The Timbers have gotten dangerous. But is there enough time?
The Timbers have reloaded, but the stretch run won't be easy.
Phil Neville knows something’s been missing from his club.
Yes, in 2025, the Portland Timbers have been largely better than they were a season ago. The defense has been better. The consistency has been better. The vibes have been better.
But if there’s one thing the Timbers have lacked, Neville can point to the man the Timbers Army spent all of Saturday jeering.
Yes, Evander Week ended after Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Cincinnati. But as the Timbers ready for an eight-game run to close out their season, the team’s former star was still on the manager’s mind.
Evander could score spectacular goals, Neville said. And that’s what the Timbers were looking for when they made their latest addition: Matías Rojas, a Paraguayan attacking midfielder signed earlier this week through the rest of the season.
No, Rojas doesn’t quite have the quality to make him one of MLS’ MVP candidates. But he does possess one thing Portland’s former star did.
“Set play quality is something that we’ve been missing this season and he brings a lot of quality to those areas,” Neville said of Rojas. “… Set plays can win. We saw last season it cost us a lot of points defensively. We didn’t score enough goals offensively. So I think it’s a game-changer. The way that we’ve defended set plays this year has given us a great platform, now we’ve got to make sure we’re a threat.
“He’s going to be a threat on set plays all around the box, and that’s something we’ve missed since Evander left.”
Rojas, 29, most recently appeared for Argentinian top-flight side Club Atlético River Plate, where he scored one goal in eight appearances across all competitions. Playing for Inter Miami in MLS in 2024, Rojas scored nine goals with three assists in 20 appearances.
Neville said Rojas can do many of the things that seemingly left the club upon Santiago Moreno’s departure.
“He possesses the same types of qualities, the same types of profile,” Neville said. “Can play off that right-hand side, can play in the central midfield, can play as a No. 10.”
That’s good news for a Portland side that’s been searching for goals over the last two months.
With eight games remaining, the Timbers (10-9-7, 37 points) sit sixth in the Western Conference. But for a team that spent the first half of the season in contention for a top-four spot, the club now sits closer to missing the playoffs — eighth-seed Austin has 35 points — than it does catching fourth-place Seattle (41 points) for homefield advantage. To make things more challenging, five of Portland’s final eight games come against playoff teams. It’s a daunting path, especially considering Portland’s current two-game losing streak in MLS play.
But Neville sees a few things working in Portland’s favor.
First: The front office did its job during the transfer window. The Timbers signed a pair of designated players in Kristoffer Velde and Felipe Carballo, while Rojas might as well be a third. None of the three played against Cincinnati, with Neville saying an unspecified two of the three would debut Saturday against San Diego.
“With Carballo and Matias, they’re incredibly experienced. They tend to pick up on the smell of where people want the ball, where the right position to take up,” Neville said. “And to be honest with you, we haven’t got much time to climatize. They have to hit the ground running and they have to perform from the get-go.”
Second: The final 52 minutes against Cincinnati.
Yes, the start was dreadful. By the time Evander roofed his goal and ran straight toward the Timbers Army, the Timbers looked headed for another one of those nights — think Vancouver, think San Jose. But it didn’t end that way.
And while this isn’t the time of season to lean on moral victories, Neville saw enough spark to give him confidence that his team — with its new additions — can put up a fight over the season’s final two months.
“I think it was an absolutely incredible game of football,” he said. “We’ve had some incredible learnings in terms of what we need to improve on. And the effort for me set a standard for my players.
“We have another eight games that are going to be at this level. You go to San Diego, Vancouver, Seattle, Houston, Minnesota, they’re going to be playoff-level type games. If you lose concentration, you chase the game. We’ve brought in players with the experience to say, ‘Settle down, come here, stay next to me.’”
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