PORTLAND TIMBERS v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC travel to the Morrison Street football ground to face arch-rivals Portland Timbers. It will be the 126th meeting between the two clubs. Right then. Better have a look at those frozen pizzas I’ve got in the oven.

What: MLS league match and Cascadia Cup tie, Portland Timbers v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: Morrison Street, Portland, Oregon.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 1 August 2026 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league and in Cascadia Cup. Restoring our pride and self-respect. Bragging rights over our bitter arch-rivals from Oregon. Sounders are currently 14th place in the MLS league table on 24 points, having dropped four places after their defeat in Philadelphia. With a Sounders victory we would earn our first points in Cascadia Cup. As far as moving up the league table is concerned potential outcomes are murky. St. Louis (v.RSL) and Charlotte (@CHI) block our progress, as whoever gets points out of those two matches it’s not good for us either way. So it becomes difficult to predict upward mobility in the table. If we should falter it’s possible that Cincinnati (v.SJ) and Minnesota (v.SD) could get past us and that Portland and LA Galaxy (v.DAL) could equal our points total. The worst case scenario sees us drop to 20th place. Super fun.

Where to Watch: Apple TV, Fox Sports 1, and Fox Deportes. With Apple TV you get Taylor Twellman’s shrill and aimless bleating, or ex-Timber Diego Valeri for the Spanish language broadcast. With Fox you get…well…Fox. So there are no winners in this scenario for ours. Life imitates art, eh?

Where to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

Sport fandom and supportership are a lot like marriage. When shit turns pear-shaped, there’s really nowhere to run and hide. You have to ride out the rough patches, the storms, and try to see your way through to clearer skies and fair weather. Unless you’re some kind of prat that deserts the sinking ship at first sign of trouble, jumping from team to team.

Morale is low, as the Sounders five-match losing streak is the worst we’ve seen in 11 years. We don’t know exactly what is wrong in Soundertown. Sure, injuries have played a part. That can’t be it though, because in the past we’ve plugged in our squad players and, more times than not, saved the day. So this feels different. Is it poor tactics? Poor management? Bad luck? Has the Gaffer lost the dressing room? Are we that dependent on our eight or so most favoured players that their understudies are that unprepared? Is our coaching staff not focusing on the right things in training? Is it because we are well behind a lot of the rest of the clubs in the league in buying quality impact players?

This just feels different to setbacks in the past. The weirdest part of all, is that we were 7-3-1 in the league, and had done quite well in CONCACAF, before the floor collapsed underneath us. I cannae give ye a reason why. Shit just turned. I would love to know why. I don’t think it’s a lack of effort. Our club culture does not tolerate quitting or lack of work rate. It’s a bloody puzzle and that makes my head hurt.

With all of that said, Saturday is a new day. When the whistle blows for kick-off at Morrison Street, the score will be 0:0 and there will be yet another opportunity for redemption. That’s the part where we come in.

I hope we send as many coaches to Portland as possible, jammed full of loud, boisterous supporters who are well in their cups by the time they reach the Morrison Street ground. When you get off the coach, have a sniff. Does it still smell like piss? Then it’s time to find your seats in the away section. Then it’s time to get loud. Really, like absurdly loud. And then we shall see the result of the die that is cast.

Sure Portland are unbeaten in their last three matches, but if there’s anything i’ve learnt in covering MLS for a decade, it’s that anyone can win on any given day. It’s as unpredictable as fuck. You can examine the numbers all you like and, in most instances, you’re no closer to being able to predict the outcomes. It’s almost not worth thinkin’ about.

So why not us? Why not us over Portland? These times are not for the faint of heart and we must keep the faith.

It’s the Pacific Northwest derby under the Saturday night lights of Morrison Street. Sounders. Timbers. Let’s make sure that Timber Joey’s chainsaw remains as quiet as a funeral. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

I don’t know what to tell yous. Currently things are proper grim. What will become of us?

The Good News

Injuries have forced the Gaffer to play our squad players and youngers more often. With every time they step on the pitch and play minutes, they have a real opportunity to grow their skill level, confidence, and match-experience. This is a good thing, and should pay handsome dividends down the line.

