By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Oct 4, 2019) US Soccer Players - Last week, Real Salt Lake marked the 10-year anniversary of their underdog 2009 MLS Cup win. The club honored the members of that squad during their game against the LA Galaxy. One face was a particularly welcome sight for the home fans. Javier Morales, the Argentinean playmaker whose creativity and class powered the . . .
The Western Conference playoff bubble
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 27, 2019) US Soccer Players - The thing about bubbles is that they aren't particularly stable. Every bubble rides the edge between existence and the decided lack of existing at all. One moment it's there, the next, it's gone. Sitting on the bubble, in the common parlance of sports, is never a good thing. It means that your chances to qualify for the . . .
Portland’s difficult season
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 19, 2019) US Soccer Players - The Portland Timbers are in the midst of a difficult season, depending on how you define "difficult". There's no objective way to judge the degree of difficulty for a given MLS season. Even if we attempted to create one, we'd first have to agree on which factors matter most in the assessment. What tops the list? The vagaries . . .
The Portland Timbers will end up at home
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (May 3, 2019) US Soccer Players - The Portland Timbers aren’t a big club. At the risk of offending Timbers fans, Timbers players, and Timbers investor/operators, the truth is that the Portland Timbers are a medium-sized club in a medium-sized market that has big-time support. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially when the size of the club doesn’t really . . .
MLS contenders already looking for turnarounds in 2019
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 3, 2019) US Soccer Players - Before the 2019 Major League Soccer season began, a list that started with Atlanta United, New York Red Bulls, NYCFC, and Portland Timbers could have been an easy preseason power ranking of the top four teams in the league. Atlanta United entered the campaign as the defending league champion. The Red Bulls won the Supporters' . . .
Pressure on Portland and Atlanta
The soccer news starts with Portland's lopsided loss at LAFC and a disappointing draw for Atlanta United at home against FC Cincinnati. Both of last season's finalists already face questions about their approach. The only answer for that is winning games, but that's not getting any easier in MLS. For Portland, giving up four goals is an MLS cliche, but it doesn't takeaway from expectations . . .
The stadium game continues in MLS
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Feb 8, 2019) US Soccer Players - Time flies when you’re having fun. It also flies when you’re attempting to prepare for your first season as a Major League Soccer franchise. For both the freshly named Inter Miami and the future Nashville MLS club, there’s a lot to do and not much time to do it in. The business of putting a team together - hiring a coach, signing . . .
Are the Portland Timbers MLS Cup underdogs?
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Dec 7, 2018) US Soccer Players - There’s no rule that says a championship game must have a favorite and underdog. It’s quite possible that two teams can arrive at a final equally matched, on paper or in reality. That takes away the need for the tried-and-true narrative that one team is the obvious choice to win while the other is fighting an uphill battle. It . . .
Preview: 2018 MLS Cup final
The soccer news starts with the 2018 MLS Cup final on Saturday (8pm ET - Fox) with Atlanta United trying to put the exclamation point on their season at home against Portland. The big talking points haven't changed. Tata Martino's last game draws at least a temporary line between eras for a team about to complete its second season. That's the situation for United, a dynasty in the making that will . . .
What will the 2018 MLS Cup teach MLS?
By J Hutcherson (Dec 4, 2018) US Soccer Players - When Atlanta United hosts the Portland Timbers on Saturday (8pm ET - Fox) there's more at play than just the 2018 MLS Cup. That game should help set the tone for the offseason all over the league, with clubs looking at what worked for the two finalists and what they can take and adapt for their teams. In a league still under single-entity, . . .
