merritt paulson

teaching soccer in portland…

Posted on: March 30th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 2 Comments

 

yesterday, what appears to be a two-part expose on timbers owner and superfan, merritt paulson, was published on the league's official site. it was an excellent article, but not very illuminating for those who had watched the introduction of the boss to the world of soccer as it happened. or so i thought. imagesCAZXHVZZas articles of this nature tend to do, comparisons were made between portland and seattle and their relevant success. paulson was quick to point out two things of which we are all aware: first, seattle received the benefits of a solo entry into the mls and those benefits extended to the expansion draft. and, second, the timbers were not as fortunate--they entered the leauge with the vancouver whitecaps. and then merritt made the admission:

And they got the coach right, which I didn’t.

that admission was a brutally honest appraisal of not only john spencer, but also of himself. spencer is a charismatic guy, who came with an impressive resume. he played for glasgow rangers, queens park rangers, chelsea, motherwell, colorado, the scotish national side, he scored alot of goals, and then he spent time with the houston dynamo as an assistant under dominc kinnear, winning back to back mls championships. on paper he presented that prototypical footballing brainiac, who could motivate players, and had the credentials to back it up if challenged. but if you recall, following the end of his playing days in colorado, he went back to england and took up a career in punditry for chelsea. coaching was not his calling, it was an afterthought. seven years later, that afterthought made for some entertaining commercials and post game banter, but it did little else.

there is an old saying that my wife and magadh find detestable: those who can, do, those who cannot, teach. well, spencer did. and like too many ex-footballers who find themselves outside the training grounds, looking in, reliving their glory days, he needed something to do during retirement. js.portland my apologies now: he should have remained either retired, sipping a pimm's cup and playing the ponies at stamford bridge, or under someone who could actually teach, because he could not. and, so, it seems in the world of coaching, those who can coach, and those who cannot are shown the door. and that is what led the timbers to hire caleb porter--a coach.

porter has a system. spencer had a system, too, it just was not a good system--it was an old system, and little else. spencer's system pumped the ball into the 18 yard box from the wings with a relentless zeal. it was predictable and easily defended. porter's system relies on ball retention in order to create goal scoring opportunities. it is fluid, malleable, and unpredictable. the players are still getting used to the dynamic vision of the play, but it has given the team an identity and style of play that one expects from a professional footballing side. and it is still developing.

We get a notch, a level better each week. There will be a ceiling at some point, but we’re certainly not there. Our ceiling is a bit higher than most teams because we have so many new guys, so our potential to grow in training week after week is greater than other teams. I’m seeing that in training. The team we are, going into this game, is a notch higher than we were last week.

two weeks ago, the timbers went into the clink and came home with a shared point. they did so because porter got the tactics right. the team played surrounding and stifling defense that prevented seattle from exploiting any openings in the midfield. he then made the right substitutions at the right times. first, taking off jack jewsbury at the 70 minute mark, who was the pivot in back line that limited seattle to 7 shots, and he brought on frederick piquionne. this changed the positioning of the play, pressing the attack further forward, but also gave the midfield an additional body to assist in link-up play. then in the 80 minute, porter brought on the rod wall, which further increased impetus to get forward and the pressure on seattle's back four. here is the point: had spencer been in the same situation, he would have substituted lovell palmer for jack jewsbury and kalif for nagbe. like for like for like for failure.

cp.themansomewhere in his vision, developed over years of coaching and as a student of coaching, porter has grown an ability to understand the flow of play. he makes adjustments within the game to harness that flow in order to increase the pressure on the opposition and increase the opportunities for goal. that is why those who can, coach, those who can't, should sip on pimm's cups. that is why when merritt said he did not pick the right guy to lead this team he makes an admission regarding his relative novice approach to ownership and to a game he was not as well equipped to understand as he is now. it appears the only person who learned a lesson from spencer was the man who hired him.

speaking of now, the timbers are playing at 3 pm. the denver post has run a piece suggesting that horst may make his debut. i highly doubt that, especially since this piece had likely taken on the life of an article by dan itel. a somewhat disingenuous title, leads to a good article that highlights the strong character of a player i really like--david horst. but the fact is the timbers issues at the back are not so much personnel issues as they are issues of a developing understanding between the back four and the crippled keeper. once they have been ironed out, i believe we will see a team able to shut out sides like did to seattle with more regularity.

