Kevin Kelsy admits the haircut came out of boredom.

It’s been a rough start to the year for his Portland Timbers, and the first six games of the season weren’t what the forward envisioned for his second year with the club.

He’s still splitting minutes with Felipe Mora, and the last time the Timbers played at Providence Park, he lasted just 22 minutes before a Kamal Miller red card forced Phil Neville to take him off the pitch.

Looking to change things up, the 21-year-old shaved his head.

On any other Saturday, that might have gone unnoticed. But it was impossible to miss in the 96th minute, when Kelsy’s closely-cropped dome met a ball that changed the momentum of Portland’s young season.

The Timbers (2-4-1, 7 points) beat LAFC (5-1-1, 16 points) 2-1, taking three points from a team that not only hadn’t lost in 2026, but had yet to surrender a goal. And it was a roller coaster even before Kristoffer Velde fed a cross to Brandon Bye, who headed it over to Kelsy for the goal that handed LAFC its first defeat of the season.

“Breaking their unbeaten streak felt great,” Kelsy said. “But the most important part is we’re getting a victory in this very tough stretch.”

Portland’s path to three points began with a bit of overconfidence from the visiting side.

The Western Conference leaders came into Saturday with a 14-0 goal differential and fresh off a 3-0 win Tuesday over Cruz Azul in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals. With the return leg coming Tuesday, LAFC figured it could heavily rest its roster against a Timbers club that hadn’t won since February. Star forward Son Heung-min didn’t make the trip, nor did starting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Velde made that look like a mistake in the 32nd minute.

Taking a pass from Cole Bassett, who played 89 minutes after missing the last four games due to injury, Velde quickly surged up the middle of the pitch, crossed up a pair of defenders as he cut to his right and ripped a low shot that beat Cabral Carter at the far post.

In celebration, Velde jumped over the stadium ad boards and momentarily onto the Victory Log in front of the Timbers Army. He threw both arms into the air before losing his balance and hopping off.

“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Velde said. “I don’t know if it’s legal to jump on the log or if it’s holy. I don’t know. But I should have stuck to the log because I lost my balance.

“Next time, maybe I grab the chainsaw and cut the log myself.”

Velde’s third goal of the season came against LAFC’s third-string goalkeeper. Just minutes before the tally, Thomas Hasal left the match following a collision with teammate Artem Smolyakov.

The Timbers looked to be in control.

Then, as has so often been the case this season, Portland’s late-game demons returned.

The Timbers surrendered the equalizer just three minutes into the second half when 17-year-old Jude Terry ripped a shot from outside the box for the first goal of his career. And a week after a win turned into a loss in the final minutes against Vancouver, it appeared disaster had struck again for Portland when LAFC found the back of the net in the 87th minute.

Then the goal went to review.

As officials watched the replay, Neville said he thought back to a lunch he had earlier in the week with Timbers owner Merritt Paulson. After the Vancouver result left the coach frustrated with the refereeing, Neville said the two talked about shifting their mentality.

“We spoke about that attitude and not thinking that the world’s against us,” Neville said.

His first sign that maybe things were turning came that morning, when Neville got emotional after seeing a post from the Timbers Army calling on supporters to rally behind the team amid its struggles.

His second sign came when the goal was waved off for offsides.

With new life, Neville subbed Kelsy on for Mora. And seven minutes after debuting his new look to the home crowd, Kelsy sent 24,686 into jubilation for the first time in far too long.

But Neville said it’s more than just a new haircut that Kelsy is sporting. It’s the growing maturity of a young player finding his way.

“Yesterday when I left him out, he said to me, ‘The team is more important than me for this game tomorrow,’” Neville said. “... I think when you have that kind of spirit of togetherness, eventually the tide will turn.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Calls for his job weren’t about to stop Portland Timbers manager Phil Neville from appreciating a little bit of well-timed dark humor.

For those needing a refresher, the Timbers were leading Vancouver late on Saturday, then were tied late, then lost by the end — a turn of events so sharp that a Vancouver media member asked Neville about the status of his job after Portland’s 1-4-1 start.

Meeting with local media for the first time since on Tuesday, Neville was asked about the team’s vibe after such a dismal weekend. And as the coach began to speak, a dump truck at a neighboring construction site decided it was time to loudly expel its load.

“That’s how it feels,” Neville said. “That was the moment that summed up my life.”

Neville was in a good mood. He was joking. And the Timbers largely looked relaxed as they began preparations for Saturday’s home match against LAFC. The coach still believes his team showed progress on Saturday, and he continues to preach that once the club has time to acclimate after injuries and roster turnover, the Timbers can be good.

There are still 28 matches to play, after all.

But Portland’s poor start has been very real. The team sits at the bottom of the Western Conference, with a fan base that has grown increasingly vocal about the club’s direction. And while it can’t all be chalked up to injuries — or calls made by officials — Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy spoke of patience Tuesday when asked about Neville.

There are eight games until the league takes a two-month pause for the World Cup, Grabavoy said, which gives the club a natural checkpoint for evaluation.

“Despite the injuries, despite some of the questionable and bad calls that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks that have put us in a bad position, we have not met expectations and standards for where we want to be and the position that we want and need to be in the table,” Grabavoy said. “Coaching staff is aware of that. Players are aware of that. Ultimately, it’s my job to continue to support and be committed to them, and I also want to give them the opportunity through this first 14 games to really have the full group together as well and correct and find the answers and solutions that we need to better position ourselves in the table, to get results, to pick up points. Those things need to happen.

“Everyone is being assessed. Everyone is being monitored. We’ll continue to do that and we’ll have time to make decisions if we need to. We’ll evaluate those things when we get through this first 14-game stretch.”

Unfortunately for the Timbers, they are currently in the teeth of that schedule. Saturday’s loss came against the No. 2 team in the Western Conference. Next up is LAFC, a team that has yet to allow a goal this season. A week later, Portland travels to Minneapolis to face Minnesota, another playoff contender. Then comes San Diego, the team that eliminated Portland from the 2025 playoffs.

“I’ve always found throughout my life that these are the situations that I tend to really enjoy and really thrive in,” Neville said. “You go back on all experiences and you trust yourself and believe in yourself.

“My players are giving absolutely everything and I just need to give a little bit more.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

It was after his sixth game of his third season with the Portland Timbers that Phil Neville faced the question that’s become a not-so-scarce topic online.

The Timbers (1-1-4, 4 points) had just lost 3-2 to Vancouver. After beginning the year by saying “we’ve got to deliver,” all the Timbers have delivered is a lone win in February and a spot in the bottom of the Western Conference.

It’s been a dreadful start — so much so that discussions that had mainly been saved for social media leaked into Neville’s postgame press conference.

“I’m wondering, as a coach, what level of concern do you have about your own job security? Some fans are calling for a switch,” asked a member of the Vancouver media.

“Who’s calling for my head?” Neville replied.

“The fans.”

“Are they?”

“Yes.”

“Which fans?”

“Timbers fans.”

Neville didn’t seem to care much for the question. In his mind, his Timbers had just played a hell of a match that was taken from them by a questionable call from the referee. Had the official not whistled Antony for protecting his face on a rocket of a shot, Portland likely wins 2-1 on Saturday and the narrative is about how, after a first month of injuries and roster transition, the Timbers went to Canada and came home with three points against the league’s best offense.

Neville listed eight players he thought played really well, including new addition Jose Caicedo, who made his debut in the midfield. Juan Mosquera scored in his season debut. David Da Costa put one past the keeper for the first time since July. This wasn’t a match where Portland was outgunned or outmanned on the pitch.

But it was another match where Portland crumbled when it mattered most.

The handball decision ultimately led to Thomas Müller’s equalizing penalty in the 91st minute. What the Timbers had — and then lost — control of was everything that followed. Instead of coming away with a point, Portland lost all of it when Sebastian Berhalter thumped in a rebound in the dying moments.

And instead of talking about a win that could have changed the momentum of the season, Finn Surman was asked whether the Timbers need a new manager.

