video reviews
  • No playoff re-seeding

How do I watch T2?

All MLS Next Pro matches will be streamed on MLSNextPro.com, with no blackouts.

Also, per MLS, “More than 30 games will be billed as ‘Games of the Week,’ featuring enhanced productions. Each MLS NEXT Pro club will have at least one home game featured, and all playoff games will be enhanced productions.”

T2 home games will be played at Hillsboro Stadium, home of Minor League Baseball’s Hillsboro Hops — though it appears games will be played on the turf football field, not the baseball diamond.

The Hops will remain in charge of T2 business operations as part of a partnership between the two clubs. Home tickets are $10 each for general admission and $15 for a better seat in the middle of the stands.

When are the games?

The home opener is Wednesday, March 31st. There will be 12 home and 12 away matches. The home rivalry matches are back-to-back: Tacoma on July 10th, Vancouver on July 16th. The July 22nd match will be in Providence Park — so far it’s the only one listed there. A full schedule is available here.

What about the rebrand?

In the summer of 2021, the Timbers announced a T2 rebrand ahead of the 2022 season, but no news has surfaced since then. It appears the club will move forward with their generic branding for the time being, as will 16 other MLS Next Pro clubs.

The only unique MLS Next Pro club names are Rochester New York FC, Tacoma Defiance (Seattle Sounders affiliate), Real Monarchs (Real Salt Lake), and North Texas SC (FC Dallas).

Who’s on the team?

The head coach’s name is Shannon Murray. Former Timber Andres Flores is one of his assistants. You can read more about the coaching staff here.

The club announced six signings on Monday which included this nugget: “Players from the Timbers’ first team and academy will supplement the roster, subject to change ahead of each game.”

I’ll briefly go through the six permanent T2 guys here. The link above provides more thorough descriptions.

  • Julian Bravo: 21yo defender. Second round 2022 SuperDraft pick. Primarily a mid in college (Santa Clara).
  • Victor Griffith: 21yo holding mid. Bounced around Central American leagues after making his pro debut at age 15. Has 10 caps for Panama’s National Team. 
  • Ismaila Jome: 27yo left back. Was on the first team last year as the backup left back but an injury kept him out all year. Historically a USL-level guy but looked solid in the extremely small sample size we got last year.
  • Dawson McCartney: 23yo midfielder. First round 2021 SuperDraft pick. Looked decent in preseason with the first team.
  • Selmir Miscic: 21yo attacker. Pro debut at 15 in USL Championship. Signed by the Union and loaned to a USL1 team last year. Scored 4 goals in almost 16 games’ worth of minutes.
  • Carlos Vivas: 19yo defender. Won the Venezuelan league title last year (16 starts) in his fourth year with Deportivo Táchira.

Expectations?

The competition structure should make for some exciting matches, but this is still a second team. It’ll be really tough to track every player but I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two of these guys jump up to the first team (especially defenders, which is already a thin group in the first team).

Portland have historically lagged in player development, so any positive news is a step in the right direction for T2. Murray seems like a driven coach and has experience with Gio Savarese, so there’s no reason to fear this will go wrong.

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Eryk Williamson made his long-awaited return for Portland in the 86th minute.
Portland Timbers

Timbers salvage home point in rock fight versus Orlando

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers drew Orlando City SC 1-1 at home after a wild second half Sunday afternoon.

“At least we got a point,” Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We worked really hard, especially with 10 men.”

Junior Urso’s 52nd minute goal off an assist from Alexandre Pato gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at Providence Park, and they looked to have a win in the bag after Josecarlos Van Rankin was sent off in the 76th minute.

However, Cristhian Paredes drew and converted a penalty kick to tie the game in the 80th minute.

“In the moment I saw Yimmi run in front of me,” Paredes said through a translator. “Fortunately they put a foot on me and I was able to draw the foul.”

Sebastian Blanco opened up the game immediately following his arrival in the 62nd minute. He created two big chances and nearly finished the match-winner with the final kick of the match (it was saved well by Mason Stajduhar).

“We still looked good in the 4-3-2 with 10 men and Seba almost found that goal,” Gio offered.

All seven of the game’s yellow cards came after Blanco’s arrival, as did most of the night’s expected goals.

Portland looked the more likely to score in the first half, but Paredes’ 30th minute header sailed just wide of the far post. The home team held 58% of the ball in the first 45 minutes.

Zac McGraw had a strong 90 alongside new center back partner Dario Zuparic, who returned from injury to replace Bill Tuiloma. McGraw finished with 10 clearances, including a vital poke in the six-yard box that saved a would-be goal, and won all five of his aerial duels.

“I thought we were very good defensively,” Savarese said. “I wouldn’t put that goal on the [center backs].”

Eryk Williamson made his long-awaited return to the pitch, replacing Santiago Moreno in the 86th minute.

“Words can’t describe it,” Williamson said. “It’s been a long recovery.”

Williamson and Moreno have never shared the pitch in a match for the Timbers — Williamson was out injured by the time Moreno was signed last year. Williamson said the two have developed a relationship on the practice field.

“We have little combinations in training,” he said. “I’m excited to share the pitch with him.”

Match notes

Orlando City were without a pair of key South American players for World Cup Qualifiers. Pedro Gallese (GK, Peru) and Facundo Torres (winger, Uruguay) were replaced by Stajduhar and Tesho Akindele, respectively.

Diego Chara entered the match needing six fouls to take hold of the league’s all-time record. He had three in the first half (all against Pereyra) but stayed clean in the second.

Paredes announced that he and his wife are pregnant with a baby girl. His goal celebration (with the ball in his shirt) said as much.

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