all right, 3 points it is.

sunshine

Since Our Last Deal With New York Worked Out So Well…

Posted on: February 12th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 4 Comments

 

I really don’t understand MP sometimes. Or rather, I feel that I understand him all too well. He’s probably a good guy when you meet him in the flesh (I have never had the pleasure) but he simply must stay off of Twitter. There are some humans whose consciousness is simply unsuited to that particular mode of communication. I mention this because he put up a tweet the other day which seems to be a joke about Sigi Schmid’s weight, or his love of food, or whatever. As a goof it’s just not very funny. But, more importantly, much as the green slime from Sodo inspire the same kind of feelings in me as the prospect of French kissing a badger, there is just no point in this kind of thing. I’m all for saying nasty things to an opponent. I’ve certainly been chucked out of a few places for doing so. But to be effective it has to be either a) obviously very funny or b) backed up by some show of actual superiority.

Much as it was pleasant to take a little piece of the Sounders down in Tucson, that and $2 will just about get you a cup of coffee. Not only have we had rather more preseason game preparation, but it was also a match in which we played a lineup that was rather closer to what our actual regular season setup in going to be (aside from the fact that Tucker-Gagnes played right back). I know the whole issue of the tweet is a minor thing and will, in all likelihood, soon be forgotten. But one never wants to give an opponent the opportunity to deal out some comeuppance. There are those of you out there who will say that this doesn’t really merit our attention, and you’re probably right. Still, it’s just the kind of thing that one generally oughtn’t to do.

Speaking of developments with our northern rivals, they seem to have taken Mikael Sylvestre on for a trial, now that his cuppa with us is done. I never thought that I would be uttering the following words, but I really wish that the Timbers would sign Sylvestre. It gives me only a modicum of comfort to know that sunshine and I have friends among the Seattle Arsenal mob who will feel the same sort of discomfort at his proximity that we do. However that may be, I think it’s pretty clear that he showed the requisite level of skill and ability during his brief stint in our camp. I understand that bringing him in creates a bit of a log jam at center half, but perhaps a bit of serious competition for playing time wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I have confidence in Horst and Mosquera, both individually and as a pairing. I’m less sanguine about the prospect of Jean-Baptiste getting significant time, as he would do if either of the aforementioned picked up an injury. Tucker-Gagnes could also chip in, but who among us could view the prospect of throwing someone straight out of college into the setup? Sylvestre might not be available on terms that we will work for us financially. I simply have no way of knowing. The thought of seeing him lining up in a Sounders jersey causes my gorge to rise.

Whatever it is that we decide to do in terms of personnel, we will have some extra cash with which to do it. This is a result of the fact that Eric Alexander has been shifted to the Energy Drinks for…wait for it…allocation money. Those hardy souls among you who have read what I have to say with regularity will remember that I have not exactly been the president of the Eric Alexander fan club. He’s who reminds one of those motivational posters that one sees at work about unspectacular people working unspectacularly to get a job done. You can’t fault the guy in terms of effort. But he simply is not quite good enough to assert ownership over a starting spot at left wing, and the number of times that he came off the bench to any good effect can be number on one hand. Mayhap I would have preferred to see him go somewhere besides New York. In my heart of hearts the Kenny Cooper thing still rankles. Admittedly, he was moved on when there was still some prospect of getting a reasonable return out of Kris Boyd. But Cooper went on to pot 18 goals for the Drinks, while Boyd turned out to be the footballing equivalent of a handful of magic beans.

While we’re on the subject of strikers, I would like to say that I am feeling intense guilt about the situation with Bright Dike. The other day I made some idiotic comment about the possibility that he might be able to come back from injury in a matter of weeks rather than months. I should know better than to say things like that, especially when it refers to someone who is having surgery to repair a knee injury. As it turns out he’s done until August (at least) and I have a feeling that I put the whammy on the guy. I take full responsibility for this.