“No, I don’t think that’s an appropriate question. And I don’t think that’s something that we need to happen,” Surman said. “I think it’s down to us players. We know in that locker room that we have not been good enough and we can’t be conceding these late goals. We need to, first of all, play better in the second half, we need to keep the ball better, and we need to manage the game slightly better. Especially when you do get to those last 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes where, if you are holding on to the lead for whatever reason or holding on to a draw, whatever the situation is, we need to do better.”

In response to the question about his job security, Neville said Portland fans are passionate and that he wants success as much as they do. He said he welcomed the blame as long as it shielded his players from it.

Then he made clear where he thought the blame belonged.

“I told them in the locker room, sometimes you think the world is against you, and it feels like that with the decisions that were made,” Neville said of the officiating. “Without a shadow of a doubt, Jimer Fory shouldn’t have been sent off in Colorado. Kamal Miller shouldn’t have been sent off against LA Galaxy. And that shouldn’t have been a handball tonight. But that will change. Once it changes, then we’re going to be a really good team.”

The problem for Neville is that officiating has drawn his ire for much of his three seasons in Portland. There’s reason for that — the Timbers have had a handful of high-profile decisions go against them in recent seasons, and Neville hasn’t always been unjust in calling them out.

But it doesn’t seem like there’s going to suddenly be a league-wide referendum on the way the Timbers are refereed. And the fanbase doesn’t have a voice in the league office.

It does have one at Providence Park, though, a place where those online conversations could once again transition into real-world voices if the Timbers don’t play a full 90 against LAFC on Saturday.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

The Timbers dominated possession. They generated far more chances on net, capitalized on a pair of opportunities and fought back on the road to tie Houston in the 80th minute.

Heck, even Kristoffer Velde finally scored.

“I think the frustration is that for all the good plays — our structure I thought was fantastic — it was a couple of mistakes that have really cost us,” Neville said.

Oh yes, the mistakes.

See, Portland was minutes away from escaping Houston with a 2-2 draw. The Timbers were up a man, the match had stretched deep into stoppage time and all that stood between them and snapping a two-game losing streak was the clock.

Or at least it should have been.

But as stoppage time stretched well beyond its allotted nine minutes following a collision that left Portland keeper James Pantemis bloodied and bandaged, Houston still had time for one final push. And the Timbers gave the Dynamo all the space they needed to find it.

It was Mateusz Bogusz who made Portland pay, corralling a long pass from Jack McGlynn and beating Pantemis in the 105th minute for the winner.

And while it may have been a momentary lapse in an otherwise improved performance, it produced a result that’s becoming far too familiar. Sunday marked Portland’s third consecutive loss. After a month of play, only St. Louis (0-3-1, 1 point) sits below the Timbers in the Western Conference standings.

Yes, the Timbers may have played better on Saturday than they did in their previous two defeats — notable considering Portland played without Antony and Alex Bonetig. Yes, David Da Costa returned to the lineup and looked sharp in his first game back from shoulder surgery. Yes, Gage Guerra’s rebound goal after a blocked Velde penalty in the first half continued to highlight the progress of the club’s young players.

“You have to keep faith, and you have to believe in each other and continue to work and trust that it’s going to pay off,” Guerra said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t tonight. It was last-minute. We couldn’t get a result on the road. But we’re that close.”

But for a season Neville opened by saying it was time to “deliver” — and that “delivery for me is winning” — the Timbers have yet to turn performances into results. In Year 3 of Neville’s tenure, being close isn’t cutting it.

“We’re going through a tough moment and the dressing room’s hurting,” Neville said. “I take full responsibility for that. The players are giving absolutely everything.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

No, Eric Izoita didn’t envision a debut like that.

The 18-year-old did his best to prepare for every situation. With Portland down six players from its lineup going into Saturday’s match, the Vancouver, Wash., native got the heads up Friday that he’d been called up from T2 to the first team. It was just hours before kickoff that Portland manager Phil Neville informed Izoita he’d be the second-youngest Timber in the MLS era to start a game.

Talk about getting thrown into the deep end: waiting for Izoita and the Timbers were the Vancouver Whitecaps, a team that hadn’t lost to Portland in its last four tries and came into Providence Park with stars in the midfield such as Thomas Müller and Sebastian Berhalter.

“I wasn’t really nervous or anything,” said Izoita, who played the entire match in midfield. “It was just, for me, like a regular game.”

Sort of.

While Portland (1-2-0, 3 points) lost 4-1 — which is starting to feel like a “regular game” in this one-sided Cascadia matchup — it was Izoita who provided the match’s most unexpected moment. In the 72nd minute, he collected the ball just outside the box and ripped a left-footed shot that curled into the top-right corner of the net.

Providence Park erupted, and the rest of the Timbers appeared stunned as Izoita repeatedly lifted his arms into the air in celebration of his first professional goal.

“I never scored,” Izoita said. “I didn’t score a single goal last year with T2. I’m not the goal-scorer.”

That didn’t stop people like teammate Sawyer Jura or Izoita’s brother from telling him before the game that that’s exactly what he was supposed to do.

Given the state of the match — and the Timbers’ otherwise nonexistent attack — Izoita said he was simply doing his job.

“It came today,” Izoita said. “I knew I had to shoot from there.”

Izoita’s manager wished some of the veterans on his squad were as good at identifying what they needed to do.

The Timbers have now been outscored by Vancouver 13-2 in their last three meetings at Providence Park and were all but done early in the second half when a 1-0 deficit turned into a 3-0 hole after goals by Tristan Blackmon in the 49th minute and Berhalter in the 64th.

Until Izoita’s strike, the Timbers had just one shot on target all match.

“We were playing against a really good team. And when you play against men, you’ve got to play like men. Not play like little boys,” Neville said. “And I thought some of our players played like little boys. I really did — and these are the experienced players, the players that have been with us. I thought they played with too much fear.”

It didn’t sit well with the manager that one of the few players playing with confidence — along with new signee Alexander Aravena — was the one who became the youngest goal scorer in club history.

That, the manager said, puts Izoita in a strong position to start Saturday again when the Timbers return to the pitch in Houston.

“There’s going to be ups and downs,” Neville said. “Tonight was a down, but he was a shining light.”

– Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

For the record, James Pantemis thinks the Americans got lucky.

He’s a bit biased, though.

The Timbers starting goalkeeper is one of a handful of Canadian players on Portland’s roster who enjoyed bantering with their American teammates throughout the men’s hockey tournament of the Winter Olympics.

Pantemis is from Montreal, played hockey until he was 12 and clearly showcases his bona fides in acknowledging Sidney Crosby as a top-five player of all-time. He thought Canada had the better roster going in — and still does, even after the USA’s overtime win for gold.

“Definitely a sour taste with losing to the U.S.,” Pantemis said. “I backed Canada to the end. I still back Canada to the end. I still think it was very unlucky. But hopefully we can flip the script when we get another chance to play the U.S. and get the bragging rights back.”

Pantemis has been feeling patriotic as of late — it’s hard not to be in this sort of year. He was thrilled with Canada’s 21 medals and felt swept up in the same national spirit that only comes around every so often.

“It’s always special,” he said. “You want to relate to them and in a way you feel more Canadian when you see someone on that podium or you’re cheering for a speed skater to cross the line first or a skier to land their jump.

“Or in a hockey sense, make sure you win gold.”

It’s also why Pantemis is taking the coming months so seriously. This summer doesn’t just bring the World Cup, it brings the World Cup on Pantemis’ home turf. Along with the U.S. and Mexico, Canada is hosting matches in Vancouver and Toronto.

As a host nation, the Canadian men have already qualified — marking the country’s second consecutive Cup after qualifying four years ago in Qatar. Pantemis was on that roster and understands the opportunity — and responsibility — awaiting the Canadians this summer.

“The country rallies around national athletes and I think that’s something we got a taste of when we went to Qatar,” he said. “Now the fact that we have the opportunity to host a World Cup in our country and to obviously compete and inspire a younger generation that watches us and wants to be in our shoes one day … it’s an honor to feel that every time I wear the badge and crest on my chest.”

