| 11 March 2011
The Portland Timbers might technically be an expansion team, but their play in the preseason so far has made them look like anything but. With just one final game on the schedule before the regular season start, the Timbers currently stand at 2-0-5.
Even before the first match, midfielder Ryan Pore predicted the strong start. Back on Jan. 31st, he stated: “We don’t really see ourselves as an expansion team, we think we can go in and compete right away.”
Coach John Spencer has also been impressed with his team’s early prominent record. In an interview with the Oregonian’s Geoffrey Arnold, he said: “I think it’s meant a lot, for me, anyway. Some coaches might look at it differently. I’ll look at it in the sense that we’re unbeaten so far.”
He added, “It’s amazing, if you’re on a losing streak, everyone wants to point it out. If you’re not losing games, you know winning some games and tying some games, everyone just says it’s preseason. So for us it’s a pretty important step.”
With the first regular season game just over a week away, the Timbers are now at the point where it’s time for fine-tuning, not more roster experimentation. Spencer was pleased with the 2-0 results he saw when the team faced Seattle last Friday, and he’ll use the same starting lineup tomorrow when the Timbers meet up with the San Jose Earthquakes for the final game of the preseason.
Spencer heaped praise on that lineup, saying, “I think a week before the season we’ve got to be looking to be putting out what we feel is the best team leading up to that game and it’s going to be no different from that team that started against Seattle. . . We should give them another chance. They’ll have a go against San Jose.”
For reference, here is the lineup that started the match against Seattle:
GK Perkins, D Purdy, D Brunner, D Goldthwaite, D Wallace, M Zizzo, M Jewsbury, M Lowry, M Hall, F Cooper, F Perlaza
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Other Timbers News Around the Web:
Jack Jewsbury has been named team captain for the 2011 Timbers season. From John Spencer: “Jack is a good leader and an experienced professional with nine years in MLS. It was not an easy decision, as we have a lot of good candidates on the team, but Jack stood out and came to the top of the list.”
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/03/jack-jewsbury-named-timbers-captain
The Jorge Perlaza signing was finally made official on Monday after being initially delayed due to contract complications. He’ll be expected to start at forward in the Timbers’ 4-4-2 lineup alongside Kenny Cooper:
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/01/timbers-sign-colombian-forward-jorge-perlaza
PortlandTimbers.com has put together a nice Q&A with Perlaza. The interview exemplifies his level of excitement and gives fans additional background information on his style of play, as well as what he can bring to the Portland roster:
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/03/qa-jorge-perlaza
Darlington Nagbe is hoping to return in time for the season opener. The MLS rookie had hernia surgery exactly one week ago on March 4th, and if he can make it back in time for the first game, it would be on the early side of the initial 2-4 week missed time diagnosis:
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2011/03/portland_timbers_darlington_na.html
The Timbers have announced their broadcast talent for 2011. Congratulations are in order for John Strong, Robbie Earle, Andy McNamara, Fernando Sobrevilla, Greg Flakus, and Ross Smith. Strong and Earle will be calling the TV games, while McNamara will take over the Radio broadcasts. Sobrevilla will be the club’s Spanish play-by-play broadcaster. Finally, Flakus will join the broadcast team on an occasional basis and Smith will be an extra broadcast analyst for home games:
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/03/timbers-announce-broadcast-talent-2011
The Timbers have also announced their broadcast partners for 2011. A partnership has been formed with ROOT SPORTS, the new brand identity of FSN Northwest, and they’ll be broadcasting 15 of the Timbers games throughout the season. Combined with FSC, FOX 12, KPDX TV, and ESPN2, all 34 regular season matches will be shown on TV, including eight nationally broadcast games. PortlandTimbers.com has the full broadcast schedule:
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/03/timbers-announce-broadcast-partners-2011
Single-game tickets for the upcoming season will go on sale on March 21. On that day, the tickets will only be available through the PGE Park box office from 7-10pm. Starting the following day, the tickets will also be available through Ticketmaster:
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2011/03/portland_timbers_single-game_t.html
The Timbers will host Chivas USA in a US Open Cup Qualifier match at Merlo Field on Tuesday, March 29th. The Timbers were able to work out a deal with the University of Portland to host the game on Merlo Field because of construction that will still be ongoing at PGE Park during that time:
http://timbers.theoffside.com/us-open-cup/timbers-to-host-chivas-usa-in-us-open-cup-qualifier.html
photo: portlandtimbers.com
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