PORTLAND TIMBERS v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders make the trip down the I-5 to Morrison Street. It’s the Pacific Northwest Derby. Sounders against the Treecutters. The lot of you ken the words, don’t ye Green Fam? I don’t have to write one word further about it.

What: MLS league match, Portland Timbers v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: Morrison Street, Portland, Oregon.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 31 August 2024 CE.

At Stake: If I have to explain it, you’re not paying attention.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Where to Listen: KJR 950 AM and El Rey 1360 AM.

If you’re feeling a bit dashed about our cup exits, you can count me right in with the lot of ye. Just when we need a moment to gather ourselves, there is no moment to have. Out of the frying pan and straight in tae the Pacific Northwest Derby. Sounders. Timbers. No one likes us. We don’t care. We are Sounders. Mighty Sounders. We are Sounders from Brougham End.

Look after each other. Tie your scarves proper. Let the mayhem ensue. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!! BUILD A BONFIRE (BUT SERIOUSLY, NOT A REAL ONE) !!!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

Eliminated at the Quarter-Final stage of Leagues Cup and at the Semi-Final stage of US Open Cup, both times by LAFC, over a span of 11 days. We need time to process this. However, in football, there is no rest for the weary.

The Good News

Mostly healthy, save for Rodrigues.

Football always makes you move on to the next match. For our lot, that’s probably a good thing this Sat.

We’ve got one of the more talented rosters in this league. Haaaa! The rest of the league can continue to be Rave Green with envy over it.

We beat this lot at Morrison Street last time. We can do it again.

The win over the Loons last Sat put Sounders FC in the top-10 of the league. We currently reside in 9th place, 16 points adrift of leaders, Inter Miami.

Timbers are the more likely side to concede two goals (1.72 goals conceded/match).

Sounders defence is still elite, tied for 4th in the league in goals conceded with 31. In stark relief, Timbers have conceded nearly as many goals in the league (46) as they’ve scored (54).

Timbers are a mid-table side this season. We tend to do well against the like. If form follows that trend, we should be in with a shout.

The Bad News

The rest of the league has moved on and improved their teams. We have elected to stand still this season, excepting the addition of De la Vega and players produced by our own system. We are starting to be left behind. Has anyone at Longacres noticed?

Unfortunately, Timbers are the more likely side to score two goals.

Sounders away from home…it’s hit or miss, yeh? Our away record is 6-2-6, so the maths say it could go either way. Timbers at home have only lost twice (9-4-2), one of those times to us though.

You’d imagine morale is low, but sport requires a degree of mental and emotional toughness, so maybe it’s a non-factor. Or maybe it’s absolutely a factor. They say only time heals a broken heart. What about two broken hearts? I hope our boys have mended soon.

We’ve had no answer for LAFC this season, or most top-10 teams for that matter. That is very Un-Sounderlike. We had better fucking fix it. You lot at Longacres better had sharpen those pencils and figure it out, yeh? Or are the Sounders FC’s new corporate masters out of ideas? Nothing like a room full of banksters to fuck something up that there was nothing wrong with.

The Side I Would Select

If it were any other league match than our arch-rival, I’d say rest them that played against both Minnesota United and midweek against LAFC. But it’s the Treecutters. So, tape it and play. Do what you gotta do. Spend extra time in the whirlpool bath or on the trainer’s table, cryo-chamber, ice-bath, pilates, gravity boots, whatever. Lace’em up. It’s PNW Derby time.

Rationale: Maybe it’s time for Cristian to play as a #6 again. If Pedro is fit, he should be in the team, but extra laps in training for that god-damned hand-ball.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Cristian

LF     De la Vega

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Vargas

CF     Morris

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

The Gaffer is a Seattle guy, and he hates two things. Losing and the city of Portland. I’ll be shocked if there’s any rotation.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM    Vargas

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Lukasz Szpala.