Lopez, Hawkins, Kingston, and Brunell have been pretty good it has to be said. I believe De Rosario will score us a hatful of goals, given the opportunity, and currently leads all Sounders FC centre-forwards with two goals. These are good things. Kossa-Rienzi could improve a bit on his man-marking, but his upside in attack and his pace make him a solid choice at right-back. We’re in good hands, and I’m convinced that our squad players aren’t the reason we’re in this mess.

The Bad News

We’ve lost five matches in a row. No way to sugar-coat that.

Only Kansas City and Atlanta have scored fewer league goals than the Sounders this season. It’s unacceptable.

Over the five-match losing streak the Sounders FC are averaging 0.40 goals/match whilst conceding an average of 2.40 goals/match. This type of form is, of course, intolerable and unsustainable. The success of the club is predicated on a defence that gives up almost nothing, and a counter-attack that strikes with pace and technique. It’s not happening. That means we need to do something different. New formation, new tactics, new personnel, new leadership, change up team selection, public ownership…we need something to stop the bleeding.

We recently loaned out full-back Cody Baker to New England, and midfield striker Yu Tsukanome to Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USLC). This is good for their development, but I question the timing. There’s plenty of opportunity here at the club for them to play with so many in the squad out with injuries. We are struggling to defend, struggling to score goals, and we lent out a shut-down defender in Baker, and a player that scored 21 goals last season, and five goals this season with the Sounders FC Reserves in Tsukanome. So we struggle with defence and scoring and we loan out players good at defending and scoring. I cannae make any sense of that. Can you?

The Side I Would Select

Given the recent string of results I’d have this lot:

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH     Lopez

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Brunell

RDM    Kingston

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Gomez

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I reckon you’ll see very little change from the team we ran out at Seaport Drive. To be fair, the selection is limited by both injuries and loans, which should be taken into account.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Lopez

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM   Brunell

RDM   Kingston

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Arriola

CF     Musovski

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Joe Dickerson.

POR record with Dickerson as Ref: 7-5-5

SEA record with Dickerson as Ref: 12-1-9

POR transfer fees paid this season: €6.15M

SEA transfer fees paid this season: €0

MLS summer transfer window closes on 2 September. No help as of yet for the Sounders FC.

General notes on personnel

Sounders FC recent transfers OUT:

Baker (New England Revolution) loan

Tsukanome (Pittsburgh Riverhounds) loan

Portland transfers IN:

Bye (New England Revolution) free

Bonetig (Western Sydney Wanderers) €1.7M

Bassett (Colorado Rapids) €2.25M

Aravena (Gremio) loan

Caicedo (UNAM Pumas) €2.2M

Izoita - reserves

Janssen (Royal Antwerp) free

Portland transfers OUT:

Carballo (Gremio) end of loan

Crepeau (Orlando City SC) free

Paredes (Cerro Porteno) free

Rojas (Libertad) free

Zuparic (Hapoel Haifa) free

Ayala (Inter Miami CF) €1.7M

Rodriguez (MLS Pool)

Mora (San Luis) undisclosed

Comparison against common opponents

COL 2:0 POR

SEA 2:0 COL

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

RSL 2:0 POR

POR 2:1 RSL

RSL 2:1 SEA

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

POR 1:3 SJ

SJ 0:1 SEA

SEA 3:2 SJ

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

MIN 2:0 POR

MIN 0:0 SEA

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

HOU 3:2 POR

HOU 0:1 SEA

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

POR 6:0 SKC

SKC 1:1 SEA

(against SKC: POR 1-0-0 +6, SEA 0-1-0 0) decisive edge POR

SD 1:2 POR

SEA 1:1 SD

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

POR 1:1 LAG

SEA 0:2 LAG

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

POR 2:1 LAFC

LAFC 1:0 SEA

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

POR 1:4 VAN

VAN 3:2 POR

VAN 0:3 SEA CCC

SEA 2:1 VAN CCC (Spokane)

(against VAN: POR 0-0-2 -4, SEA 2-0-0 +4) decisive edge SEA

POR 2:2 DAL

SEA 2:1 DAL

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

Know Thine Enemy

The Treecutters as they lined up in their 2:1 victory over the Salt Lake at the Morrison Street ground on 25 July.

GOALKEEPER

James Pantemis, 29

Canada

Notable Clubs: FC Montreal (2/0), CF Montreal (34/0), Valour FC (7/0), Portland Timbers (51/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Pierrefonds, Lakeshore, and Montreal Impact. Won 2x Canadian Championship with Montreal Impact.