Pantemis’ route to the World Cup isn’t set. Canada will take three keepers with it into the tournament. Two of those are likely to be Dayne St. Clair and Max Crepeau — now with Orlando after Pantemis won the starting job in Portland in 2025.

That third spot, however, is up for grabs. And Pantemis, who was called up for Canada’s 10-day training camp in January, has time to prove himself.

With Crepeau gone, there’s no longer any 1A and 1B to Portland’s lineup. At 28, Pantemis is the guy, and he’s coming off a 2025 season that saw him rank in MLS’ 96th percentile in saves per 90 minutes. Last month, he made a brilliant diving save to keep Portland alive early in a 3-2 season-opening win over Columbus. Last week, his eight stops on 10 shots against Colorado was one of the few things that kept the Timbers’ 2-0 loss close.

Saturday, he faces a Vancouver Whitecaps side that’s scored a lot of goals against the Timbers over the last two seasons. With Canadian eyes watching, Pantemis could put quite the stamp on his resume if it helps the Timbers put an end to that trend.

“I have a lot of goals personally. I have a lot of goals for the team,” Pantemis said. “It’s not hard for me to find motivation.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Cole Bassett has been in MLS long enough to know one can’t get too high or too low.
Yes, the Timbers looked great in their season-opening win over Columbus last week, but after seven years in the league, Portland’s 24-year-old midfielder has learned success comes from treating every game the same.

Still, he knew Saturday against Colorado was different from the start — beginning with the tribute video the Rapids showed on the videoboard at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.

“It was weird,” Bassett said. “Just because it happened so quick. Four weeks ago, you’re in preseason with them, and then you’re traded here.”

The unique start then segued into a match that looked nothing like Portland’s season opener. A week after beating Columbus 3-2, the Timbers were thoroughly handled by the Rapids 2-0.

It was a beating so convincing that the eight minutes of added stoppage time felt like punishment for the previous 90 minutes. Portland (1-1-0, 3 points) had already been bombarded with long shots — including a low 22-yarder from Hamzat Ojediran in the game’s seventh minute that deflected off Finn Surman and crossed up keeper James Pantemis to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. And it had been under siege on set pieces, conceding 12 corner kicks that brought varying levels of danger to Portland’s side.

The Timbers survived most of them — but Colorado finally broke through in the 53rd minute when Lucas Herrington headed home a corner.

It was the first goal of Herrington’s MLS career. Ojediran’s was his first, too. And that was another frustration for Phil Neville in a match where veterans such as Kristoffer Velde squandered the few good opportunities Portland had.

The mistakes added up.

There was Velde blasting a ball over an open net after a nifty pass from Gage Guerra. There was a Portland free kick that turned into a Colorado corner after Jimer Fory overhit a pass back to Pantemis. Then there was the red card. With the Timbers already gasping for air at high elevation, Fory tackled Paxten Aaronson from behind and was immediately sent off.

“We had two massive opportunities, and we’ve got to put them away. So that was a disappointment,” Neville said. “Thing is that our best players didn’t put the ball in the back of the net and that’s disappointing, which is what we pay them to do.

“Jimer Fory — unacceptable. Unacceptable. I’ll defend my players to the hilt, but that’s unacceptable because that’s a pattern. It’s not the first time. He’s obviously been told that this is sort of the last time.”

It wasn’t quite the smile and ringing eardrums Neville left Providence Park with last week after an opening match where the Timbers showed heart, grit and a little bit of flair. This time, Portland’s defensive midfield offered little resistance to Colorado’s attack. The Rapids ripped 12 shots on net. Portland had just three.

For the ninth straight time, dating back to July of last season, the Timbers left an opponent’s stadium without a win.

“Coming away from the comfort of Providence was a big test for us. And I thought we failed the test today,” Neville said. “I felt the players now need to start living in that vulnerability stage, living in that stage where they’re feeling uncomfortable, where it puts pressure on, where they’re feeling uncomfortable. And that’s the next stage for the team.”

Next up is Vancouver, and the Whitecaps certainly know how to make the Timbers uncomfortable. The last time Portland faced Vancouver at home, the Whitecaps handed the Timbers a loss that felt a bit like Saturday.

It was early in the season. The Timbers were dominated. And the hope was that things would settle out and that low would rebound back into another high.

“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is,” Bassett said. “After tonight’s result, we want to bounce back in any way we can.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

How much can one take away from the first game of the season?

Well, Portland’s 4-1 loss to open last season felt emblematic of a year that again fell short of expectations.

But that simplistic summary ignores the way the Timbers responded. Despite offseason Evander drama and injuries to star players, Portland shook off that loss to Vancouver and posted its best 10-game start (5-2-3) in club history.

So no, just because Portland beat Columbus 3-2 Saturday night in come-from-behind fashion, it doesn’t mean 2026 is going to go great.

It doesn’t mean it’s going to go poorly, either.

What Ariel Lassiter will tell you, though, is that this year’s start is an indicator of a team that’s far more comfortable with itself than it was at this time a year ago.

“Everybody knows their role and everybody knows what to do,” said Lassiter, who scored the go-ahead goal in the 88th minute — his first league goal with the Timbers. “We’re going to need everyone. Everyone that starts. Everyone that’s on the bench. Everyone that’s rostered. We know it’s going to take a full team effort.

“I think last year was a little bit different. I think we expected to be a little more individualistic and try to win games that way.”

On Saturday, it was James Pantemis’ diving save in the ninth minute that kept a 1-0 Columbus lead just that. It was the chemistry Gage Guerra and Felipe Mora found with each other in the preseason paying off with a one-two equalizer in the 14th. And it was newcomer Cole Bassett drawing in a defender before crossing to Antony for the go-ahead in the 20th.

Diego Chara played a full 90 minutes in the midfield for the 400th start of his Timbers career, then tied Kyle Beckerman for the most yellow cards (123) in MLS history with his foul in the 64th.

Alex Bonetig and Brandon Bye played solid defensively in their Portland debuts. And then it was Lassiter. After Columbus tied the game in the 44th, the 31-year-old came on as an attacking substitute in the 74th. Fourteen minutes later, he pounced on a headed drop from Kevin Kelsy in the box.

“I think we all have moments where we are going to need to step up,” Lassiter said, “and I think a lot of guys did that today.”

No, one shouldn’t make too much of one match. But the early schedule makes a fast start valuable: Portland plays 14 times before the league breaks for roughly two months this summer.

And while the Timbers still aren’t at full strength as David Da Costa works his way back from shoulder surgery, manager Phil Neville saw a lot to draw from his team’s debut. Specifically, Neville was impressed with Bassett, who the team acquired earlier this month following its sale of David Ayala to Miami.

Bassett played the entire match, assisted on Antony’s goal, and made an impact in all thirds of the field.

“His performance tonight was outstanding,” Neville said. “He was probably our best player. And he’s a multi-function midfield player. He’s a throwback. You know, people talk in modern day football, where people say, ‘Oh, he’s a six, or an eight.’ I see [Bassett] as a central midfield player. He can play six and play eight. He can play 10. He’s a throwback to 10 years ago when people just played central midfield. He can do every job that’s asked of him.”

Bassett drew Portland’s highest match rating (8.1, per FotMob) and finished with a match-high 98 touches.

Next Saturday, he’ll face Colorado, his former team, for the first time. Bassett grew up with the Rapids, signing with the club as a 17-year-old in 2018. He spent seven seasons with the squad, with his only time away being a year on loan in the Netherlands in 2022.

“Moving overseas for the first time, moving out of your parents’ house for the first time, it was a big learning moment for sure,” Bassett said. “It’s simple stuff in football, but I think the way they taught the game over there was stuff that I’ve never seen before over here. A lot of it had to do with rondos and the way you manipulate your hips as a center midfielder — just little stuff that I think I find very helpful to my game nowadays and I don’t have to constantly work on with coaches because it’s ingrained in me.”