Dike is another guy of whom I’ve been pretty critical. Or perhaps it would be better say that I’ve been skeptical of his ability to be the kind of guy who can carry the scoring load for a team with serious aspirations to contend. I talked a little the other day about what the loss of Dike might portend for our attack. Clearly, this is a time when other players have a chance to make their case for a more extensive role. You would think that this would be the time that Danny Mwanga would make play for more time, if only on the basis of the tools that he has. Still he hasn’t impressed, and moreover it’s not really clear to me that he represents the way forward in terms of the offensive style that Porter wants this team to play. The answer could be Ryan Johnson, who had at least a modicum of success during his time with the Quakes (less so up in Toronto). The fact that we’re now taking a look at the young Belizean striker Deon McCauley may render some clues about which direction things are going to take. He’s a player less in the Dike/Mwanga mode (big, hold up player) and more like Nagbe (small and mobile). With the improvements that have been effected in midfield this might portend a full commitment to an offense that attacks the top of the penalty area using running and through balls. To my mind this fits well with the overall attacking approach that we are building now.

Ok, I’m off. I promise to do my best not to jinx any more of our players.

Magadh

noteworthy, newsworthy, and football yellow journalism…

Posted on: February 11th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 3 Comments

 

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what a slow weekend for news. even with the team travelling home there should be some news, right? evidently not. one day has elapsed since the timbers have pulled up roots in arizona and left for the northwest, yet somehow the topical conditions in which mainstream news has found itself are so arid that they cannot compose stories of interest involving team development. no, instead of stuffing the mental coffers with quotes and notes on tactics or new individual players, the news has been limited to sigi scmid's response to merritt paulson's insensitivity over twitter regarding schmid's obvious physical condition. let's face it, the dude is not small. but how is that newsworthy?

i am left again wondering how a major league team has such few and talentless journalists that its coverage in the mainstream is limited to that type of journalism. was it purposeful to install the progeny of william randolph hearst's rambunctious yet irresponsible yellow tall tales? perhaps now that sigi's weight issues are out there in mainstream format we can discuss bat boy's and lobster girl's not so secret love affair in an area of the north end commonly referred to as del boca vista. once that has been uncovered for the greater portland metro-area to read, i think it would be prudent of the mainstream journalists to break the story surrounding how vera katz magically transforms into a chupacabra at the very scent of pine resin.

one of the very reasons we started this blog was to create a daily discussion about football in portland. this is soccer city, usa and the people who live here have a greater knowledge of the sport than any other city in the country. unfortunately, the discussion provided by mainstream journalism is considerably limited in quantity as well as quality. sigi schmid is fat and merritt paulson made a gaff. we get it. but how about the new formation? what about the already observable benefits of possession play? what about the new tactics of team defense? what about mikael silvestre's trial--is that going result in a permanent deal? what about the freeze out of futty danso? these are topics apropos to the continued and intelligent discussion of our team: the portland timbers.

the news could flourish if the few of us who have devoted significant chunks of our days to discussing the club were provided the same or similar access to the coaches and players as other, more "qualified" journalists have received. i would love to see any one of or all of kevin alexander or magadh or kristen g or bob kellett be offered a press pass and access to the people who we actually care to devote an excessive amount of time discussing. even if the club does not agree with the conversation, the conversation does benefit the club.

while some journalists have enlisted their sources to create a scurrilous and empty article about twitter and big-boned people, there is news about the club worthy of discussion. the much maligned back four of 2012 has not undergone a significant amount of change. while the team has shed a few useless pounds by cutting lovel palmer and koeske kimura, the diet also saw a little muscle atrophe when they cut ties with steven smith. as ruthless as that roster move was, it was also financially sound given the overall needs of the team. but these moves did not reduce the heart of the defence, which could have benefited from a cull and an addition or two. so far, it seems the approach the club has taken with the defense is one of changing the tactics rather than complete overhaul. to be fair, had the tactics not changed a complete overhaul of the back four would have little change in the timbers woes. the simple answer to that question is that last year the structure and shape of the defense was more 6's and 7's than 4 across. they had little idea of how to hold their shape, force play into outer areas, and to control the tempo of the game.

the reality of last year is this: the positioning of the back four was pitiful. rather than holding their line, too often the right side was caught out, either due to incompetence or by overreacting to play situations as they developed. the more composed defenses allow for play to come to them before pressing and closing down the opposition. and too often their impatience would be confused with eagerness and enthusiasm that is easily forgivable, though not beneficial. as athletic and exciting of a player as he may be, hanyer mosquera was increasingly guilty of this type of impatient play. had he been instructed in terms of proper defensive tactics there may have been different results, but last year it was quite obvious defensive tactics were not often discussed in the confines of training.

