NBC Sports Network highlights, and considering the Portland problem

Sep 6, 2012, 8:45 AM EDT

Getty Images

Watching Portland stink it up last night against Colorado, I couldn’t help but think of what mess Caleb Porter may have gotten himself into.

You can talk all day about field size (Jeld-Wen is small) or about tactics or Designated Players who don’t rise. Fine. Those are all contributing factors.

But I submit that it’s quite simple: overall, the players simply aren’t good enough. (No, this is not an original thought. I’ve said it before, and so have others. But last night’s capitulation drove home the point.)

Defenders who can’t mark, poor discipline, a midfield that can scarcely pass, a DP striker (Kris Boyd) who isn’t missing any meals these days, by the look of it. But those are just the individual symptons: here is the heart of the problem:

General manager Gavin Wilkinson presumably picked those players. Wilkinson will, presumably, continue to have a say in selecting the players. So … where does that leave things as Porter prepares to take over in December?

By the time Porter arrives, some of the important decisions will have already been made on player contract options. Scouting will have been done and trades considered. And it’s getting late in the game to start exploring international transfers, which means the process must have at least started by then.

I’m not saying this is all Wilkinson’s fault; I was never in the room previously when important choices were made, so I can’t say who had the bigger pieces of the influence pie. I am saying that player personnel is a mess and that mistakes were most certainly made – and that it’s fair to ask if that part has been fixed within the Portland Timbers organization?

Think about that a little as you watch Colorado beat up on the Timbers, who have scored just six goals in 13 road games this year. Six!

Skip to Comments (5)

« Newer Germany’s style turns even more aggressive as World Cup qualifiers commence in Europe

Older » Highlights and context: Streaks end in New England

More ProSoccerTalk

Back to Homepage

5 Comments (Feed for Comments)

tylerbetts - Sep 6, 2012 at 12:03 PM

I attended the game last night, with my wife. We’ve been to a handful of games this year and last. On the way to the car, she remarks “I know I don’t know a lot about soccer, but Portland is a very bad team, aren’t they?”

So, not proof positive of the problem being poor talent in Portland, but proof positive that you don’t need to be a high-level soccer analyzer to understand there are serious problems in Portland.

From my eyes, the team looked disorganized, a number of players looked apathetic, and just about nobody could get a good first touch (I joked on the way home that “Poor First Touch” is found entirely within “The Portland Timber Football Club”). The only player on the Timbers that looked like he cared to give fans any value for their money was Nagbe, but he played outside of what looked like it might have been the system the rest of the team was supposed to play in, if such a system existed, so we can’t really say he played well.

Just an ugly soccer team. That fan base deserves better.

Log in to Reply
crusty96 - Sep 6, 2012 at 12:10 PM

#1 They claimed Gavin was picking the players and Spencer was just coaching the team.
#2 The team went to hell.
#3 Now they claim Gavin wasn’t picking the players and it was Spencer the whole time.
#4 Which was it?

Log in to Reply
Steve Davis - Sep 6, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Exactly. I’m afraid only three men (Merritt Paulson, Spencer and Wilkinson) truly know the answer. Although I suspect the truth, as often the case, lies somewhere between those versions.

Log in to Reply
- crusty96 - Sep 6, 2012 at 2:13 PM
  
  Well it would sure be nice if everything Merritt seems to say about it sounds like a lie and then he calls everyone idiots and morons for calling him out on it. It would just be easier if he admitted he didn’t know what he was doing and hired someone who does.
  
  Log in to Reply
Kevin Murphy - Sep 6, 2012 at 8:51 PM

Time for Gavin to go. He picke dthe players and now he’s coaching the players. He’s also making bad coaching decisions during games.

Log in to Reply