Bassett will be a key figure if Portland can get out to a 2-0 start next Saturday with a win over Colorado — and the team gets reinforcements with the return of defender Juan Mosquera, who was suspended for Saturday’s opener due to a red card in Portland’s season-ending finale.

Fortunately for Portland, the way last season ended (a 4-0 loss to San Diego in Game 3 of Round 1) didn’t carry any momentum into the start of 2026.

The Timbers won’t hate it if the electricity Providence Park carried late into Saturday night hangs around for a while, though.

“I thought it was a brilliant night of football,” Neville said, “with two teams that wanted to play football the right way.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

During a recent walk around downtown Portland, Phil Neville was struck by how different it felt.

This city was still going through the thick of it back when the Timbers manager was hired in November of 2023. And while things haven’t improved overnight, they have with time.

“It was Valentine’s. I took my wife into the city and I can see from where it was three years ago, how the city is in a miles better place now than what it was three years ago,” Neville said on Wednesday. “And yes, there’s still so much that we can do in and around the city, but I hope my team and the city are mirroring each other, where we’re just on a trajectory that’s going only in one direction.”

If that analogy holds true, Portland has a lot riding on 2026.

The Timbers begin the regular season on Saturday at Providence Park against Columbus. Neville is entering the third and final year of his contract and has two up-and-down seasons to show for it.

Yes, the Timbers made the wild card round in 2024 and the first round of the MLS playoffs in 2025. But they’re also 29-28-24 in 81 games under his direction. His first year, the offense was historic and the defense was dismal. In his second year, those two things flipped.

Three days before the first match of Year No. 3, Neville said it’s time for the day-to-day improvement he’s seen over the last two years to show up where it matters.

“If you’re at a club where you feel like you’re making inroads, where it feels like the team’s improving year-to-year, there becomes a time when you’ve got to deliver,” Neville said. “I feel like me and the staff have delivered to a certain extent over the last two years, but delivery for me is winning. Other people have different barometers, different types of KPIs. And I’ve always thought that my KPI in my life has always been that nothing is success until you win.”

At the very least, the Timbers seem to be in a better position to do that than a year ago.

Portland has exchanged the Evander-filled chaos of last year’s offseason for one of relative calm. Its best player — forward Kristoffer Velde — is healthy, in camp and has assumed a leadership role. Yes, the Timbers lost midfielder David Ayala to Inter Miami — but they were going to lose him anyway after this season, and they were able to flip the money from that sale to acquire Cole Bassett from Colorado.

Neville, as he does, was quick to heap praise on his new American midfielder.

“I think we’ve got one of the best central midfield players in the Western Conference and hopefully in the MLS,” the coach said.

Bassett is only 24, but has more than 131 MLS appearances after beginning his career as a 17-year-old with Colorado. He’s expected to play an attacking midfield role.

“It’s great to be in that locker room, I’ll tell you that,” Bassett said. “I think I only had one win here in seven years and it was during COVID so no fans were here.”

It’s not all sunshine for the club. Designated Player forward David Da Costa is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and will miss the start of the season. And the club is still looking to add a couple of pieces to the roster to supplement a group that has a 14-game sprint before the league takes a two-month break for the summer’s World Cup.

“When you look at trying to round out the roster, the two positions for us is an attacking-piece winger and a center midfielder,” general manager Ned Grabavoy said.

But for the most part, the Timbers know what they have. The offense is going to feature Velde, they’re going to take advantage of Felipe Mora’s versatility, Antony’s speed and hope that players such as Kevin Kelsy take a step forward in their second year with the club.

The defense, led by Finn Surman and bolstered by the addition of Australian Alex Bonetig and New England’s Brandon Bye, is as deep as it’s been during Neville’s tenure.

Max Crepeau is gone and it’s James Pantemis’ net now. And while that midfield does feature some new faces, it still has the old foundation of the club in Diego Chara returning for his 16th season.

It wasn’t the flashiest offseason. And the Timbers don’t go into Saturday’s opener harboring a new star international signing.

But Neville believes it was an offseason of progress. And now, he says, it’s time for the club to start catching up to the city.

“This is my third year, and you know, I’m not embarrassed to say, I think this is a year when we’ve got to deliver,” he said. “And I’m super excited.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

A month ago, Phil Neville wasn’t ecstatic about the state of his midfield. But the Timbers manager being who he is — and this being the preseason — it wasn’t tough for the third-year manager to hype up a group that came into camp in 2026 without dynamo mainstay David Ayala.

The 22-year-old, who Neville routinely called the best midfielder in the Western Conference, now plays for Miami. And while that deal ultimately made sense for Portland (more on that in a minute), a pessimist could say it was a bit telling when the player most praised at the position by the manager before the Timbers left for preseason camp was 39-year-old Diego Chara.

“Everyone in my office, this building and in this football club should be looking at Diego Chara no different than what they looked at him five years ago,” Neville said. “If you do that, it’s disrespectful to the guy that’s come into training back with less body fat than what he was at last season, more strength in his legs and is still the first one out on the field.”

Chara was really good down the stretch for the Timbers in 2025. He also played a career-low 1,181 minutes and is coming into his 16th year with the club.

And yes, Neville expects more out of Joao Ortiz in his second year with the club after moving from Ecuador. Even so Neville had to concede “the center midfield is probably our weakest area at the moment.”

That was Jan. 15.

Things have changed in the three weeks since.

Taking the $2 million they made from the Ayala deal, the Timbers spent $2.65 million to buy midfielder Cole Bassett from Colorado. He’s 24. He’s American. He’ll occupy a U22 roster spot in 2026, is under contract through 2027 and has already started 130 matches in his career.

He’s a different player than Ayala — Bassett is an offensive-minded midfielder who keeps things moving forward — but his impact could be just as significant.

“Cole is a box-to-box midfielder with great energy and a nose for goal — a role that needed to be filled within the squad,” Neville said upon Bassett’s signing. “He’s joining us at the right time and the right age, and we believe the club will help realize his full potential.”

Bassett has yet to speak with local media, but he’s wasted little time getting acquainted with his new teammates — he started Portland’s first match of the Coachella Valley Invitational on Saturday.

Neville noted him as a standout from the 0-0 draw with DC United, along with Kristoffer Velde, Jimer Fory and Finn Surman.

“The boys put in a really good shift,” Neville said.

In Portland’s 3-2 loss to San Jose on Wednesday, Chara and Ortiz started in the midfield. Chara played 46 minutes – though Neville knows what he’s going to get out of those. Ortiz, a 29-year-old, played 72.

“What I did in the offseason, I looked back at all of our games, and there’s a lot of games where we brought Joao off the field that, in retrospect, we probably should have left him on,” Neville said. “I was probably a little too eager to rotate in that position…So I think this is a big preseason for Joao Ortiz.

“I think when you talk about somebody coming from Ecuador, there has to be some leeway for adaptation. But he’s here now. His family are settled. His wife is about to give birth to a new child and he’s going to be a big part of what we’re building in the preseason.”

Extra time

Velde starts hot

While Portland may have lost on Wednesday to San Jose, Neville saw one big positive. With two goals from Kristoffer Velde, the manager saw an offense that’s starting to show some life after its muted end to the 2025 schedule.

“He was the best player on the pitch again,” Neville said. “I thought he was the same on the weekend. He’s really getting some good rhythm and we’re really pleased. I thought the wingers played really dangerous for the first 60 minutes.

“I thought for the first time this preseason we looked exciting. We looked like we’re going to be a goal threat.”

Goodbye to Rodriguez

Jonathan Rodriguez’s run with the Portland Timbers officially came to an end earlier this week. The designated player who signed with the Timbers in 2024, led the team in scoring then missed most of 2025 due to a knee injury, was waived by the team on Monday.

Rodriguez played in 35 matches over two seasons for Portland, scoring 17 goals and tallying eight assists.