that seems to have changed. hopefully. in an article devoted to discussing something other than sigi's defensiveness, dan itel gave us some further insight into how the new manager is implementing his strategies into ritualism. the new manager has brought into camp the team concept. i know i have written on this all too often enough and you are likely sick of the subject, but so was john spencer and gavin wilkinson and we saw what happened in their tenures. porter preaches shape--team shape, defensive shape, and the transition into attacking shape. on all ends of the game, shape allows a team to dictate play, exploit the weaknesses of the opponent, and force them to make mistakes. more than any one player, the shape of team play predicts the outcome of the game.

finally, there are some interesting things happening over at another publication, the columbian. you know, the one in washington. chris gluck, a statistician, is plotting the results of play in his own version of soccernomics, which i will refer to as: timbersnomics. his writing is not for the uninterested, but does enlighten if you are willing to put in the effort.

i would quote the boomtown rats if i actually liked the boomtown rats, but it is monday which means another week closer to march 3.

sunshine

a new day, a new season…

Posted on: January 21st, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com No Comments

 

imagesCAUBRB3K

what an important day. no, im not discussing the celebration of the reverend martin luther king's contributions to the world and especially to equality as we understand it today in the states, nor am i discussing the fact today memorializes president obama's second term in office, nor the fact that i have a three-day weekend to support my laziness. no, none of that. today inaugurates the reinvention of the portland timbers and the arrival of ryan miller and all the other wonderful additions to the timbers 2013 squad.

who is ryan miller, you may ask. and, sadly, i have the same response. i know we here at the axe have discussed his career throughout the last few days ever since the rumours broke that merritt and caleb and gavin had become interested in the hard-working, right back who plied his trade in the swedish second division. do not allow my scepticism regarding the quality of the swedish divisions to cloud your appraisal of miller, jurgen klinsmann, a far better judge of talent than i, did call him up for usmnt 2011 training camp. not that he has supplanted steve cherundolo within the national side. his skills are notable enough to have been courted by some german squads--who they are i have no idea, but the mls offical site wanted you to know that he was desirable. but all of that speculation is now over and thanks to the investigative work of @5mtko blogger and nasal extraodinaire, roberto, we have confirmation that ryan miller has indeed chosen the timbers:

To All the Great Fans of Hbk,

I want to thank you for the past 3 fantastic years in Halmstad as part of Hbk! I have made many friendships for the rest of my life. I became a better player during my time there. I'm really excited that I could help bring Hbk back to the Allsvenskan for 2013! Last season was a so much fun and very rewarding. I wish Hbk much success this year and for years to come!

As of today, I have accepted my next challenge in soccer, as a member of the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer in the US. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to return to the US in the league where I started my career in 2008. If you're ever in the US, come look me up!

Wishing you all the best,
Ryan Miller
Hbk #4

moreover, we have confirmation from merritt that miller is in portland and that he will begin the regimental efforts of developing an understanding with his teammates.

for that matter, everyone else will be in the camp, adjusting to their new teammates. we all know it: the timbers have been very  this off-season culling the dross and repairing the damage done of over the last two years. in addition to ryan miller, the timbers have brought in milos kocic, mobi fehr, steve evans, dylan tucker-gangnes, ryan johnson, will johnson, diego valeri, and mikey "mo money" harrington. and for all that we know, further moves could still be on their way. caleb porter suggested last week that further moves to improve the team could be made.

while i know many players who find themselves settling down with a new team will say justa bout anything to get into the good graces of fans, the genuine desire of many of the players to be in portland has been overwhelming. most notable, of course, is seattle native dylan tucker-gangnes. sure, he was an u-23 prospect here, but i still find his desire to play for the timbers inspiring:

If I could have chosen any team to go to, it would have been Portland, and I am absolutely thrilled to be selected by the club.

so, it looks like our squad is shaping up with players who want to be here. there are several intangibles incapable of being measured by the fuzzy math and statistical hoo-haw of soccernomics and the benefits of having happy players who want to be at the club is largely one of the biggest factors towards success that stands outside those measurements. i know it may just be lipservice, but i get the feeling that each player we have acquired over the off-season genuinely wants to be in portland, fighting for this club and fighting to prove themselves to us, the supporters.

