Lovel Palmer came to the Timbers in a mid-season trade last season and for the 2011 season he helped shore up Portland's woeful back line. However his 2012 has been marred by a lot of inconsistent play and shots that went high and wide of the goal. He also had a penchant for hard tackles and yellow/red cards and his most memorable moment of 2012 was the red card he earned during the first Seattle game.
With tomorrow's big game the first since the trading away of both Troy Perkins and Mike Chabala,
there's been a lot of opinion and suggestions coming from the fan base on what the Portland Timbers
FO should do with regards to players. Obviously, most of you probably wouldn't have traded Perkins
away, some of you probably would have traded Chabala.
The Portland Timbers held a regeneration session today at their Beaverton training facility.
With Saturday's starters, minus Lovel Palmer, heading inside after a brief workout the Timbers
youngsters had a chance to shine in the the team's first open practice in months.
After the hard-fought, if futile, game over the weekend it was good to see all of the Timbers
back on the pitch today.
The Portland Timbers score their fastest goal of the year but then have their worst 9 minutes of
soccer and give up 4 goals. Portland is able to get one back for a 4-2 half time score. In the
second half Portland did not quit but were still unable to get it closer then 2. 5-3 final.
First Half
You couldn't ask for a better start from the Portland Timbers, especially against a team who has
not played well from behind.
It has been a topsy-turvy week for the Portland Timbers. After traveling to Colorado and logging
their poorest performance and worst loss of the year, the boys returned home on two days of rest
and beat the first place San Jose Earthquakes.
Unfortunately, the packed schedule has taken its toll on the starting lineup, and now Franck
Songo'o, Lovel Palmer, and Rodney Wallace are all likely unavailable for today's game.
Another great start as the Portland Timbers score first on a very quick counter attack. In the
second half Portland added another goal and it turned out to be the cushion they needed as the San
Jose Earthquakes pulled one back. 2-1 Win for Portland.
First Half
From the first whistle Portland looked like they actually came to play tonight.
In a match-up of heated rivals both in need of a victory, the Portland Timbers started Sunday's
showdown vs. Seattle looking every bit like the team intent on snapping their recent funk.
The Timbers rode a pair of first-half goals from Kris Boyd and David Horst and some of their
best soccer of the season to a 2-1 victory over the Sounders at Jeld-Wen Field on Sunday.
The Portland Timbers held practice today at their Beaverton training facility. As has been the
case over the last two weeks, practice was completely closed outside the league mandated 15 minutes
at the beginning of the day.
Eric Brunner is still concussed. Rodney Wallace's ankle is still hurt.
The Portland Timbers held training this morning at their Beaverton facility. It was yet another
closed session, as will all sessions be for the foreseeable future. At the end of the session
today, all players except the goalkeepers left the pitch as a unit, instead of the usual lingering
to get in some extra work.
Another game day. Well, maybe not just another game day. After all this is a Cascadia Cup match
and that, in itself, is something that makes tonight's match just a little more noteworthy than
traditional games. There's a bit more adrenaline. Perhaps even a little more brazen raucousness
from the fans.
The Portland Timbers announced that four of their current players will miss selected upcoming
matches to allow them to represent their national teams in various competitions. Goalkeeper Jake
Gleeson, midfielders Lovel Palmer and Rodney Wallace, and defender Futty Danso will be away from
the team for varying lenghts of time between May 23 and June 16.
The Timbers front office announced that four Timbers players will be serving with their
respective national teams during the FIFA international break between May 23 and June 16. The
players mentioned in the press release were CB Futty Danso, GK Jake Gleeson, MF Lovel Palmer and MF
Rodney Wallace.
Because of the long break from MLS competition, neither Lovel Palmer nor Rodney Wallace will
miss MLS matches.
The Fire will square off in the limelight of Sunday night soccer against a foe that they will be
looking to get revenge against- the Portland Timbers. The Fire dropped both decisions against
Portland in 2011. We opened Jeld-Wen field in April, and also lost the second match at Toyota Park
later in the year.
Game day! It's been quite a while since our last and, as such, the Portland Timbers are
currently behind the rest of the Western Conference in games played. This gives the Timbers a
slight advantage as well as the opportunity to leap frog both Los Angeles based teams, the LA
Galaxy and Chivas USA, should the results pan out how we like.
Sorry for the lack of preview content this week guys. I'm not sure about you guys, but last
week's defeat really got to me. Oh that and the many, many projects and midterms due this past week
while I'm finishing up my degree. One or the other.
In any case, tonight's match is yet another chance for the Portland Timbers to turn their season
around.
Big game for the Portland Timbers this morning as they aim to prove that they can keep their
winning "streak" alive as well as win on the road, something that has proven to be quite the
challenge for them since they joined MLS last season. Even more important, however, is the fact
that this will be the first and only time this season that the Timbers will face off against the
Montreal Impact which means getting three points here is doubly important given that their will be
no chance for redemption.
The Portland Timbers held a closed practice today, so there was nothing to see of practice.
Tomorrow's session will be open, so we'll hope Will can provide some details on how Mike Fucito
looks in a Timbers training kit.
Until then, here are some quick tidbits from training Monday morning, followed by some video of
Coach John Spencer and new acquisition Mike Fucito.
"It's concentration. We know that. We did that earlier in the year last year, and I look at the
game tonight and I think mostly their chances came from mistakes from us again.