“We are incredibly grateful for Jonathan’s contributions during his time with the Portland Timbers. Even during this challenging and uncertain time while dealing with an injury, he has remained a great teammate and professional,” Timbers General Manager Ned Grabavoy said in a release. “Jonathan is the ultimate competitor, and we will continue to support him during his recovery process.”

Rodriguez’s departure clears the way for the club to operate in 2026 under the two designated player/four U22 model – with Velde and David Da Costa occupying Portland’s two DP slots.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

BEAVERTON — Kristoffer Velde returned to Oregon with the same energy he departed with back in November.

Remember, it was two months ago when Portland’s 2025 season came to an end and the Norwegian DP left the Timbers’ exit interviews with a departing message:

“I think the standard needs to be higher,” Velde said then. “What we do in the training ground. What we do in the gym. We have so many players with so much quality. The potential is there. We just need to get it out of them.”

Velde had just played two months with Portland at that point — and left for Norway frustrated. He arrived in August as a signing from Olympiacos, and playing on the European calendar, his year was just beginning when he joined the Timbers.

Then it was over.

So yes, Velde said, he approached this offseason differently than in years past. Instead of simply getting in shape, he wanted to make sure he was as sharp as possible heading into his first full season in MLS.

“I don’t think I was on the treadmill for one time,” Velde said. “I was just playing soccer back in Norway with my hometown clubs since they were in season. I don’t know if I broke any rules by doing that. But I came back healthy. I came back strong.”

And he came back ready to lead.

The Portland Timbers are just a week into preseason training for the 2026 season, and while there are some notable changes to the roster, much of the group from the team that fell to San Diego in the first round of the playoffs returns.

Stalwarts like Diego Chara and Finn Surman are back. So, too, are Antony, Felipe Mora, Juan Mosquera, David Da Costa, Kamal Miller and goalkeeper James Pantemis. This isn’t like the run-up to the 2025 season, when the Timbers were dealing with the uncertainty of Evander and retooling the roster to get younger.

This is an experienced, veteran club that, according to manager Phil Neville, is ready for someone like Velde to take charge.

“I saw those comments and loved his comments,” Neville said of Velde’s exit interview. “What I would say is, going back to my playing career, the players have to drive the intensity. It’s up to Kristof. He’s now been at the club for three, four months and we absolutely love him. I think everybody in Portland loves this player.

“He has to grab hold of the club and go take us to a championship.”

Part of that starts with himself.

Velde joined during Portland’s stretch run, when the club needed him to score goals. And while he was often around the net, Velde didn’t score until his 10th match with the club and finished the year with just two goals.

“Was a little bit ashamed that I started to play so good — or scoring goals — in the last games,” Velde said. “I wish we could go further, but now I got the feeling of how it is being in America, playing soccer here and getting to know my teammates. I don’t need that adaptation now.”

Scoring goals will be massive for the Timbers in 2026. After potting 65 goals in 2024, Portland scored just 41 in 2025 — with zero goals in four of the club’s final six matches.

Velde is expected to be the team’s primary attacking weapon, especially with Da Costa — the club’s other DP — potentially missing the first few weeks of the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. And while the back line looks solid with the returns of Surman, Miller, Mosquera and the addition of New England’s Brandon Bye, the one clear hole heading into training camp in Coachella is in midfield.

Last week, the Timbers sold midfielder David Ayala to Miami for $2 million.

General manager Ned Grabavoy said the club was faced with a simple decision: keep Ayala, who was in the final year of his contract and had expressed interest in playing outside MLS in 2027, or cash in now.

“I think we were left with a decision of, do we keep a good quality player here who is a good professional and a good kid, knowing that he’s ultimately going to walk for free,” Grabavoy said. “Or do we try and at least find the ability to bring back in some funds and some money and try to use those immediately, and in the future, to strengthen this squad? I think it got to a place in terms of the money, and taking everything else into consideration, where we felt like we should probably stay aggressive with it, make the deal, then retool from there.”

Ayala, 23, joins a Miami squad that won the 2025 MLS Cup and features his childhood hero, Lionel Messi — a club that doesn’t retool so much as reload for another title run.

That’s fine, Velde said. He wished Ayala the best.

But now that Velde has a feel for his own club — and the ball, after what he called a very different offseason — the 26-year-old isn’t about to pull any punches.

Not in his own locker room. And especially not against the competition.

“We’re going to kill them in May when we play against Miami,” Velde said in Spanish.

It was a spicy quote — exactly the type Neville expects from his new team leader.

“He’s got the personality to do it. We haven’t had that in a while, since the Diego Valeri days,” Neville said. “We haven’t had a DP that’s gone, ‘Right, this is my club, this is my stage and I’m going to make us to a championship and put my name in the rafters.’”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

KENTON — Phil Neville looked subdued during the formalities.

It was 8:45 a.m. on a dreary December morning in North Portland, and the Portland manager sat in a chair in front of dozens of children inside the Peninsula Elementary School gymnasium as the official stuff was unveiled.

The Timbers had partnered with Bank of America as their new front-of-jersey kit sponsor, marking the first time the official sponsor of the 2026 World Cup has been featured on a professional sports jersey. Tillamook, featured on the front of Portland’s jerseys the last two seasons, will remain as a sleeve patch.

“We are entering an incredible moment for soccer in the U.S.,” said Roger Hinshaw, the Oregon and Southwest Washington Bank of America market president. “With the FIFA World Cup coming in 2026, the LA Olympics in 2028 and potentially the 2031 Women’s World Cup, soccer is surging in popularity in the U.S., and our very own Portland, Oregon, is one of the most vibrant soccer cities in the entire country.”

And while Neville would later say the partnership was a big day for the club, the third-year manager didn’t really come alive until the speakers were done and the soccer balls came out. Soon, the 48-year-old was dribbling around and nutmegging the children as the coach, along with player Trey Muse and team legend Diego Valeri, ran through a skills clinic.

It’s no surprise the manager perked up once things started moving on the pitch — well, gym floor — but that’s also a reason why Tuesday was such an important day for the club. In securing a multi-year partnership with Bank of America, Timbers CEO Heather Davis said the club took a necessary step to keep up in the growing MLS.

“I like to tell (general manager Ned Grabavoy): I make the money and he spends the money,” Davis said. “So, giving them a little bit more to spend.

“Look, the price of playing in MLS just keeps getting higher. The quality of play is incredible. As you’ve seen with some big names like Müller and Son coming in, these kinds of sponsorships are really the backbone of any sports team in any league — but especially in MLS right now.”

As part of the partnership, Bank of America is introducing its Soccer With Us campaign, which includes the development of 10 futsal courts across the city, free youth soccer camps, and $200,000 in equipment donated to local schools and groups.

“My focus as the head coach is all the time on the soccer field and the players, but I think this is a big moment for the club,” Neville said. “We’re being associated with a massive blue-chip company, and I think it represents what we are as a club. This club is more than just what goes on in the field. It’s a community club.”

And it’s a club, according to owner Merritt Paulson, that’s ready to start spending some of its new money.

“I can’t tell you how much it helps,” Paulson said. “If you want us to continue to go after big players, this is a monumental partnership for that. I’ve always felt like we have to spend to compete, and I think that’s becoming more and more the case. The product is getting better, and we’re entering an offseason window where we’re going to be making some moves — hopefully we’ve got two or three percolating that will happen in the next week or so. But we’ll be making moves regardless, and this is hugely beneficial.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

The Portland Timbers weren’t that much different in 2025 than they were in 2024.

Last year, the Timbers won 12 regular-season games and were eliminated in a decisive 5-0 loss to Vancouver in the Wild Card Round. This year, the Timbers won 11 regular-season games — won in the Wild Card — and were eliminated in a decisive 4-0 loss to San Diego in Match 3 of Round 1.

The Timbers made it further this year. They weren’t as fun to watch — especially during a second half that saw a team contending for a top-four spot turn into an eighth seed, with only three points separating it from the conference’s 11th place.

At the end of both years, it was clear the club was still a distance away from its once-championship form.

There is one difference between how the seasons ended, though: a designated player the team can build around showed up to talk about how it went.

