We do indeed suck. We built a team on athleticism and we don't have enough skill. I'm not a fan of Rodney Wallace or Jeremy Hall. Chara is probably not worth the money, and Kenny Cooper hasn't found the back of the net in a while.
Yes we haven't been doing too well lately, but I would never, EVER say we suck. Way to turn your back on the team at the first sign of "trouble". Jump off the bandwagon now, k thx
I think we arent playing well at the moment. All you have to do is look at the Colorado and NYRB games to see that we most emphatically do NOT suck though. This team is capable of beating anyone as those games showed (not that we won them, but our quality was stellar). What is frustrating is the lack of consistency, but this is a very young team. I have confidence this skid wont last. Even if it does, (remember 2006, 2008?) stick with our boys.
Unbunch your panties, Ma'am. My tongue was mostly in cheek. I'll never get off the bandwagon. But I have readjusted my expectations for the season.
This is ridiculous. A person doesn't negate their fandom by recognizing that their team sucks. Believe me, as a DC United fan, I've had lots of opportunities to say my team sucked.
I guess I'm not all that upset because I had really low expectations to begin with. Unfortunately, their early successes at home caused me to revise those expectations upward for a short time.
the timbers have a lot of problems right now, their style has been figured out (especially at jeld wen). the players that are key to the timbers success are not stepping up right now, kenny cooper is a complete ghost, chara has done nothing, perlaza has been quiet, etc etc. the direct style of boot it up the field doesnt work all season, teams learn how to play against that, now there is ample film to watch of this timbers team and to scout against. hopefully spence can conjure up some magic.
It is the Timbers first season. Give them some time. I will say this, our defense right now is like paper. And Kenny Cooper is WAY overrated.
Exactly!!! My Expectation-O-Meter has gone thusly: Pre-Season: We will almost surely suck and I don't care and I'm just going to love it anyway because I love MLS and soccer and Portland and all that Start of Season: See? We suck. This will be a an easy season to be a fan because I expect nothing. Home Winning Streak: Whoa! We don't suck at all! We just needed a home stand to get our mojo! Alhassan is awesome! Jewsbury is the greatest expansion draft pick ever! Dax who? Damn! Can't wait for the playoffs. Now: Well, that was big effin' tease...
We really do have a lot of problems. But the nice thing is they are really, really obvious. Should make them easy to address in the transfer window (PLEASE!) and off-season. Need to upgrade the talent in back (save Futty). Need to retool the midfield so one of the two in the center has some creativity and spark. Need to fix spacing issues and off the ball movement dearth. Need to upgrade either Nagbe or Khalif to an experienced, solid pro (both will be awesome some day -- right now they are just potential). Or move Nagbe more centrally in a different formation and see how he fares. Need Cooper to suck less (I think he will). Need Cooper and Perlaza to find the ability to work for each other and play off each other. Need to stop brainfarting (two goals off THROW-INS in the last three games? Really? Jesus...). Need to install grass in stadium and upgrade stadium to seat 30,000 (I keeeeed...sort of). There. That shouldn't be too hard. At least there aren't any vuvuzelas at Jeld-Wen.
There is one jerk in 215 who blows his vuvuzela about two or three times a game. At least it remains silent for 99% of the game.
the most obvious things that are broken are often to most difficult to fix. the obvious ones are the ones that are big big problems and take time and dedication to properly fix. its the subtle little things that need fixing that are the easiest to do so. if i had a nickle for every time i read about someone just needing to "shore up the defense" or "bring in a new midfielder" or "one more forward and we'll be rocking the goals"....you get the point. saying those things, going out and scouting talent, bringing in trialists, signing good players, integrating them into the team, developing chemistry among the roster, and organizing the proper formations take many years to develop. it isnt going to be fixed with a transfer window signee or two, its going to take a couple years to "upgrade the talent in the back", "retool the midfield", and "fix the spacing issues and off the ball movement." look at a team like RSL, they sucked in their first 3 or so years, Kreis came in, revamped the whole lineup and when given a couple years got them on their feet look what they are today. it took a TON of hard work from that FO and coaching staff to go out, find the talent, bring them in and organize them into a team. it then took a couple years (with very very minimal roster loss and turnover) for that team to come together and develop the chemistry necessary to be a successful organization. this is something timbers fans need to realize, you just cant put together an amazing dominant MLS team in 3 months, it takes a long time. i cringe every time i see a coach being fired after just 8 short months, or even less, in MLS. you cant do anything in less than a season unless you got insanely deep pockets. i know the TA is dedicated, i just hope the FO and wilkinson is as well because it would be foolish to can the coaching staff after just one season. the higher ups have to be dedicated to building a long term organization and not expect a flash in the pan right out of the gates.
You do not suck! You are an expansion team that is difficult to defeat, and that says a lot. You are discovering what we did in Dallas about Kenny... He is huge but he doesn't use his body to his advantage and he has a habit of drifting out of position, rendering himself useless. Spencer will figure things out. It's a long season. Your defense will improve. You have quality players. And please see my post under taunts for what you can use against Seattle... Only the Timbers Army could pull this off.
Yeah, I don't know why everyone was so excited about the idea of "building a young team". Now the coach and others are saying that these young guys are overwhelmed and undisciplined. Well, maybe should have thought about that before. Then again, you never know how things will turn out until it happens. When Bruce Arena took over the Galaxy and brought players like Berhalter and Lewis in, Galaxy fans feared the worst. But, generally, that worked out pretty well for them.
If it gives you any consolation, FC Dallas has risen to the top of the pile this year due to: 1) Brek Shea 2) Jackson Goncalves 3) George John 4) Andrew Jacobsen 5) Eric Alexander 6) Zach Loyd All are very young in their careers. Keep the faith.
Id scoot John to the top of that list because w/o him we'd leak goals and loose games in spite of Brek/Jackson/Chavez's awesome play. But thats not why I came on here. MLS did you guys(Portland) a big diservice yesterday when the posted highlights for Henry and John for the new Castrol Rankings...all the highlights were against Portland I dont watch enough to know if you guys are legit and just teething or in fact suck but I can say for certain youve got an awesome fanbase, awesome stadium, and a lively coach. So you'll be all right either way. Keep the faith and dont title threads like this! BTW I was at your second home game vs. FCD and had a blast even though you whooped my team. Also props to your Usher/gate keeper to the Timbers Army section who kept pointing me to the street when I asked him where my seats where (he was serious too!)
Not an expansion pick. He was traded to Portland in exchange for allocation $. But still, a great pick up.
Jewsbury was always great at KC and when I heard you had traded for him, I knew you had a chance to compete. On another note, please tell me that you are going to invoke the Space Needle/Timber! TIFO display again, the greatest TIFO of all time. That will look awesome on television. Nothing like seeing a chainsaw chop down the Space Needle.
Dumbest thread on the internet. Support means for a lifetime. Not cause your friend bought you a ticket and you had nothing else to do and heard going to the match was a cool thing to do in Portland.