Portland Timbers Discussion Thread

Post #1 » by **LittleOzzy** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:24 pm

A huge fan base in MLS, but where is the Timbers Army on RealGM?

Come discuss the team as they push into the playoffs.

Post #2 » by **LittleOzzy** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:39 pm

Big game for Portland tonight in Champions League. Who's watching?

Portland really needs all 3 points to stay ahead of Olimpia in Group 6.

Post #3 » by **LittleOzzy** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:54 pm

Wake up to the Timbers today! Portland takes on Toronto at 10am.

Big match for both teams fighting for a playoff spot.

Post #4 » by **LittleOzzy** » Tue Jan 6, 2015 11:02 pm

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson says USMNT player on club's radar for 2015

Merritt Paulson took to one of his favorite communication platforms on Tuesday to answer a host of fan questions, and offered some candid insight into the team's future in the process.

The outspoken Portland Timbers owner touched on a wide array of issues in a Q&A session with fans on Facebook, discussing stadium expansion and a grass playing surface at Providence Park, player acquisition and how much the team invests in player signings.

The answer that perhaps will draw the most attention was Paulson’s thoughts on the resources he invests in on-field personnel. He said that despite the fact that the Timbers already have three Designated Players – Diego Valeri, Liam Ridgewell and Fanendo Adi – that doesn’t mean they’re done investing and that their spending levels are already top third in MLS.

“My staff has a green light to sign a guy on $5 million or less a year at their discretion (and more if I approve)… but getting the right one is the trick … they don’t grow on trees and it’s not just quality on field we look for,” Paulson wrote.

Paulson was also asked whether the team would be interested in picking up a USMNT player after being previously linked to Mix Diskerud before they signed Valeri instead. Former defender Michael Harrington is the only player to be called into a US camp while on the roster for the Timbers, but he failed to make an appearance with the team when he was called last January.

“With Mix been there done that,” Paulson wrote. “We tried and had we landed him Valeri wouldn’t be here (I make that trade any day of week and twice on Sun). There is a USMNT guy on our radar now.”

The stadium’s artificial playing surface also came up, to which Paulson answered that he was previously optimistic about adding a grass pitch by 2016 but not as confident now. Providence Park’s other tenant, the Portland State University football team, has created roadblocks to a grass field.

“In the meantime we take a lot of pride in our unique, soccer-specific artificial field which gets limited use… by far best in league and one of best in world,” he wrote. “Ask Thierry Henry!”

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2 ... radar-2015

PDXKnight · Post #5 » by **PDXKnight** » Thu Jan 8, 2015 7:13 am

I can see why people like Soccer but I never got into it myself. Still though the fan base has been pretty solid for the Timbers which is pretty incredible.

Post #6 » by **LittleOzzy** » Thu Jan 8, 2015 2:20 pm

Oden2 wrote:I can see why people like Soccer but I never got into it myself. Still though the fan base has been pretty solid for the Timbers which is pretty incredible.

Have you been to a game in Portland?

If not, I would suggest going to one this summer just to enjoy the atmosphere. They have one of the best crowds in MLS.

Post #7 » by **kdawg32086** » Fri Jan 9, 2015 3:06 am

Sounds like Merritt Paulson wants to bring Didier Drogba to the Timbers. It would be a huge get if that ever happened, although it's probably unlikely.

PDXKnight · Post #8 » by **PDXKnight** » Fri Jan 9, 2015 7:43 am

LittleOzzy wrote:
Oden2 wrote:I can see why people like Soccer but I never got into it myself. Still though the fan base has been pretty solid for the Timbers which is pretty incredible.

Have you been to a game in Portland?

If not, I would suggest going to one this summer just to enjoy the atmosphere. They have one of the best crowds in MLS.

I would like to at some point

Post #9 » by **LittleOzzy** » Fri Jan 9, 2015 2:59 pm

kdawg32086 wrote:Sounds like Merritt Paulson wants to bring Didier Drogba to the Timbers. It would be a huge get if that ever happened, although it's probably unlikely.

Think he would have issues with the turf in Portland?