The Portland Timbers practiced today under cloudy skies at Jeld-Wen Field ahead of their midweek
break. Practice had a surprise in store as the Timbers reserves left the field following the team
warm-ups in anticipation of a closed doors scrimmage against the University of Portland tonight.
Without the reserves on hand, the Timbers first teamers were treated to some small field games
interspersed with running overseen by fitness coach John Ireland.
It is finally game day again and all of Portland is looking to wash the bitter taste of losing
from their mouths. The LA Galaxy will be a tough test for the reeling Portland Timbers but it can
be done.
Assessing the Timbers:
With the return of Hanyer Mosquera the backline should be a little more solid but with Rodney
Wallace out with injury Mike Chabala needs to step up and show he deserves his starting role
back.
The Portland Timbers held a sparsely attended practice today at Jeld-Wen Field ahead of their
reserve match-up against the Seattle Sounders this evening. Training today consisted of only twelve
players thanks to injuries and the absence of the reserves. The Timbers started practice with
fitness drills before John Spencer decided to close practice to the press.
The Portland Timbers goes down early and comes from behind to grab the lead on two spectacular
goals from Darlington Nagbe. Portland then forgets that games last 90+ minutes as they pack it in
around the 84th minute and concede to late goals.
First Half:
Real Salt Lake and tried to replicate New England's early success against the Timbers from last
weekend but thankfully the Timbers were ready and able to deal with it.
Jamaica has called in 24 players for the two World Cup Qualifiers against the United States in
September. The squad includes nine players based in Major League Soccer. GK: Dwayne Miller
(Syrianska, Sweden), Duwayne Kerr (Strommen, Norway), Jacomeno Barrett (Montego Bay United,
Jamaica) DEF: Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo, USA), Adrian Mariappa (Reading FC, England), Dicoy
Williams (Toronto FC, Canada), Andrae Campbell (Nottodden SK, Norway), Nyron Nosworthy (Watford FC,
England), Shavar Thomas (Montreal Impact, Canada), Lovel.
If you told most D.C. United fans that Dwayne DeRosario and Hamdi Salihi would start the season
without a goal in the first seven matches they probably would have assumed a terrible start. Seven
weeks into the 2012 season, neither DeRosario or Salihi has a goal but Chris Pontius and Maicon
Santos have more than picked up the slack.
With MLSSoccer.com reporting that the New England Revolution are planning on taking Juan Toja
with their first pick in the current allocation order and that they are entertaining offers for the
services of the Colombian play-maker, there has been talk around the Internet that the Timbers
should make a play of their own.
While watching sports, it can be difficult to be objective. That's just the overall nature of
competitive events. I'm sure last weekend D.C. United supporters felt hard-done by the suspension
of Brandon McDonald and fining of Danny Cruz. I would bet that Vancouver Whitecaps fans felt anger
about losing Atiba Harris.
The Timbers started off today's practice after their day off by wishing a happy birthday to
Diego Chara who turns 26 today. After that it was down to business, as new fitness coach John
Ireland continued to change up the Timbers warm up routines. After the Timbers completed some
running and ball control drills, practice was closed to the press.
Timbers trade-apalooza continued today with Mike Chabala missing from practice after being
traded away to DC United. The Timbers held an open practice at their Beaverton training center that
was sparsely attended between trades, call ups, and sicknesses.
Missing from practice today were Jack Jewsbury and Steve Purdy.
Last night's match against the LA Galaxy was a confusing one for Timbers fans. Despite the
team's defensive lapses the Timbers had several stand out performances in the the attack, giving
some hope going forward. Nobody was perfect, but a few players stood out enough for our editors to
pick them as the Man of the Match.
The Timbers held a closed practice today at their Beaverton Training Facility. With a number of
players still missing and new acquisition Danny Mwanga not yet arrived, the group at practice was a
small one.
Mwanga, who the Timbers picked up yesterday from the Philadelphia Union, should be arriving in
time to practice with the team tomorrow, leaving him just over a week to get acclimated before the
Timbers take on the Galaxy in LA.
After canceling practice yesterday (a decision that came before the Timbers shocking Open Cup
defeat), the Timbers got back on the pitch at their new training facility today. With a long rest
starting for the first team and a reserve game tomorrow, the Timbers did not have a very strenuous
practice but did close the proceedings to the press after completing their warm-ups.
Here are all the videos we the SF gang took after the game. Will will be transcribing them for
you and adding some of the comments we could not get video for. I know there will be added quotes
from Will from Kris Boyd and others as well as the transcription of these videos (give Will major
props for transcribing all of these).
The US returns to World Cup Qualification to take on their toughest Group A rivals Jamaica. It's
the first of a doubleheader against the Reggae Boyz with the return leg in 4 days in Columbus. A
win in Kingston would be the most important result in group play as it'd put the US in comfortable
position to win the group.
The Timbers held a short, early practice today before flying to Colorado this afternoon ahead of
tomorrow's game against the Rapids. Practice was closed after a brief warm up as the travel squad
broke off to prepare for the game while the rest of the team played a game of 5v5.
Trialist Pablo Di Fiori and practice player Cam Vickers were the only non-roster players with
the team today.
The PortlandTimbers looked good, very good, for much of their game against Real Salt Lake. The
problem, of course, is that Real Salt Lake looked good when it counts. The Timbers' defense,
although they held strong for much of the game, crumbled under the pressure of a continuous Salt
Lake attack late in the game.