Kristoffer Velde came to the team’s facility dressed from head to toe in white. He had a tee time at the Reserve Golf Course after Thursday exit interviews, a flight home to Norway on Friday, and plans to spend at least a couple of days with friends and family.

But he wasn’t planning on seeing them so soon. Velde came to Portland from the European calendar. His year was just ramping up.

“I’ll be training hard,” Velde said Thursday. “I just had two months’ vacation, so I’m not ready for it yet.”

Velde arrived in Portland during the summer transfer window with the job of reigniting a Timbers offense that lost DP Jonathan Rodriguez early in the year and saw leading scorer Antony suffer a hamstring injury in June that cost him nearly two months.

There was also Santiago Moreno, who deserted the club during its Leagues Cup match in Dallas and demanded a transfer.

It was also made known Thursday that David Da Costa — Portland’s DP addition following Evander’s departure who played his way onto the All-Star team — played the second half of the season with a shoulder that kept popping in and out of socket.

And while Velde found his scoring touch when it mattered in the playoffs, he took ownership Thursday that Portland could have been in a better position had he found success earlier.

“I came in, I was in good shape, but yeah, as you have seen, I missed so many chances and that was frustrating for me,” he said.

He didn’t mind being self-critical. He also said it’s time for the club to do the same.

“I’m used to Europe. It’s way tougher locker rooms I’ve been inside. I think the standard needs to be set a little bit higher — what we do in the training ground, what we do in the gym. We have so many players with so much quality. The potential is there; we just need to get it out of them.”

Velde has been with the club for three months. The man who’s been with the club the longest agreed.

“We need more intensity,” Diego Chara said after his 15th season with the club.

More than anything, Chara said the club needed consistency — and stability in the lineup. Between the injuries, the transfers and his own choices, Phil Neville has never found a consistent starting XI during his two seasons with Portland.

“It’s very important,” Chara said. “I think those decisions come from the coaching staff and they try to make decisions to put the best possible team on the field, and I think that’s really important for every player or team — to have a consistent lineup.”

The Timbers announced they picked up Chara’s option for 2026 on Thursday. He’ll be in Portland for his 16th season. And for as good as Chara played down the stretch in managed minutes in 2025, he knows he’s on the back end of his Timbers career.

These early exits matter to him.

They do, too, for Neville, who enters the third and final year of his contract having won as many games as he’s lost in two years with the club.

“I’ve got incredible support. I have an owner who gives me the keys to the castle to do whatever I want and a GM who backs me,” Neville said. “…I think I’m at that point now where I have to deliver. I’m honest. I’m honest. We’re at this football club with a set of fans, a GM, but more importantly an ownership that wants success. This is why I love this football club. This is why I came… There are a lot of teams in this league probably sitting here this week with their feet up thinking, ‘We’ve had a decent season. We’ve got a home playoff. We’ve competed.’ That’s not in the makeup of this football club. And it’s not in the makeup of me. We have to win.”

The “we” there included the Timbers’ designated player, who is fully on board. After Sunday’s loss, Velde posted to Instagram — and unlike last year, when social media posts from a Portland DP tore the club down, this one felt like something to rally around.

“Thankful for the last 3 months in this beautiful club💚 Not the way we wanted to end the season but we will bounce back stronger next year!! Can’t wait.”

“We just need to set a culture where we have this winning mentality to push everybody, because we need everybody during the season,” said Velde, who didn’t look thrilled to be golfing. “I think when that comes, you’ll see a whole different team on the pitch. We just need to keep pushing.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

PORTLAND — How was Gage Guerra not nervous?

Portland’s 22-year-old, first-year forward had only played about 120 minutes this season before Saturday’s win-or-go-home Match 2 against San Diego at Providence Park.

A year ago at this time, Guerra was finishing his collegiate career at Louisville. And while he burst onto the scene in May with that thunderous equalizer against Tacoma in the U.S. Open Cup — that was the U.S. Open Cup.

This was the playoffs, where the Timbers were down 2-1 to San Diego with 13 minutes left in their season.

Again, how was he not nervous?

Well, first, there was no time: Portland manager Phil Neville subbed him into the match in the 86th minute, telling him to go score a goal — the same brief he gave back in May when Guerra stepped on against Tacoma.

And again, that’s exactly what Guerra did — his leaping header off an Ariel Lassiter cross in the game’s dying seconds tied it at 2-2, extending Portland’s season into a penalty kick round where two San Diego misses over the bar and another off the crossbar aided the Timbers in a 3-2, season-saving win.

It was the most hectic, emotional and charged match played at Providence Park since 2021 — and it set the table for a winner-take-all Match 3 on Sunday in San Diego.

And while it was veteran Kristoffer Velde scoring his second goal in as many games that first got the Timbers on the board — then season-leading scorer Antony clinching the win when he calmly approached his PK before ripping a shot into the net — it was the rookie, Guerra, who came up clutch for the best moment of the season.

“On top of the world,” Guerra said after. “That was probably the best moment of my life so far. Feels like the stars aligned.”

But, Guerra said, they only aligned because of the confidence the club has instilled in him. For 90-plus minutes on the bench — thank you, 12 minutes of first-half stoppage — Guerra said he felt something brewing. A special moment was going to happen, he thought. When Neville tapped him on the shoulder and sent him in, and once he found his feet, he said it was defender Finn Surman in his ear with minutes to go.

“‘Come on, Gage,’” Guerra recalled Surman saying. “‘Just one more chance.’”

That came in the 98th. Lassiter threw the ball in, recovered it after a defender took out Cristhian Paredes, then launched a cross destined for the right post.

Guerra was the first one in the air, charging from the top of the box to fire a header into the top corner of the net.

The crowd exploded. Guerra pumped his fists and slid on both knees. Coaches, staff members, and front-office personnel ran in all directions.

The final night of soccer in 2025 at Providence was the best night of soccer in 2025 at Providence.

“It was the Thrilla in Manila — they were just throwing haymakers the whole game, it was dog-eat-dog, and it was a fight, and we had to keep going,” Neville said. “We took some risks with our tactics. We took some risks with our substitutions. I was always told by my father when I was younger that sometimes in life, you’ve got to take risks to win.”

It might have been a risk, but for Guerra, it just felt normal. He said he got the MLS jitters out of the way earlier in his career, when after the first five minutes of his debut he had to take a moment, catch his breath and compose himself.

“I think that kind of switched something in me,” Guerra said. “This whole season has been a great learning experience. I think a lot of the confidence — rather than nervousness — comes from the belief from my teammates, from my staff and all the hours of training.

“Phil tells me the same thing every time: ‘Go do your thing. Go score a goal.’ That’s my job, and I just did my job.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

The Portland Timbers beat San Diego 3-2 in Penalty Kicks on Saturday night to force a winner-take-all Match 3 next Sunday on the road.

Here’s Portland’s win through the lens of JJ Anderson.

I’ll have a full follow-up from Saturday’s match posting later tonight/tomorrow morning.

Kristoffer Velde wanted that goal more than you did.

For two months, Portland’s star acquisition from the summer transfer window has been the best player on the Timbers roster. His energy is consistent from the opening whistle. He plays with passion, aggression and the match-to-match intensity that’s been lacking from the roster for much of the season’s second half — and his footprints have been all over the few goals that have found the back of the net. His pair of services to Felipe Mora in Portland’s 3-1 Wild Card win over RSL last week proved, yet again, crucial.

But it had been hard to call the addition of the designated player a roaring success because, up until he scored Portland’s lone goal in Sunday’s 2-1 Match 1 loss to San Diego, Velde had yet to find the back of the net.

So yes, Velde said, he felt some weight come off his shoulders when he finally potted his first goal as a Timber in the 36th minute.

“I think I had maybe 50 opportunities in the first nine games to score a goal,” the 26-year-old said. “Either it’s been a good save, or I’ve been inches away from scoring. So of course it’s a relief, and it was an important goal in the game.”

