Winless in seven straight MLS matches, it’s no stretch to say that the Portland Timbers are struggling right now. But if the Timbers are looking for a shoulder to cry on, they ought not seek out head coach John Spencer:
Spencer chatted with a few media types after today’s practice Jeld-Wen and seemed to be running low on patience with his team’s fragile confidence. “You can only kiss people’s asses so much,” Spencer said, noting the coddling nature of youth and college soccer in no way matches the big leagues. “At the professional level, you need to man up. There’s no hiding place out here.”
He also called for increased individual effort out of his squad, which surrendered two leads to arch-rival Seattle on Sunday in a crushing 3-2 loss that exposed a defense “in shambles.” Spencer isn’t amused, and hinted that some new faces may be brought in to shake things up.
“You can’t individually hold their hands on the field, and get them to be coached every single second of every single game,” Spencer said. “You’ve got to take some responsibility for yourself… You have to do your job.”
Thanks for spending our money on soccer City of Portland.
Thanks.
Maybe they can hide in the shambles until the season’s over?
Watching that game the other day, I couldn’t help thinking coach needs to start “manning up” too. He needs to find a lineup that works. At times, the players on the field looked helpless with the ball or like they’d never played with each other. He needs to adapt when they hold leads in the second half. The team’s not bad. But they need to be coached into coherence. He’s a great figurehead and a powerhouse and all but if they continue this slide, he may need to be replaced.
Maybe the problem isn’t manning up and taking personal responsibility, it’s getting better players and taking the time for our existing players to learn how to play together as a unit. That winning streak spoiled the team and its supporters, but this is still a very green team going the way of nearly every expansion team in the history of nearly every professional sports league. News flash: new teams tend not to be very good. At least this is chasing some of those bandwagoneers away so there will be more seats/standing room for people who actually care about more than whether the team is currently winning or not.
D: You’re welcome. If you don’t appreciate the sold-out crowds every week, I’m sure the local business proprietors do. MLS is the best thing to happen to downtown Portland in a very long time. But I guess you’d rather have an irrelevant minor league baseball team that nobody cares about and bleeds money than a financially successful major league soccer team that is finding its footing in a tougher league.
I just find it a very narrow niche.
Agree about baseball. I am glad the fans come out and hope success will follow.
I have never considered myself a sports fan before. But this game is frankly, hugely fascinating to me. Watching the action and athleticism is just really great. I wouldn’t have discovered that I enjoyed it if not for the timbers and last years world cup. The timbers make me so proud of Portland, a city I love. I don’t really understand people’s insistence on shitting on new fans.
I love Spencer, but agree with the sentiments above. He really needs to manage the team. That said, his comments to me seem like a fairly overt statement that this is his next steps. Really need to improve our defense. Really thought we played more aggressively this week – we need to go this hard every week, not just against our rivals.
terminizer,
Don’t get defensive. The team needs an upgrade at a bunch of positions but like I said, they’re not bad. You don’t hold leads against (or beat, albeit at home) the better teams in the league if you don’t have some talent. They are not West Ham. Spencer’s not helpless with these players. Soccer coaches get sacked all the time. Replacements have made an instant difference. He needs to do a better job, too.
My brother played on Chivas USA the first year they were around. That team lost a lot, too. But they’re still around! And people are still into them.
west ham sucks.
@terminizer…did you find any of it homoerotic at all? How do I know you joined the Timber army like 2 years ago?. For once you are actually correct though. Astounding. Oh and West Ham does suck indeed
“I just find it a very narrow niche.”
You must be fucking blind. Thinking back to High School, I am sure there were just as many kids playing for the Soccer team as they would for (Gridiron) Football. I personally, did neither in High School, but as an adult, I’ve gone mad for “the beautiful game” but cannot stand the 30 seconds of play and half an hour’s worth of commercials that you get with traditional American Football.
Now, if you’re talking Lacrosse or Cricket- THAT’S a narrow niche. Even during the minor league days, the Timbers were far more on par in terms of fandom with the Ducks and Blazers than the Beavers (baseball team) could ever hope. Soccer is even more popular locally, than the other great, traditional, North American sport, Ice Hockey.
The point I make, is that the Soccer haters are the narrow demographic in this region. It takes a bit of patience to learn and understand the rules and pace of play, but once you get it, it’s a phenomenal sport to watch. Even more so than baseball- and as a red blooded, American, I still LOVE that sport. The TA is were already a majority when the plans for J-dub were taking shape and their ranks grow with every game. We pay taxes too, it was our decision more than it was yours- that’s how democracy works.
re: West Ham
ARSENAL! Bitch.