The Portland Timbers haven’t started out the season like most of their dedicated fans were expecting.
Four games in and Portland has yet to win, tying and losing two games each. The most recent loss for Portland came at the hands of Dallas, who scored a late goal to break a 1–1 tie.
The game didn’t go exactly as Timbers coach Caleb Porter had planned, when Portland lost arguably their best defender in Michael Harrington to a red card. Harrington was involved in some physical play off the ball that resulted in red cards for both him and Dallas midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson. But this didn’t change the Timbers’ play or attitude toward the game, as they fought hard throughout. The Timbers finished with 15 shots, but only three were on goal.
The loss in Dallas was the second result in a row ending in zero points for Portland. Despite this unsuccessful start, Porter started to see some of the effort that Timbers fans were used to seeing last season. The Timbers’ attack started to look dangerous for arguably the first time all season during the Dallas game because of the relentless style of Max Urruti, who played one of his better games of the season.
Portland’s acquisition this offseason, Gastón Fernandez, failed to take a shot in the game and looked off sync in the Timbers’ offense. Porter subbed out Fernandez for Kalif Alhassan in the 62nd minute. Darlington Nagbe also left the game in Dallas because of a muscle injury, and his status is up in the air for Portland’s upcoming game against Seattle.
With everything that has gone wrong, the start of this season closely resembles the start of last season for the Timbers, who finished with one of the best records in the MLS last year. The Timbers’ attitude is still positive because it is early in the season and there’s plenty of time to turn things around, but that doesn’t mean that Portland and Coach Porter can sit back and hope things will change.
With the Sounders coming to town this week, it’s hard to call that rivalry just another game, and it’s important to more than just the players and standings what the result is this Saturday.
Opportunities in which Portland struggles to score will be magnified because of the fact that this is a rivalry game. Struggles will be seen by everyone tenfold. But on the other side, Portland also has an opportunity to prove to everyone that they can return to the form they were playing in last year, by soundly beating a team that everyone in the Rose City wants to beat.
Three of the Timbers’ next five games are at Providence Park, where Portland has tied twice in two games this season. Portland has yet to get a point on the road this season, but some wins at home would go a long way toward getting the season on the right track. Kickoff for the Timbers and Sounders is set for 12 p.m. on April 5.
