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Portland Timbers

marvin-loria-extension
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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Dario Zuparic is fully healthy after getting a few minutes of action against FC Dallas.
Portland Timbers

How the Timbers can rebound from a tough loss at Dallas

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers were destroyed by a more motivated FC Dallas side 4-1 last weekend. They now look to rebound against Orlando City at home on Sunday.

What went wrong?

Portland surrendered acres of space and 55% of possession in the first half in Frisco, Texas. Jesus Ferreira’s 36-minute hat trick came in a span of just ten minutes. Each of his goals placed blame on a different part of Portland’s defense.

The first goal saw both Timbers center backs fall behind their offensive counterparts after Dallas winger Alan Velasco exploited the wide space on Portland’s back line.

The second was a walk in the park for Ferriera, who received the ball and turned way too comfortably at the top of the box before finishing an unmarked header seconds later.

Ferreira’s third was a mistake by goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic, though most of the backline and defensive midfield can take some blame here too for failing to close down the ball.

Portland played better in the second half. Jaroslaw Niezgoda scored with a fantastic touch and finish off a Sebastian Blanco feed, but a big missed chance from Dairon Asprilla and a great save from a David Ayala laser kept the Timbers on one goal.

Dallas’ Paul Arriola sealed the win in the 77th minute, capitalizing off of a giveaway from Ayala.

Overall, the Timbers couldn’t overcome a plethora of injuries and an unmotivated first half performance.

What can be fixed?

Portland are getting plenty of help back. Former starting center back Bill Tuiloma is out on international duty with New Zealand, but both regular starters Dario Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala are healthy enough to play.

Eryk Williamson should also be back soon after finally recovering from last year’s ACL injury.

Theoretically, those additions should help the defense, too. But it’s the attack that needs to kick into gear against Orlando, who’ve conceded only two goals from their first three matches.

Sebastian Blanco might not be able to start yet, but pencil him in as a super-sub at worst. The Colombian trio of Asprilla, Santiago Moreno, and Yimmi Chara are more than capable of scoring goals. As has been the case all season, it will be up to Niezgoda to step up and be a threat in the box.

Maybe more importantly, though, Portland’s home field advantage will be in full effect. Four of their five points have come from two home matches.

Prediction

This is a match Portland should unequivocally win. Orlando have only conceded two goals, but they’ve only scored four. They were blessed with a poor performance from Julian Araujo and the LA Galaxy last weekend, winning 1-0 in Carson.

Orlando have a dynamic Uruguayan winger in Facundo Torres alongside former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato. Timbers fullbacks Josecarlos Van Rankin and Claudio Bravo will definitely have to be better.

I think Portland wins this match 3-1 with at least one goal from Niezgoda.

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jefferson savarino
Portland Timbers

Timbers Rumor: Jefferson Savarino to Portland?

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers are interested in former Real Salt Lake forward Jefferson Savarino, according to a report from Heverton Guimares on ‘Os Donos da Bola MG,’ a Brazilian TV show.

“Portland, another MLS club would be interested in Savarino. It is the information that arrived yesterday from a source in the United States,” Guimares said (translated from Portuguese).

The Venezuelan Savarino, 25, currently plays for Atletico Miniero in Brazil (Yimmi Chara’s former club). He has struggled to get playing time lately after logging 19 goals and 20 assists in 85 appearances in all competitions since joining in 2020.

Savarino had 22 goals and 22 assists in 87 appearances across all competitions for RSL from 2017-19. That includes a goal against Portland that knocked the Timbers out of the playoffs in 2019.

RSL sold Savarino to Atletico Miniero for a club-record fee (around $2 million) after the 2019 season. He was a Designated Player, having been loaned and then bought from his boyhood Venezuelan club, Zulia FC. 

Savarino has 25 caps and one goal at the international level for Venezuela.

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Bill Tuiloma vs Austin FC
Portland Timbers

Timbers hold on for gritty first win of 2022

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

Bill Tuiloma’s thundering header gave the Portland Timbers a 1-0 win over Austin FC in the wind and rain at Providence Park on Saturday night.

“I’m happy for the team, happy to get the win,” Tuiloma said. “We battled until the end.”

Yimmi Chara provided the free kick for the center back’s fifth goal in MLS play for the Timbers.

“Very important win at home,” Head coach Gio Savarese said. “This game was crucial for us because by winning we can make sense of the ties before this.

“In the second half, we were very good. We pressured them, won balls, and could have scored more goals.”

Tuiloma almost grabbed the lead in the first half. Justin Rasmussen’s cross found the Kiwi defender for a free header in the 40th minute, but he was denied by the far post.

Rasmussen was one of three Timbers to make their debuts Saturday night, with David Ayala and Diego Gutierrez entering the match as substitutes.

“I’m feeling every emotion,” Rasmussen said. “I’m buzzing. The national anthem gave me chills. The whole experience was awesome.”

Rasmussen, 23, was Portland’s 27th-overall pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. He filled in well for Claudio Bravo, who served a one-match suspension after a red card against LAFC.

“[Rasmussen] was solid,” Savarese said. “He looked confident, strong — it was a good performance.”

He was part of a back line that allowed zero shots on target from the visitors, who scored five goals in each of their first two matches. Austin held 61% of possession in Saturday’s match.

Austin pressed and pressed for an equalizer, but they never cracked a Timbers back line featuring only one out of four regular starters. The Timbers even moved to a back-five late in the match.

Both teams had their chances in the first half, especially Portland.

The first big chance of the night came in the 25th minute. Asprilla took a 3-v-1 chance himself and Cascante’s block fell to Niezgoda, but the ball spun off his volley for a goal kick.