Post #10 » by **LittleOzzy** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:56 pm

Portland Timbers playmaker Diego Valeri eyes potential return from ACL injury in May

The 2014 season may not have ended in the way he wanted, but Diego Valeri is looking to bounce back in a big way with the Portland Timbers in 2015.

The Argentine playmaker, who tore his ACL on the final day of the season against FC Dallas, is progressing in his rehab and considers his second season in MLS a learning experience for the team.

“Every year is different,” Valeri told assembled reporters at MLS’ media day on Tuesday. “We are a team that is growing up every single game that we play. We need to learn, we need some different experiences – obviously if you are winning, your experience is much better. But you need to learn from everything. So I think it was good that the last two years was different because that makes us a strong team.”

Valeri’s first season in Portland in 2013 was largely positive for the Timbers, as they reached the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in club history, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League and finished atop the Western Conference during the regular season. But 2014 featured considerable struggles – the team missed out on the playoffs and flamed out of the CCL – despite Valeri making a case for MLS MVP over the second half of the season.

Compounding those disappointments were the injuries to Valeri and captain Will Johnson, who suffered a broken leg in a match against Toronto FC in late September. Though he admitted he’s found rehab on his knee boring, Valeri said he’s halfway through the process and should begin running again soon.

In returning from the major injury, the Designated Player cited two factors in coming back successfully: Getting back into a playing rhythm and to “feel good” in trusting his repaired knee.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2 ... injury-may

Post #11 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 12:59 am

What happened with Jozy Altidore? Were the Timbers ever in play for him???

Post #12 » by **LittleOzzy** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 2:54 am

DaVoiceMaster wrote:What happened with Jozy Altidore? Were the Timbers ever in play for him???

He's with Toronto FC.

I think only Toronto and New York had a real shot at him. Mostly due to the allocation order.

Post #13 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:51 pm

Bah!!!!!!!!!! The Timbers got screwed by Seattle with Dempsey!

Post #14 » by **LittleOzzy** » Thu Feb 5, 2015 12:57 am

With one year in Portland under his belt, Portland Timbers counting on Gaston Fernandez for another strong start

As bad as the Portland Timbers’ start to the 2014 season was, it would've been a whole lot worse without Gaston Fernandez.

In his first season in MLS following a dozen years spent in the Argentine and Mexican top flights, Fernandez scored two dramatic goals to allow Portland to salvage points in their first two games – one deep into stoppage time of their season-opening 1-1 draw against Philadelphia and a 79th-minute goal the following week in a 1-1 draw against Chicago.

Now, heading into year two with the Timbers, Fernandez will once again be relied upon to play a crucial early season role as the prime candidate to fill in for injured star Diego Valeri. And as Portland look to prevent another slow start, which ultimately cost them a trip to the playoffs last season, Fernandez’s contributions will be all the more important.

“We’re coming back with that in mind that this team and as an organization has been at a really high level the last few seasons,” Fernandez told the media through a translator before the team departed the Rose City for their preseason camp in Tucson, Arizona. “We’re trying to just get the team the year it deserves. I think in my mind, this is going to be that year.”

Fernandez’s return to the Timbers wasn’t always a certainty, however.

After making 32 appearances – 15 of which came off the bench – and recording seven goals and two assists in 2014, both the Timbers and Fernandez had options to weigh this offseason. Ultimately, they were able to reach an agreement, with the need for reinforcements until Valeri returns factoring into Portland’s decision to bring the 31-year-old Fernandez back.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2 ... fernandez-

Are fans happy with their team going into this season?

Not a lot of changes, but Fernandez is a bright spot that has remained.

Post #15 » by **LittleOzzy** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:29 pm

Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson approaching rehab from broken leg "one day at a time"

The first thing that crossed Will Johnson’s mind when his 2014 season came to an end wasn’t the mind-numbing pain from the fractured tibia and fibula in his right leg.

It wasn’t how the Portland Timbers would fare without their captain down the season’s final stretch. It wasn’t even whether the injury would mean that Sept. 27 day in Toronto would be the last time he’d ever step on a soccer field again.

He first thought of his wife and his family, all looking on during the Timbers match that day at BMO Field against Toronto FC, and how it would look to them.