Portland record with Szpala as Ref: 1-0-3

Sounders FC record with Szpala as Ref: 2-2-0

General notes on personnel

Portland transfers IN:

Kamal Miller (Inter Miami CF) €570,000 

Muse (Charleston Battery) undisclosed fee

Pantemis (CF Montreal) free

Eric Miller - re-signed

Crepeau (Los Angeles FC) free

Rodriguez (Club America) €4M

Surman (Wellington Phoenix) €500,000

Toye (CF Montreal) €185,000

Portland transfers OUT:

Acosta (Gaziantep FK) free

Boli (Atletico de San Luis) free

Caliskan - released

Gutierrez (Charleston Battery) free

Niezgoda - released

Rasmussen (Oakland Roots SC) free

Blanco (CA San Lorenzo) free

Bingham (Charlotte FC) free

Yimmi Chara (Junior FC) undisclosed fee

Sulte (Indy Eleven) loan

Ivacic (New England Revolution) free

Ikoba (Indy Eleven) loan

Asprilla (Atletico Nacional) undisclosed fee

Mabiala released

Fogaca released

Comparison against common opponents

POR 4:1 COL

POR 4:0 COL LC

SEA 1:1 COL

(against COL: POR 2-0-0 +7, SEA 0-1-0 0) edge POR

POR 2:2 DC

DC 2:1 SEA

(against DC: POR 0-1-0 0, SEA 0-0-1 -1) edge POR

HOU 1:0 POR

POR 2:2 HOU

HOU 2:2 SEA

(against HOU: POR 0-1-1 -1, SEA 0-1-0 0) edge SEA

POR 1:3 PHI

PHI 2:3 SEA

(against PHI: POR 0-0-1 -2, SEA 1-0-0 +1) edge SEA

VAN 3:2 POR

POR 2:0 VAN

SEA 0:2 VAN

SEA 1:1 VAN

(against VAN: POR 1-0-1 +1, SEA 0-1-1 -2) edge POR

SKC 3:3 POR

POR 2:1 SKC

SKC 2:1 SEA

(against SKC: 1-1-0 +1, SEA 0-0-1 -1) edge POR

POR 2:2 LAFC

LAFC 3:2 POR

LAFC 2:1 SEA

SEA 0:3 LAFC

SEA 0:3 LAFC LC

SEA 0:1 LAFC USOC

(against LAFC: POR 0-1-1 -1, SEA 0-0-4 -8) edge POR

POR 4:2 SJ
SJ 1:2 POR

SJ 3:2 SEA

(against SJ: POR 2-0-0 +3, SEA 0-0-1 -1) edge POR

MIN 2:1 POR

POR 3:2 MIN

SEA 2:0 MIN

SEA 2:0 MIN LC

MIN 2:3 SEA

(against MIN: 1-0-1 0, SEA 3-0-0 +5) edge SEA

ATX 0:2 POR

SEA 0:0 ATX

ATX 0:1 SEA

(against ATX: POR 1-0-0 +2, SEA 1-1-0 +1) even

STL 0:0 POR

STL 3:1 POR LC

POR 4:4 STL

STL 1:2 SEA

SEA 2:0 STL

(against STL: POR 0-2-1 -2, SEA 2-0-0 +3) edge SEA

DAL 3:2 POR

DAL 0:0 SEA

SEA 3:2 DAL

(against DAL: POR 0-0-1 -1, SEA 1-1-0 +1) edge SEA

POR 3:0 RSL

RSL 2:0 SEA

SEA 1:1 RSL

(against RSL: POR 1-0-0 +3, SEA 0-1-1 -2) edge POR

LAG 3:2 POR

LAG 1:0 SEA

SEA 0:0 LAG

SEA 3:1 LAG LC

(against LAG: POR 0-0-1 -1, SEA 1-1-1 +1) edge SEA

Know Thine Enemy

The Treecutters as they lined up in their 4:4 draw against St. Louis at Morrison Street on 24 August.

GOALKEEPER

Maxime Crepeau, 30

Canada (22/0)

Notable Clubs: CF Montreal (3/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (57/0), Los Angeles FC (40/0), Portland Timbers (14/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by Celtix du Haut-Richelieu and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Named USL Goalkeeper of the Year in 2018. Won MLS Cup and MLS league championship double in 2022 with LAFC.

DEFENCE

Claudio Bravo, 27

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Banfield (49/0), Portland Timbers (94/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by CA Banfield.