Notes

— Two former Timbers, Maxi Urruti and Julio Cascante, both started for Austin FC. Cascante and Tuiloma had to be talked to by the referee at one point.

— This was Austin’s first road match of 2022 after playing at home twice. They lost 3-0 in Providence Park during their last MLS road match to end 2021.

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Dairon Asprilla against LAFC
Portland Timbers

Three problems the Timbers can fix against Austin FC

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers nearly escaped Banc of California Stadium with a win Sunday night. A stoppage time goal by center back Mamadou Fall leveled the tie after Portland held on with 10 men for half an hour.

Portland struggled against LAFC. Gone were the open, free-flowing movements and combinations that gave the defending Supporters’ Shield winners fits in week one. Instead, Portland struggled to create any meaningful bite going forward, save for yet another bicycle kick by Yimmi Chara.

So what are the Timbers’ biggest (on-field) problems? How will this team get back to creating chances like they were against New England (particularly in the second half)?

Problem #1: Discipline

Questions about the severity of Claudio Bravo’s second yellow card are warranted, but everyone can agree that it was a poor gamble for someone already on a yellow. The Timbers have a league-high 10 yellow cards over their first two matches, while no other club has more than seven.

Those 10 do not include a pair of cautions to Gio Savarese, one in each match. If Savarese gets another yellow, MLS rules state he will have to pay a fine and miss the next match.

I’m not necessarily saying this is a Gio problem, but it is certainly a problem. Bravo’s yellow forced the Timbers to park the bus for the rest of the night, even without Carlos Vela on the pitch. MLS is a tough-enough test on squad depth already; adding suspensions to the mix only worsens things.

And if we know anything about the Timbers’ most important player (Diego Chara), he will be receiving at least five yellow cards at some point this season — the first threshold for suspension.

Type of Cautions Number of Cautions
Foul 6
Dissent 3
Persistent Infringement 1

(Numbers via MLS)

Discipline is inherently self-imposed. There hasn’t been enough matches to say how this relates to Austin FC. For what it’s worth, they drew two yellow cards against FC Cincinnati and four against Inter Miami CF.

Problem #2: Buildup play

Portland threatened New England’s goal in the season opener. They struggled to do anything against LAFC. The chart on the left is from the New England match; LAFC match on the right.

Three things stand out to me about these charts:

  1. Outside back involvement is a good indicator of how little the Timbers went forward against LAFC.
  2. Niezgoda was completely on an island against LAFC. 
  3. The center backs were not on the same page offensively against LAFC, despite their heroic defensive efforts.

Everyone from Ivacic to Niezgoda needs to be better in buildup. That means moving off the ball and giving more technical attention to controlling and passing the ball.

Timbers Statistics vs NE vs LAFC
Pass Completion Rate 80.1% 68.1%
Possession 55% 33%
Expected Goals 2.5 0.7

(Numbers via Football Reference)

Portland were down a man, yes, but they couldn’t complete a pass against LAFC. The home team created 17 shots to Portland’s two in the second half.

Austin are goal-hungry. They have an MLS-record 10 goals in two matches, albeit against weak opponents. Portland can’t afford to concede possession and operate strictly from a counterattacking approach.

Problem #3: Goalscoring

This might be a hot take, but Portland cannot rely solely on Yimmi Chara bicycle kicks for goals. With Felipe Mora out for another month or so, Jaroslaw Niezgoda needs to get on the scoresheet in the next month.

Niezgoda was basically invisible against LAFC. Some pointed out that this wasn’t the best matchup for him tactically, but that means he needs to adapt his game. The Timbers are staring down a “Dairon Asprilla at striker” situation if they can’t get things going soon.

Against Austin FC, that means taking the fight to them. The “Verde” have been at home both times, so it will be interesting to see how they respond in a tough road environment.

Stay composed in possession and get chaotic in the final third.

The Timbers can’t “fix” injuries. They just have to wait to get healthier. Savarese said both Dario Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala could be back as soon as this weekend — they’re not expected to start, but getting closer. Eryk Williamson is also farther back than we thought on his recovery.

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timbers-dallas-gam
Portland Timbers

Timbers acquire $100k of GAM from FC Dallas

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers added $100k of 2022 General Allocation Money from FC Dallas in exchange for discovery rights to defender Joshue Quinonez from Barcelona SC in Ecuador, the club announced today.

Dallas used their new discovery rights to sign the 20-year-old Quinonez to a loan deal. According to the release, “The Portland Timbers could receive an additional $150,000 in GAM if the permanent transfer option is exercised and the amount paid for the permanent transfer is lower than $2 million.”

The Timbers have been in the market for a young center back for at least a year. Quinonez fits that description, but Portland giving up his rights was a sign that they weren’t willing to spend too much on him.

Portland currently have four center backs on the roster: Dario Zuparic, Larrys Mabiala, Bill Tuiloma, and Zac McGraw.

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Cristhian Paredes
Portland Timbers

Timbers extend midfielder Cristhian Paredes

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers have extended midfielder Cristhian Paredes’ contract by four years and one club option year, the club announced yesterday.

Paredes, 23, is entering his sixth season in Portland after joining from Club América. He has eight goals and nine assists in 79 appearances (60 starts) in MLS. That includes a borderline-starting spot alongside Diego Chara in a double-pivot midfield last season.

Paredes has improved his defensive acumen and excels in goalscoring (0.23 per 90, 88th percentile) and assisting (0.15/90, 83rd percentile) for his position.

Paredes is expected to compete for the starting midfield spot with Eryk Williamson, who missed much of the 2021 season with a torn ACL.

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