day 1. there should be some fabulous quotes come tomorrow.

sunshine.

super daft draft time…

Posted on: January 17th, 2013 by theaxepdx@gmail.com No Comments

 

2013draft

i have it on good authority the united states secret service has been concerned regarding large purchases of oxy zit cream and gold bond lotion in the state of florida. evidently someone failed to inform the feds that the sunshine state would be overrun by hormonal lads decked in far too much adidas gear, white athletic socks, and rubber flip-flops. the mls combines were ongoing and ever so enlightening. well, not really.

there are a few notable selections to be made. indeed, a couple players from our very own under 23 set-up have shown some skill--erik hurtado seemed to have turned heads and is slotted by many of hte pundits over there at mls [dot] central to be taken in the first 10. but overall the available talent is sparse. not that the dearth in talent is much of a concern to a side that holds no picks within the draft, but that can always change.

frankly, unless the timbers can secure the chance to pick within the top 3 (a place they already traded away for ryan johnson, which tells you all you need to know about porter's opinion of the draft) there really seems to be no purpose in sticking their toes into that pool. overall, the timbers need an outside back, wingback, specifically a right back, and, as far as i can surmise, there are limited numbers of those available to be had. there are a couple talented defenders, and one specific candidate that seems to touch every box--andrew farrell.  he is not the tallest of gents to stand in the center of the back four, but what lacks in stature he compensates with pure athleticism. uh, oh....that word. but more than being athletic, farrell is versatile. he is as able to slot into the rightback position and attack on the flanks as stand his ground in the middle of the defense. he has legs and jumping ability. and as much as i have you drooling right now i suggest you stop. he is also the player touted to go first in the draft. unless we give the kitchen sink or jack jewsbury to the revolution, who just traded the 4th overall pick and allocation money to toronto for the first overall pick, i doubt we will see andrew farrell in green this season.

there is some speculation that the timbers may make a push to enter the draft. the talk certainly has been fueled by porter's recent comments. when discussing the potential of the draft, he stated:

We may still get back in the draft. We're doing our homework to see if it's worth acquiring a pick - you have to give up something to get a pick.

not one to avoid rabble-rousing, merritt took to the twatterverse to inform the masses that we can expect 3, three, TROIS, moves this week. of course, many began to wonder whether those moves would be to jump back into the draft. personally, i hope not. unless the team can capture andrew farrell without giving up any of the corps players or prospects making that move would be irresponsible and would still leave the timbers searching to address their primary need--a quality right back, who can step onto the field, defend effectively, and provide reasonable support on the flanks in attack.

if you were not forced into crazy speculation, wondering what possibly merritt and gavin and caleb could have in mind, let me perform a little rabble-rousing. you may recall that last year the timbers were involved in a significant trade on draft day--they sent kenny cooper to the new york red bulls. while they no longer have the first round draft pick acquired from that trade, it is proof enough that the timbers are willing to pull off a deal if it could conceivably help the team. of course, we know that the trade was a wash and the replacement is soon to find himself back in england or scotland, but that should not dissuade you of the possibility they get one right--even a blind squirrel gets a nut now and then.

so, if the timbers were to go in for farrell there is one item of which the timbers have a surplus and the revolution is limited--midfielders. remember the concern about songo'o and the cost of his ever inflating contract? a little trade for a first round pick and allocation seems a good idea, no? now, this is purely speculation, but does seem plausible given all of merritt's hints and the conjecture that followed in the last few days. do i see it happening? well, no, but i also did not see kenny cooper being traded to the energy drinks.

but nevermind that speculation (it came about at 11 pm, last night)--word just came through at 6 am thanks the san jose quakes official site and their twitter account that the quakes have acquired mike fucito for a second round draft pick.

