i was kinda bummed that the Timber organization traded away Cronin for Perkins. I had hoped we could have kept Cronin.
Gotta wait til after the MLS Superdraft draft next month and then for the transfer window to open/close before making any judgments about the state of the roster. I do like the young cheap athletic defenders they have added so far though. Cronin would have been a sub par #1 keeper in MLS. It would have been great to keep him as a second keeper though.
So far I'm fine... nothing splashy, and as Baracuda said, Superdraft and Transfer window are when the rest of the roster will fill out. Man I hope that Vancouver passes on Nagbe.
Its ok, but it could be better. Talent was available in the expansion draft and it was passed on or traded. I always think teams should build through the middle and then deal with the outside. Timbers are pretty solid on the wings, but the middle is pretty questionable at this point. Trading for Jeremy Hall before the expansion draft was a terrific move. Not sure why Red Bulls were so ready to move him out. He'll start opposite of Ryan Pore who seems to have come into his own with the USL side since leaving Kansas City. Rodney Wallace is one of the top fullbacks in MLS, but I'm not sure why you go for him at the expense of Dax McCarty after the season he had with FC Dallas. There's a good selection of central defenders as Kevin Goldthwaite comes with a lot of MLS experience and Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, and David Horst are huge if nothing else. Brunner is likely to start with Goldthwaite. Adam Moffat is a nice player in midfield. As for forwards, Bright Dike was a first round pick from Columbus last season and never made the team and shouldn't be relied upon for anything. There's still a lot of time, but as things look at the moment, you'll be asking a lot of the defense and Troy Perkins. Perkins can be a lot better than Cronin, but needs to show that last season's poor form was an aberration, rather than an indicator that he's lost it since leaving for Norway. Portland needs to find a big target forward with MLS quality and someone to pull the strings behind the defense. If they're not calling Guillermo Barros Schelotto, they're nuts. I don't really have enough knowledge to comment on the draft fully, but from what I'm reading, there are a number of good prospects available. Regardless, its hard to find goal scoring rookies, so it might be best to look elsewhere for a goal scorer. Jumping in on the wave of South American prospects coming through MLS should be the way to go.
I think Portland is looking at current MLS teams and is checking out those players with expiring contracts. I think they have a list of 30 candidates for the 15 remaining roster spots but I think they want to see who wants to try out.
Most of those guys are expiring for a reason. The good ones were already taken in the re-entry draft. Schelotto is the only one left who is a game changer. Timbers need a reliable goal scorer or else its going to be a long season.
The Timbers have a system in mind and have stated their preference for bigger, stronger, faster players. Dax is obviously a quality MLS player, but he's none of those. Basically he's an expensive tweener and the team doesn't want to have to accommodate his deficiencies or alter their preferred system for him.
And supposedly they have a guy ready to sign next month that is a better fit for their preferred style of play.
6th and Alder directly across the street from Subway. It's actually a couple blocks from that giant sign.
One of my HS classmates says he is in one of those Timbers billboards. this one: can anybody confirm that is really up?