DEFENCE

Jimer Fory, 24

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Atletico Nacional (19/0), Deportivo Pereira (48/1), Independiente Medellin (27/0), Portland Timbers (42/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Won a Colombian league title with Atletico Nacional and another one with Deportivo Pereira. Won a Columbian Cup with Atletico Nacional.

Kamal Miller, 29

Canada (52/0)

Notable Clubs: Orlando City SC (28/0), CF Montreal (60/3), Inter Miami CF (22/0), Portland Timbers (60/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Malvern SC, North Scarborough SC, and Vaughan Azzuri. Played his university football at Syracuse (78/7). Won a Canadian Championship with CF Montreal. Won a Leagues Cup with Inter Miami CF.

Finn Surman, 22

New Zealand (22/3)

Notable Clubs: Selwyn United (1/0), Wellington Phoenix (45/1), Portland Timbers (49/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Selwyn United and Wellington Phoenix. Won an OFC Nations Cup with New Zealand. Named OFC Nations Cup Best Young Player 2024.

Brandon Bye, 30

United States

Notable Clubs: New England Revolution (189/10), Portland Timbers (17/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Kalamazoo Kingdom and Alliance FC. Played his university football at Western Michigan (64/22). Won an MLS league championship with New England Revolution.

MIDFIELD

Cole Bassett, 25

United States (1/1)

Notable Clubs: Colorado Rapids (144/29), Feyenoord (8/0), Fortuna Sittard (10/0), Portland Timbers (13/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by Colorado Rush and Colorado Rapids.

Diego Chara, 40

Colombia (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Deportes Quindio (124/2), America de Cali (31/1), Deportes Tolima (51/5), Portland Timbers (439/12)

Estimated Transfer Value: €100,000

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

David Da Costa, 25

Portugal

Notable Clubs: Lens (107/9), Portland Timbers (46/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Lens.

FORWARD

Kristoffer Velde, 26

Norway (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Haugesund (101/21), Lech Poznan (72/18), Olympiacos (21/4), Portland Timbers (24/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Kopervik, Vard, and Haugesund. Won a Greek Super League and Greek Cup with Olympiacos.

Felipe Mora, 32 (This player was sold to San Luis of Liga MX on 30 July)

Chile (11/1)

Notable Clubs: Audax Italiano (121/33), Universidad de Chile (26/18), Cruz Azul (33/12), UNAM (51/15), Portland Timbers (145/48)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

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.

Ariel Lassiter, 31

Costa Rica (33/2)

Notable Clubs: GAIS (12/1), Los Angeles Galaxy (25/1), Alajuelense (64/24), Houston Dynamo (35/3), Inter Miami CF (38/4), CF Montreal (45/4), Chicago Fire (7/0), Portland Timbers (33/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by Albion SC. Played his university football for Cal Poly (21/5).

Familiar Faces

Timbers goalkeeper Trey Muse was with the Sounders organisation in 2017 and then from 2019-2021, playing 24 matches for the Sounders FC Reserves.

Squads

Portland from:

Pantemis, Muse, Sulte, Bonetig, Bye, Fory, Jura, McGraw, Kamal Miller, Eric Miller, Smith, Surman, Bassett, Caicedo, Chara, Da Costa, Fernandez, Ortiz, Antony, Janssen, Kelsy, Lassiter, Velde.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Anchor, Hawkins, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez, Nouhou, Alex, Sailor, Brunell, Dotson, Gomez, Kingston, Rusnak, Arriola, De Rosario, Ferreira, Musovski, Rothrock.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Portland -

OUT: Aravena (hip), Guerra (core), Mosquera (foot/ankle).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Sounders FC -

OUT: Gomez Andrade (calf), de la Vega (knee), Cristian (quadriceps), Morris (quadriceps), Petkovic (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Alex (hip), Kim (hamstring), Dotson (hamstring), Sailor (hamstring).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Portland: No players suspended. 

Sounders FC: Ragen is suspended and will serve the remainder of his two-match ban on Saturday night.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves signed two new players as of 29 July. Jared Rios, 21, a midfielder, most recently played for Municipal in Costa Rica. Matthew Bell, 23, is also a midfielder, and most recently played for Portmore United in Jamaica. Welcome to The Evergreen, lads. Make us proud.