San Jose Earthquakes‏@SJEarthquakes

We've just acquired former @TImbersFC forward Mike Fucito for our second-round #SuperDraft pick (No. 34 overall). More details to come

excellent--we are back in, but we are back in for scraps, kids.

alright, get out your draft cards, kids, the mls holds their annual kowtow to the established big four sports event today and, if history holds true, we are likely to see some action.

have a fun day.

sunshine

thoughts on a controversy…

Posted on: December 30th, 2012 by theaxepdx@gmail.com 3 Comments

 

well, it sure is good to have mags and shecky back in the mix of things as i am more than certain you lot were well and truly tired of reading my posts for longer than a week straight. even so,  leave it to mags to return from his near death experience in what sounded like a casting call for next christmas season's feel good movie: anka mueller, the loving nurse of treblinka, only to stoke the grass or turf controversy. for a fella who is repulsively politically correct, he sure can step into a turd.

not even while the populations of washington and colorado were arguing over whether to legalize the fragrant foliage had i seen so much controversy over a little grass. seriously, it is grass. but as much as i prefer grass over the fake turf with rubber pellets that spray along the surface of the pitch, it is the fake stuff we play on and that is unlikely to change. all of this controversy began with the desire of northwest sides to host the us men's national team and world cup qualifiers. allow me to throw a pipe bomb out there--who cares? while it may do wonders for the stadium income and finances for the club in general, i could not care less about where qualifiers for international competitions take place. as much as i enjoyed reading john doyle's the world is a ball, i cannot find the same passion he has for the international game. so, while i prefer grass for aesthetics and overall benefits to player health, i really do not have a dog in this fight.

which brings me to something i had been pondering the last few days--controversies surrounding the timbers this last season. sure there was the trade of kenny cooper, the sacking of john spencer, the assumption of gavin wilkinson, the transfer of mike chabala, but as much as the timbers needed a fashionista train wreck, the loss of chewy was not the subject of my contemplation. looking back at the controversies of the last season, i am still mystified by the owner's explosive response regarding the distinction of being the only team to not have a penalty last season and, more specifically, the quality of the officiating in the mls.

no supporter of any team within any league will ever tell you that the officials of the league are worth their paycheck. it goes without saying that the officials are the enemy and that they are also the recipients of every supporters ire. yet as much as we like to gripe about officials, overall we would be hard-pressed to find specific moments where they so affected the outcome of a game by their decisions. but then san jose was awarded one of the softest penalties i have seen, so i would assume it would be beyond controversial for a relative footballing novice.

chris wondolowski was looking to match a 16-year-old, goal-scoring record when he arrived at the jw. this was not the first poorly awarded penalty kick, but was one that drew a response that, if the league were to follow its own guidelines, should resulted in a fine.

obviously, the decision did not sit well with horst, the team, and the supporters. neither did the lenhart penalty. in his post game interview, horst flippantly stated that he felt the san jose game was rigged, claiming

The MLS, they like things to go their way and so I probably saw that PK coming before the game started

surprisingly, he did not receive any rebuke or fine. i would think that should anyone impugned the mls and the legitimacy of the competition their complaints would have resulted in a fine, but these did not.

before we look at the response for the wondolowski penalty, it might benefit us to look at the response to the penalty awarded to dc united, when david horst was called for a handball. horst had jumped with his arms raised in an attempt to block a cross into the box from kitchen. kitchen had lobbed the ball in, which was quickly pushed out to the top of the 18 yard box. play continued until the linesman called a penalty. see, david horst was standing within the 18 yard box when he jumped with his arms raised. a poor poor decision. but the odd thing about the call is that, though it traveled near horst's outstretched left arm, the ball's trajectory was never diverted. that little bit of evidence indicated to every person in that stadium and several many pundits that the called handball was a truly poor call.

looking at it from my place in the northend, and in discussions with several of my seat neighbors, it looked a stone cold penalty. horst should not have raised his arms, but he did, and the ball went deceptively close to his arm. in replay, the ball actually appears to brush his kit--but it does not touch his arm. but the linesman did not have the benefit of multiple replays and multiple angles, nor did he have the benefit of time--he was required to make a decision on what he saw at that moment. considering the evidence, i can understand his decision. does it sit well? no. was it a reasonable decision at the time given all the attendant circumstances? likely.

however, this did not sit well with the owner. he exploded, stating:

Let’s be real…nfl replacement refs have nothing on mls primary refs. Sick of this garbage. I will happily take the fine. Its atrocious. Should balance out. Guess policy is to balance atmosphere. All season long…not a single damn pk awarded to us. Numerous cut/dry blown calls. And let’s give DC a gift for good measure.

which was followed up by this:

I don't like complaints about refs, always sounds like excuses. But this season has been unique. Literally no pks. We haven't controlled what we can control to max for sure. But also haven't had many breaks. Is what it is. From my end, I'm not making a habit of this. Owner shouldn't be part of the story. We will keep seeking to improve and eventually we will succeed.(And maybe someday I won't tweet angry).

