The Portland Timbers will open the Main League Soccer season the identical approach they completed 2024, by taking part in host to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Timbers can solely hope the Sunday match goes higher.
The Whitecaps cruised to a 5-0 victory in a Western Convention wild-card recreation on Oct. 23 behind Ryan Gauld’s hat trick.
“We’re actually trying ahead to this recreation,” mentioned Timbers midfielder Diego Chara, who is ready to change into the primary participant in league historical past to look in 400 regular-season matches for one membership. “Now’s totally different, however on the identical time, I feel the workforce is aware of what occurred previously and this can be a nice alternative.”
The playoff loss led Timbers star Evander, who completed third in MVP voting with 15 targets and 19 assists, to tear workforce possession and administration in postgame tweets. That precipitated his departure in a switch to FC Cincinnati final week for $12 million.
The Timbers used about half of that cash to finalize a switch for midfielder David Pereira da Costa from RC Lens (France) because the workforce’s new designated participant.
“I am constructing a workforce right here and a tradition to win,” mentioned Timbers coach Phil Neville, whose membership went 12-11-11 final season. “Whenever you construct one thing and also you need to win, you want everyone on the bus heading in the identical route.”
Regardless of pushing Los Angeles FC to the restrict in a best-of-three first-round playoff collection, the Whitecaps (13-13-8 in 2024) fired coach Vanni Sartini and changed him with Jesper Sorensen.
Gauld and ahead Brian White, who scored a team-leading 15 targets in 2024, return to guide the Vancouver assault.
The Whitecaps may have one other massive transfer forward, because the workforce is on the market.
“Clearly, that is a giant factor happening on the membership, however it would not actually have an effect on us in our day-to-day,” Gauld mentioned. “We have nonetheless received a giant season forward of us, and, chatting with all the fellows … it is probably not come up in dialog between any of us. We’re all right here simply to be centered on the soccer and be sure that we do our job.”
–Area Stage Media
