I think that’s a reasonable guess, although I do think a result this weekend is very possible. SD has been in a bad way, and they play tomorrow at Houston—the Timbers’ third straight against a team that played midweek.
There is usually wisdom in the perspective that changing a coach isn’t necessarily a panacea for a bad team. But it’s things like this that make me genuinely curious whether and how much simply swapping out the manager would help the Timbers. They’re just a disorganized, untrained mess. #RCTID
Don’t think I can recall any sport undertaking a set of reforms as successfully as baseball in the last several years. The positives of extra inning reform, bullpen limitations, larger bases, pitch clocks, and ABS have all massively outweighed any drawbacks—measurably improving the game.
Evolution of MLS’s target fan:
1.0: Soccer families.
2.0: Sickos who want to stand in supporters sections and be part of online communities.
3.0: NFL fans.
4.0: Gambling addicts who want to bet on how many throw-ins will happen in the DCU-Houston game before the 53rd minute.
Neville would point to this to say they’re close to being good. But the underlying xG numbers (see @jamonm.bsky.social’s thread) suggest that the opposite is at least as plausible: Some late-game fortune indicates their (still poor) table position flatters an otherwise pretty dire team. #RCTID
Four of the Timbers’ seven games have been decided by goals in the 88th minute or later:
CLB: Draw ➡️ Win
HOU: Draw ➡️ Loss
VAN: Win ➡️ Loss
LAFC: Draw ➡️ Win
It’s balanced in terms of points. The Timbers have picked up and dropped 4 points late. #RCTID
Always and forever, historical events absolutely don’t reflect on the character of individuals in modern times. But the history that individuals in modern times choose to celebrate absolutely reflects on their character.
Just a perfect example of the right’s rhetorical bad faith.
“Look at this great Texas ranger statue.”
“That statue is of a specific person who enforced segregation.”
“No, it’s just a general ranger statue.”
“So we don’t need *that* statue. Any ranger statue will do?”
“No, we want this one.”
RIP CITY, BABY.
The persistence of the “grab your face and throw yourself to the ground” move well into the VAR era is one of the funnier parts of soccer right now.
I’d say it’s more that they only make the hard decisions when things become totally untenable. E.g., Gio clearly lost the locker room at the end of 2022, but instead of changing the coach or changing the locker room they ran it back to disaster. You see it, too, w/ the Thorns scandal and Iron Front.
But is the perspective that Phil needs time really serious? He’s failed in each of his five previous MLS seasons, including his two in PDX. Has any other manager with such a dismal record received this much time? And if that’s Ned’s view, where does the trust that he’s not under illusions come from?
I think it’d be easier to be less ambivalent if there was trust in leadership to make the hard choices before they’re painfully obvious. But there just isn’t that trust—and for good reason. This is the front office that told us they had full faith in Neville after last season, after all.
Put another way, I think a lot of fans would trade the points for action. And they fear that the points will help reinforce the culture of inaction.
I share a lot of those feelings and certainly don’t think they’re unreasonable. #RCTID
The ambivalence is understandable. The club is in its fifth year of poor performance. Leadership isn’t outwardly clear-eyed about the problem. So even a dramatic (albeit flawed) win carries danger that it could be used as a fig leaf to avoid the changes needed to end this period of failure. #RCTID
The production booth didn’t cover itself in glory with its freeze frame, but I came away fairly certain he was offside. A stroke of luck for the Timbers, but I thought it was the right call.
That goal probably saves Phil Neville’s job for today. It shouldn’t. That performance wasn’t even close to good enough.
But it gives the Timbers’ leadership a story to tell itself. And they’ll undoubtedly tell it.
Glad—maybe more relieved—for the result. But things aren’t good. #RCTID
*Barely* hanging on at home against a heavily rotated LAFC team. No ideas in the attack. Soft defensively.
Every game Phil Neville is in charge is an act of charity to the rest of the league. #RCTID
Unfortunately the only hands to the face were Velde’s own.
Phenomenal from Bassett there. Great finish from Velde, but Bassett unlocks the sequence. #RCTID
*Bouanga immediately murders Fory dead* #RCTID
LAFC flipping Bouanga over to Fory’s side of the field immediately after Fory picked up that early yellow. Something to watch. #RCTID
I have no problem with the call. Fory was behind Boyd enough that he didn’t have a genuine play on the ball. Wasn’t shoulder-to-shoulder.
Are there comparisons between Velde and Denis Bouanga, as the broadcast just suggested? Because if so, I have some follow-up questions. #RCTID
This isn’t a bad team, but it’s a beatable one given the rotation. The Timbers should be considered favorites today. #RCTID
The counterargument to this is that the Timbers are only four or five decisions away from being very good. #RCTID
Every Phil Neville press conference drives home the point that he’s the kind of guy whose words mean less and less the more you listen to them. #RCTID
“He’s failed in each of the six seasons he’s started as an MLS manager, but let’s see what happens these next few weeks.” #RCTID
What are we going to learn over the next 8 games that we haven’t already learned in the last 2+ years?
And if there are any ambitions for this season, shouldn’t they fire Neville now to hire a new manager ASAP so they can get established during the break to make a run over the last 20 games? #RCTID
Horrifying to hear this from any world leader. Devastating to hear it from an American president.
“Evil” is the only word to describe this.