i think we all understand and can even support merritt's frustration with the way calls went against the timbers this last season, but there are to voice your frustration and then there are appropriate ways to voice your frustration. obviously, the mls cannot have an owner impugn the legitimacy of its officials or the legitimacy of the league as a whole--and that is what merritt did.

to his credit, merritt did acknowledge the simple fact the timbers did not manage their destiny as well as they could. it goes without saying that the club was not just a shambles, but an omnishambles throughout the season. but acknowledging that the club stunk does not sufficiently atone for the simple transgression the soccer don should have instructed any owner in mls ownership 101--do not call into question the game. that is what merritt did when he stated the results were intended to nullify the jw home field advantage.

this point goes beyond just the legitimacy of the results--it confronts the ability of a relatively new league for a relatively unpopular sport in the states to make its way and create success. suggesting that the on field product is deficient and sub-par to the product of leagues already tainted by controversy could have potentially devastating effects to the longterm health of the mls. is what merritt said enough to topple the tower? no. but, regardless of the inferior officiating, if the league were to allow any one of its owners to suggest the results are rigged the slope towards popularity could get too slippery to climb.

which brings me back to horst's comments regarding the wondo penalty. he was not fined, but his comments were as much of an indictment of the league and the league officiating as merritt's were. so why the difference in approaches? if i knew half the things that went on in garber's head i might be a millionaire. but perhaps it was the tenor of the statement. horst made his in jest, where merritt was pointed and condeming.

eh, these are just some thoughts i had roaming through my noggin' last night. at any rate, it looks as if merritt hit the twatterverse, again.

enjoy the sunday show.

sunshine.

beating our brains for information…

Posted on: December 26th, 2012 by theaxepdx@gmail.com No Comments

 

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happy boxing day! i have always wondered why there is a day to celebrate pugilism throughout the world. but leave it to the english and canadians to make efforts to promote the relevance of a science that is no longer sweet and is quickly being overtaken by caged fighting.

of course, i jest. today is when those superior human beings give gifts to their servants and household staff, as well as provide alms for the poor. in the secular world it is saint stephen's day, where we celebrate the stoning of a man who claimed to have seen god and the son. for us few who were on the street corner, begging for any information regarding football and specifically information about the timbers other than what wonderful timbers themed gift you may have received yesterday, we celebrate the fact we were given our little tidbit of good tidings pre-christmas.

as is his custom when he has news he just can't possibly go without talking about, the owner took to twitter on the day before christmas. he informed us lower forms of trolling that he would love to give us one last tease of off-season moves this year, but he was restrained from doing so. clearly indicating that the timbers had reached agreements with some player(s), but he could not report the news until the beginning of the new year. right?

initially, i thought that if that is true, then we can look forward to the addition of a player from the european leagues--their transfer window opens on january 1. it made sense. however, as it happens when mass is over, the gifts have been unwrapped, and the boredom of the christmas afternoon has set in, i started to ponder other options. while it could mean that the timbers have come to agreement with some european club for some player who would fit the timbers needs, it could also suggest that a player or a couple of players currently on the timbers squad could be making a switch to a different league.

in that scenario, one move above all others makes sense--kris boyd to england. as mr. nyen pointed out in a post earlier this month, while he may not cost much against the cap or allocation, boyd's salary does make up 1/4 of the timbers overall financial investment. in order to understand the size of that investment why not think of it this way: 1/4 of a 25 man roster is 6.25 players. sure, that quarter player is one heck of a lost investment, but the point is for his overall salary several really good players good perhaps be brought in on significantly higher wages. all of that contingent on the cost against the cap and allocation.

so, we have a couple of scenarios and we have at minimum a week until we will learn the answers to our questions. so, i am left with the feeling that saint stephen's day was not a day of gifts for us poor people looking for information, but really a celebration of the metaphoric kind--merritt left us to perform mental pugilistic rituals as we beat our brains to determine what, if anything, he meant.

the only thing i can confidently suggest is that we have not yet seen the end of the great timbers shake-up of the 2013 roster. we can expect further moves and we can expect them likely to shock our senses. hopefully we have not concused ourselves before the next announcement.

have a great boxing day.

sunshine