So he did his best not to show emotion.

“I knew a lot of people, my wife, would be watching, family, so I just tried to hold on for deal life and not let the pain get to my face,” Johnson told the media Friday at the team training facility, his first expansive comments since the injury and subsequent surgery. “… But it hurt.”

And it hasn’t been an easy road since that sunny afternoon in Toronto.

He couldn’t put any weight on his right leg for 12 weeks, leading to a lot of couch time and Netflix binging on Sons of Anarchy, a TV series he was made aware of after he discovered he had inadvertently named his son, Jaxx, after the show’s lead character. And while lounging around isn’t exactly in the feisty midfielder’s character, that wasn’t the worst during the early days of the injury. The worst, he said, was not being able to pick up his son, born just a few weeks before the injury, or play with his 2-year-old daughter.

“Those things really break you down far more than any pain physically,” Johnson said. “Just the mental side of things when I was in the cast.”

He also had a second routine surgery this winter to remove bone screws. But he’s since had the cast removed and has started rehabilitation, running through drills with fellow injured midfielder Diego Valeri (torn ACL) while the rest of the team trains this preseason.

“What happened, happened,” Johnson said. “You can’t change that, so my mindset from day one post-surgery has always been just to take every day as it comes, and whatever the body allows you to do to push it to that point and use that to just get back fit, 100 percent as quickly as possible.”

http://www.timbers.com/news/2015/02/por ... e-day-time

Post #16 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:23 am

Not overly optimistic, but it's relatively the same team as the year before that when they had the best record in the west. Nagbe has got to find a way to score this year. The defense needs to step up and with the new additions last year and this year, as well as another year for the young'ns to grow, I think they will. Now, the team just needs to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net!!!

Post #17 » by **kdawg32086** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:32 pm

DaVoiceMaster wrote:Not overly optimistic, but it's relatively the same team as the year before that when they had the best record in the west. Nagbe has got to find a way to score this year. The defense needs to step up and with the new additions last year and this year, as well as another year for the young'ns to grow, I think they will. Now, the team just needs to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net!!!

Adding Nat Borchers to that back line should be a huge boost. Borchers-Ridgewell is a good pairing, with Papparatto as the 3rd CB. Might be the best depth we've ever had at CB.

Kinda worried about whether Zemanski can take over for Johnson until he returns.

Loving the firepower up front, with the addition of Asprilla.

Post #18 » by **LittleOzzy** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 4:24 pm

RIDGEWELL RETURNS

[tweet]https://twitter.com/liam_ridgewell/status/567502770962702336[/tweet]

Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell traveled on Monday to Portland, where he’ll join up with his teammates for the final leg of their preseason.

Ridgewell missed the first portion of the Timbers’ preseason while on a six-week loan to English Championship side Wigan. The 30-year-old center back made six appearances – all starts – while in England.

Ridgewell and the Timbers will welcome the Chicago Fire, Vancouver Whitecaps and Bob Bradley’s Stabaek to Portland later this week ahead of the Simple Invitational preseason tournament, which kicks off Sunday at Providence Park.

Post #19 » by **humanrefutation** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:29 pm

I visited Portland for the first time last year. Awesome city. I checked out Providence Park and was convinced by my friend who lives in PDX to buy a Timbers scarf. I wish Wisconsin had an MLS team.

I'm primarily a Liverpool fan, but I wish the Timbers the best of luck!

truth18 · Post #20 » by **truth18** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:18 pm

humanrefutation wrote:I visited Portland for the first time last year. Awesome city. I checked out Providence Park and was convinced by my friend who lives in PDX to buy a Timbers scarf. I wish Wisconsin had an MLS team.

I'm primarily a Liverpool fan, but I wish the Timbers the best of luck!

Yeah Portland is a really cool city. Powell's books is the best regular bookstore I've ever been to. I could spend days and thousands in there. Voodoo doughnuts was also delicious. Beautiful women too.

Oh, and Mt. Hood is really cool as well. Wanted to see a Timbers game when I visited but it was the offseason.

Airport is pretty weird though.

Gl this year, Timbers fans.