The goal got the Timbers back into the match after surviving a San Diego onslaught and kept Portland as the aggressor until its comeback bid was neutered in the 66th minute, when Jimer Fory picked up his second yellow card.

“That’s a normal type of game. When you play for Olympiacos, when you play Champions League Football, that’s a normal type of game,” manager Phil Neville said of Velde. “That’s not something out of the ordinary. Like for Finn (Surman) and for Ian Smith, Juan Mosquera — first playoff game — David Ayala — his first playoff game — that’s new to them. But for Kristoffer Velde, that’s the level he wants to play at. I think he’s producing moments at the big moment…He’s hungry for the fight.”

Well, the Timbers have a big one on their hands.

Sunday’s result was Portland’s second consecutive loss to San Diego — the Timbers dropped a 4-0 result to the expansion club two weeks ago — and it sets up a Saturday Match 2 at Providence Park with the season on the line. The Timbers have yet to beat San Diego; they drew the club on the road two months ago.

“I don’t think there’s much new,” Neville said when asked about preparing for a fourth match against the same club in one season. “You’re probably looking for something new to maybe change the momentum a little bit — they’ve got the better of us in the last two games, so we’re going to have to improve. We know we’re playing against the top side, a side that’s full of confidence, but also it’s a one-off game at Providence Park. I have a really good feeling about this group.”

At this point, there’s not a whole lot new for the Timbers to throw out there — as of publication, Neville wasn’t certain about the availability of Matias Rojas, Portland’s other transfer addition who has missed the last two matches.

But while Velde being a fulcrum in Portland’s offense wasn’t new on Sunday, seeing his name on the score sheet was. And if he’s finally turned the corner — turning those near-misses into balls in the back of the net — the Timbers have a puncher’s chance to make sure the final match at Providence Park this season isn’t the end of the 2025 road.

“There’s some players that haven’t been in these situations before, where there’s a lot of pressure and all eyes are on you,” Velde said. “Sunday was a big learning for some people, and we just need to prepare for the next game, because if we don’t do it now on Saturday, there’s no more chances to show.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

PORTLAND — One Portland coach got sound sleep this week.

Who on Wednesday had their money on Phil Neville?

Neville’s Timbers were playing in a wild card game they didn’t want to be in, had won a single match since July 25 with an MIA offense, and left the pitch on Saturday after a 4–0 loss at home to San Diego in the rain to expletive-filled chants from the home supporters.

Neville told fans to blame him. And over the next few days, they did, with the Timbers’ Reddit page littered with posts calling for the second-year manager’s sacking.

Neville understood that anger. All season, the Timbers were in playoff position, then suddenly the supporters were facing yet another wild card match just to get in — a year after the Timbers fell 5–0 to Vancouver in the same situation.

Neville called Saturday a kick to the backside — not just for him and the players, but for the entire organization. And when the Timbers returned to the facility to prepare for Wednesday’s play-in against Real Salt Lake, Neville said he saw the benefits of a shock to the system.

“We came together on Sunday, and the focus and concentration on Monday and Tuesday meant that I slept for nine hours last night,” Neville said on Wednesday, “and then three hours this afternoon because I was so confident.”

Neville and his club might have been the only ones in the city sharing the confidence at kickoff on Wednesday, as a far-from-full Providence Park hosted on the same night the Blazers tipped off the NBA season across the river.

The next morning, one of those teams’ coaches was in handcuffs. The other was Neville, who likely got another sound sleep after one of Portland’s best performances of the year.

The Timbers won 3–1. They scored two goals early, got an insurance goal when they needed one and, unlike they’ve done for much of the year, put the clamps on late to clinch the win.

Felipe Mora scored his first two goals since May — with the 32-year-old forward unleashing pent-up frustration after his 24th-minute rebound by jumping over the ad boards and running straight to the Timbers Army to celebrate.

Mora’s wife had given birth to their daughter, Eleanor, just days earlier, and the stands were filled with his parents, friends and other family members visiting Portland to help out.

“It’s been a while and I’ve been looking for it,” Mora said of his first goal. “But I knew the most important games are coming up. I stayed calm, and now I’m just happy for the club and the fans we’re back in the playoffs.”

Mora was the star, but the Timbers also saw a stellar effort from James Pantemis in net. Designated player David Da Costa had his most impactful performance in months, Jimmer Fory returned to anchor the back line, and the 39-year-old Diego Chara played the entire match.

“I thought Diego Chara played like a man possessed,” Neville said. “We thought after Saturday’s game we needed men on the pitch. We thought we needed experience. And with Chara and Felipe Mora, I think those players really delivered.”

So did Kamal Miller, who scored the final goal of the match in the 82nd to send the crowd into a tizzy. After a year together at Miami, Miller was one of the first additions of the Neville era and has been there throughout the roller coaster of the coach’s Portland tenure.

After what happened on Saturday, Miller said Wednesday was on the players.

“I think we owe it to [Neville], and we owe it to our coaching staff, who work hard with us week in and week out,” Miller said. “They could be home with their families, but they’re always at the facility ready for whoever needs extra work, and they put in just the same amount of work as we do. We owe it to them.”

All the Timbers could be home with their families today. Instead, they’re on to San Diego to appear in the first round of the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2021.

The Timbers lost and drew to San Diego this season and are quite the underdog when matched up against the Western Conference’s top seed.

But Neville is confident. And while that hasn’t always been rewarded the last two seasons, the Timbers showed on Wednesday it can be.

And when it was, it looked pretty good.

“We’ve got to go into the playoffs and deliver,” Neville said. “You look at our performance tonight, I’ve got a team that can deliver on the big occasion. That gives me real confidence for the next, hopefully two — maybe three — games.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

PORTLAND — All the Timbers needed was a draw.

They didn’t have to slay Goliath. They just needed to bruise him. And while Portland had been unquestionably terrible at winning soccer matches for the two months leading up to Saturday’s regular season finale against San Diego, draws — well, the Timbers did draws really well.

Notch an MLS-leading 12th one of those, and Portland would’ve been on its way to the seven-seed in the Western Conference, securing a spot in the actual playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Forget the second-half spiral that saw the Timbers win one match since July 25 while tumbling from fourth place in the standings.

Forget an offense that had scored one goal or less in 10 of its last 14 matches.

Forget that the last time the Timbers had a must-win under Neville, Portland face-planted 5-0 in last year’s win-or-go-home wildcard match against Vancouver.

The Timbers just needed a tie against San Diego, a result the team had already achieved against the MLS newcomer in August on the road.

Phil Neville ditched his traditional sweats and instead wore a black suit on the sideline.

By the time Neville came into his post-match press conference, he had changed into a cream-colored sweatshirt with a retro image of Providence Park and a Timbers bus on the front. His hair was tidy and he wore a collared shirt underneath.

The suit? Soaked. For the last two hours, the Portland manager pleaded, stomped and barked in a downpour for his team to get better in a match where better never came.

The Timbers were competitive for a spell, fell down a goal midway through the first half, and opened up the second by allowing a pair of goals in the first four minutes.

San Diego finished off its rout with Pellegrino’s second goal in the 63rd minute. The skies opened up around the 70th as the final regular-season match in Portland’s 50th anniversary season turned into a party for supporters from an expansion club.

At the final whistle, one end of Providence Park saw San Diego celebrating in front of its large group of traveling fans, with cheers and songs and drums celebrating the club’s first-place finish atop the Western Conference table.

At the other end, Neville and the soaked Timbers took a beating from the Timbers Army. Neville made sure he and the team took that in before heading into the locker room yet again without a win.

Before the questions began, the coach had a message.

“I’ll start by saying that’s a massively disappointing night,” Neville said. “I think we owe the supporters an apology for that. When you think about the first game this season, the Vancouver game in the play-in and this one, there’s a similar sort of pattern and I have to take full responsibility for that.”

Neville’s been consistent with that throughout his tenure. Aside from complaints about officiating, the manager has never publicly blamed anyone for a loss during his time with Portland other than himself. He’ll say things like he didn’t pick the right team, or throw out generalities about a position group needing to step up, but largely, Neville has owned it when things aren’t going well.