Dario Zuparic, 32

Croatia

Notable Clubs: Cibalia (58/1), Pescara (99/1), Rijeka (89/4), Portland Timbers (132/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Produced by Sladorana Zupanja, Granicar Zupanja, and Cibalia. Won a league championship and two Croatian Cup titles with HNK Rijeka.

Miguel Araujo, 29

Peru (32/0)

Notable Clubs: Sport Huancayo (43/1), Red Star Belgrade (5/0), Alianza Lima (117/5), Talleres (12/0), FC Emmen (105/10), Portland Timbers (20/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €850,000

Notes: Developed by Cobresol. Won a Serbian SuperLiga title with Red Star Belgrade.

Juan Mosquera, 21

Colombia (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Independiente Medellin (48/3), Portland Timbers (58/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Club Carlos Sarmiento Lora and Independiente Medellin.

MIDFIELD

Diego Chara, 38

Colombia (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Deportes Quindio (124/2), America de Cali (31/1), Deportes Tolima (51/5), Portland Timbers (391/12)

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

Notes: Produced by Deportes Quindio. Won an MLS Cup in 2015 with Portland. Named to MLS Best XI in 2020.

Evander, 26

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Vasco da Gama (54/5), Midtjylland (123/39), Portland Timbers (48/21)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Full name: Evander da Silva Ferreira. Developed by Vasco da Gama. Won a Danish Superliga title and two Danish Cups with Midtjylland.

David Ayala, 22

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Estudiantes (32/0), Portland Timbers (48/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Estudiantes. Ayala has played for Argentina U17s (13/0).

FORWARD

Jonathan Rodriguez, 31

Uruguay (31/3)

Notable Clubs: Penarol (38/16), Benfica (1/0), Deportivo La Coruna (13/0), Santos Laguna (87/29), Cruz Azul (95/44), Al-Nassr (8/1), Club America (61/20), Portland Timbers (22/13)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Developed by Atletico Florida and Penarol. Won a Portuguese League title with Benfica (though he only played in one league match that season). Won a Liga MX title with Santos Laguna. Won a Liga MX title, a Campeon de Campeones, a Supercopa MX, and a Leagues Cup with Cruz Azul. Won two Liga MX titles and a Campeon de Campones with Club America. Won Liga MX Balon de Oro 2020-21. Won a Liga MX Golden Boot (12 goals) with Club America. Twice named to Liga MX Best XI. Named Liga MX Best Forward 2020-21.

Felipe Mora, 31

Chile (9/1)

Notable Clubs: Audax Italiano (121/33), Universidad de Chile (26/18), Cruz Azul (33/12), UNAM (51/15), Portland Timbers (92/38)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Audax Italiano. Won a Chilean league championship with U. de Chile. Won Chilean League Golden Boot with U de Chile with 13 goals in 2017.

Santiago Moreno, 24

Colombia (1/0)

Notable Clubs: America de Cali (41/7), Portland Timbers (102/16)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: A native of Cali, Colombia. Signed with Portland on 29 July 2021.

Familiar Faces

Portland Goalkeeper Trey Muse was at Sounders FC Academy and played for the Sounders FC Reserves (24/0) until his move to San Diego Loyal SC in 2021.

Squads

Portland from:

Crepeau, Pantemis, Antony, Kamal Miller, Zuparic, McGraw, Bravo, Mosquera, Eric Miller, Araujo, Surman, Chara, Williamson, Paredes, Ayala, Evander, Toye, Moreno, Ikoba.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Bell, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Nathan, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Atencio, Baker-Whiting, De la Vega, Joao Paulo, Kitahara, Leyva, Rusnak, Vargas, Morris, Cristian, Leo Chu, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock, Ruidiaz, Teves.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Portland -

OUT: Loria (leg).

MATCHDAY DECISION: McGraw (leg).

Sounders FC -

OUT: Rodrigues (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Portland: Mora is suspended and faces a one-match ban for being sent-off against St. Louis. Rodriguez is suspended and faces a one-match ban for accumulated bookings. Evander and Zuparic are out next match if booked.

Sounders FC: No players suspended. Nouhou out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves take on LAFC Reserves at Titan Stadium on Friday 30 August with kick-off scheduled for 7:30 PDT. You know what to do, lads.