Great article about our team! http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/ne.../6202255/portland-where-dream-soccer-lives-on
I could.. but I generally try and avoid moving something from a forum I am not a mod of. Dont wanna step on the toes of those who run this place
From what I've been reading it's super hard to predict any thing in MLS. Their pre season ranks are usually way off when it's all said and done.
It is very difficult to predict most things in MLS because there can be huge changes to rosters mid-year. There are also guys who have huge swings in production from year to year, which made San Jose a very dangerous team as Chris Wondolowski went from a fringe player to a Golden Boot winner. Where the Timbers have trouble is on defense and in the middle of the park. There doesn't seem to be a strong creative player who can take advantage of the attacking talent you have with Cooper, Nagbe, and Perlaza. Hall and Wallace could be terrific attacking fullbacks, but they'll be pinned back in defense if you can't retain possession. Rumors indicate that you're looking at a central-mid as a DP who should be in soon. That would be a good pick up, espcially if he is that possession player. You'd still give up a lot of goals with him in, but you'd be more likely to score a bunch too. I don't see Portland competing with the upper-level of MLS (New York, Salt Lake, LA) and second tier (Dallas, Colorado, Seattle, San Jose), but matches with the rest are going to be goal fests. Honestly, after those top five, there isn't really a club that stands out as a sure-fire playoff team now that Columbus is rebuilding.
Designated Player. You can pay as much as you want for a guy on a DP contract and he only counts $350k against the salary cap. Its how guys like Beckham, Henry, and Marquez are making a couple million more than what the cap number is. MLS also pays the first $350k of the contract, Timbers would come up with the rest.
I mean this totally in a non biased way as a Timbers fan.. but isnt Seattle poised for a drop off this year? They seemed to have lost a bit of their depth with Nyassi, Marshall, and most recently Nkufo. Are they expecting that huge of a jump from Fernandez?
Releasing Nkufo puts them back where they were last season with a huge question mark next to Freddy Monteiro. Nkufo was supposed to be the powerful forward for Monteiro to run off of, but he had a tendency to drift back into midfield too often, which is more of Monteiro's role. He was just playing much smaller than he was. Seattle will still be a strong team with Monteiro scoring goals and Keller keeping things organized at the back. Hurtado is among the top defenders in the league and Alonso is tough in midfield. A lot seems to be riding on Zakuani and Fernandez to produce more this season than they did last year if Seattle is going to move into the RSL, LA, NYRB category.
I don't know shit about MLS soccer or soccer at all - but I do know that Keller is old! Is he not? That's my completely uninformed opinion.
Keller is quite old, but he's always been in great shape and has a very limited injury history and is the best keeper to ever put on the US jersey (though Tim Howard is moving rapidly in that direction). He hasn't missed a beat, despite being 41 and is probably the top keeper in MLS.