It’s not that transfer-designated player Kristoffer Velde has yet to score a goal for Portland. Or that season-long designated player David Da Costa’s last assist came in August and his last goal came in July. Or that Antony hasn’t been the same player since he came back from injury. Or that, whether coincidence or not, the offense has disappeared since Santiago Moreno decided not to show up in Dallas.

Or that Evander scored a club-record 22 goals across all competitions this year for Cincinnati.

After everything that happened in the last year — Evander’s departure, the strengthening of the backline, Jonathan Rodriguez’s injury, Moreno’s departure, Antony’s injury, the additions of Velde, Matias Rojas and Felipe Carballo, Carballo’s injury — the Timbers ended up being one game worse than a season ago.

That’s one win and 24 fewer goals to celebrate from an offense that went from the fourth-best in MLS to the 24th.

It’s on me, Neville has said again and again.

The frustration of 2025 for Portland is that the flashes are there. This is a team that went 11 matches with only one loss earlier in the season. This is a team that saw significant development of Finn Surman on defense and, for the first half of the year, Antony on offense. This is a team that has seen Velde tally a season’s worth of near-misses in just two months.

“His stats are through the roof in terms of everything else he’s doing apart from putting the ball in the back of the net,” Neville said.

But the Timbers need Velde — or someone — to put the ball in the back of the net.

“We’re all in now. We’re now in the business of winner-take-all. There’s no ifs or buts, there’s no excuses, there’s no messing around,” Neville said. “It’s now delivery time. We’ve been saying that for the last two to three months. I’d say people thought you could probably walk into the playoffs, we were always in that seventh position, but you’ve got to earn the right to do it. And we haven’t earned the right to do it.”

The Timbers will host Real Salt Lake on Wednesday at Providence Park with the winner advancing to the first round of the MLS playoffs. Salt Lake shut out the Timbers at Providence Park in their last meeting back in July and on Saturday picked up a draw when it needed one, 2-2 at St. Louis.

Momentum is in Salt Lake’s favor. Portland’s performances in big games over the last two seasons are in Salt Lake’s favor.

A loss would be a failure, Neville said. A win could be a foundation to build upon.

And while Saturday it seemed the Rubik’s Cube Neville’s been working on all year was as jumbled as it’s ever been, there’s still a game left to put it together.

“We didn’t want to be in this game,” Neville said. “But the fact is, we have to deliver.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

And Portland’s defense is better — notably so when compared to 2024.

Portland allowed 56 goals last season. This year, that number has been cut to 44 with one match to play.

The catch, of course, is the offense can’t fall to such a level that winning games is impossible.

Right?

The Portland Timbers lost to Seattle 1-0 on Saturday. It was the ninth time Portland’s been shut out in 2025 — it only happened five times in 2024 — and it came with pretty devastating consequences. Seattle finishes ahead of Portland in the Cascadia Cup, the Timbers suffered their first loss in Seattle since 2017, and worst of all, Portland no longer controls its own playoff destiny.

Sitting in seventh place after 33 games, the Timbers are just three points up on eighth-place Dallas and four points ahead of ninth-place Real Salt Lake, who have both played 32 games.

The top seven teams in each conference automatically make the playoffs, while seeds No. 8 and No. 9 play in a one-game wildcard — like the one Portland lost 5-0 to Vancouver last season.

And in truth, the Timbers have been struggling to score ever since that season-ending shutout. The Timbers haven’t scored more than two goals in a game since March. Last year, Portland had three players who scored 14 or more goals. This year, Antony leads Portland with 7 — and he missed more than a month due to a hamstring injury and has only one goal since June.

Saturday was another example of the team waiting around for someone else to step up.

Sure, Portland manager Phil Neville can point to some positives — outside of Seattle’s goal in the 16th minute, it was a relatively even match. David Da Costa played better than he has of late, Neville was pleased with Kevin Kelsy’s performance and Maxime Crepeau was solid in the net.

But Kristoffer Velde struggled. Felipe Mora had a chance to score for the first time in 21 games and put it right in the keeper’s chest.

“There were four or five wrong offside decisions,” Neville said.

There’s always been something this year. Some of it real, like the injuries to Jonathan Rodriguez and Antony earlier in the season. But some of it is beginning to feel like a looping record for a team that completely changed the way it played in 2025 — just to be three points shy of last year’s points total with one game to play.

No, Evander isn’t on this roster, but these Timbers are talented. Kelsy and Velde are an intriguing pair to center the offense around the next couple of years. Finn Surman has been a revelation on defense. There are two above-average keepers. Ian Smith is one of the best steals of last year’s draft.

The parts are there.

But there’s one game left. The time to figure it out has ended.

“The only thing I said to the team at the end is that now is really the time where it’s now or never,” Neville said. “…This whole group needs to take a big jump forward, and so do I. But I’ve got no doubts about where we’re going.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

BEAVERTON — Phil Neville has never outwardly been superstitious in his time with the Portland Timbers.

Results, he insists, come only from the work and courage shown on the pitch.

But there are certain lines one doesn’t cross, which is why the second-year Portland manager cut off a reporter midway through a question about the Timbers’ upcoming derby with the Seattle Sounders.

With the Timbers having not lost in Seattle since 2017…

“Whoa, Jeremy. Jeremy!” Neville said to Cascadia FC’s Jeremy Peterman. “Rephrase the question: With the really good results in Seattle…”

The reporters in the room laughed. Neville laughed.

But yeah, even though Portland hasn’t lost in Seattle since 2017, Neville wasn’t willing to risk jinxing the next result by talking about it. Not with everything the Timbers have on the line.

Portland’s roller coaster of a season has come down to the final two matches. A draw against the Sounders on Saturday would clinch a playoff spot. A win would do the same, and also give the Timbers second place in the 2025 Cascadia Cup standings behind Vancouver.

No, Portland can’t defend its cup title. But ensuring Seattle finishes last would be icing on a cake already loaded with postseason stakes.

“You’ve got to play the game, not the occasion,” Neville said. “We’ve got to make sure that we have ice running through our veins on Saturday. It’s going to be a fantastic game — they always are.”

That calmness has been hard to come by late in matches. In last Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Dallas, Christian Paredes gave the Timbers the lead in the 81st minute, only for Dallas to answer four minutes later. It was Portland’s league-leading 11th tie of the season.

It’s been a paradox of a last two months: sound soccer, frustrating results. Over their last six matches, the Timbers have played well — drawing against San Diego, Minnesota and Vancouver — but have managed only seven points in that stretch.

Neville said there have simply been too many missed opportunities, noting that it’s a lot harder to blow a two-goal lead than the one-goal advantages Portland has been clinging to. A big help would be if Kristoffer Velde could finally find the back of the net.

To be clear, Portland’s recently acquired forward has looked sharp in his six matches with the club. He’s assertive, creative and takes chances the Timbers had been missing for much of the season. His fingerprints were all over Saturday’s match — forcing an own goal on a corner kick and delivering a clever assist to Paredes.

But Velde has yet to officially score. And while he’s been productive, he knows the Timbers’ ceiling rises once he does what he was brought here to do: score.

“I’ve been so close so many times,” Velde said. “By creating chances, I’ve made an impact and been involved in a lot of good things, just missing the goals to be honest. Feel like I’ve had some good games. We are playing really good against top teams and we’ve been unlucky and lacking a little bit of details in front of the goal and finishing off the counters and attacks. But that will come.

“As soon as I get the first goal, hopefully I’ll run into goals. We’ve lost too many points by not scoring.”

Seattle would be a good place to start. Velde said he’s always enjoyed derbies, including notching the game-winning assist in his first pro appearance against Viking FK.

“The thing is, when you come to a new country you don’t have a feeling yet until you’ve played it,” he said. “Derbies, after you’ve been with the club for a while, you get the feeling more after every game. So I’m looking forward to it.

“Let’s see if we can provoke them a little bit over there and spice it up a little.”

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor