It's Timbers Time! This week Chris and Matt break down the eventful 1-1 tie with the LA Galaxy discussing the bright start, early red card, and tactical adjustments, one of which Phil pretended never happened…. Plus a deep dive on Phil’s coaching ability, assessing his performance (or lack thereof) in eight different categories from motivational ability to tactical identity and situational coaching

This episode's talking points include:

• How sustainable was our fast and exciting start for future games?

• Breaking down Kamal’s red card and was taking Kelsy off a bad decision?

• Phil’s positional shift that cost us the goal, that he later pretends he didn’t do!

• How a deep 4 back bunker then secured a point quite comfortably

• Velde’s wild and shady bilingual press conference tells a lot of blunt truths

• Coaching Special - Is Phil a Good Coach?

• Do the Team Look Fit, Organized and Motivated?

• Does Phil Have a Clear Tactical Identity or is he Chasing Tactical Trends?

• Quantifying differences between MLS and the EPL that should influence tactical identity

• Is a lack of tactical structure one of Phil’s biggest coaching failures?

• How evident the Timbers’ poor offensive rotations are compared to other teams

• An alarming statistic about the team’s defense

• How the team’s poor secondary press is leading to counter attacks

• Is the reward of the high press worth the risk?

• Vancouver (A) Preview

  
  

Content Warning: Moderate swears

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(2:07) LA Galaxy (H) - Starting XI & Formation Analysis

(4:48) LA Galaxy (H) - First Half Analysis

(22:13) LA Galaxy (H) - Second Half Analysis

(28:24) LA Galaxy (H) - Post Game - Moment and Man of the Match

(31:07) LA Galaxy (H) - Phil’s Press Conference

(33:10) LA Galaxy (H) - Velde’’s Press Conference

(36:22) Phil Neville and a Coaching Special - Introduction

(39:09) Assessing Phil Neville - Performance vs Roster Spend and Player Assessment

(42:53) Assessing Phil Neville - Is the Team Motivated, Fit, Focused and Playing Hard?

(46:09) Assessing Phil Neville - Offensive and Defensive Set Pieces

(49:29) Assessing Phil Neville - Substitution Patterns, Situational Coaching and Tactical Flexibility

(55:28) Assessing Phil Neville - Tactical Identity, Meta Tactics and Following Trends

(59:48) Assessing Phil Neville - Quantifying Why MLS Needs Different Tactics to the EPL

(1:02:49) Assessing Phil Neville - Structural vs Organic Styles of Play and Soccer IQ

(1:05:59) Assessing Phil Neville - Are the Timbers a Well Organized and Well Drilled Team?

(1:07:26) Assessing Phil Neville - How Wing Turnovers are Emblematic of Poor Offensive Coaching

(1:11:17) Assessing Phil Neville - The Team’s Long Term xG Conceded is Alarming

(1:13:59) Assessing Phil Neville - The Ideal Press Vs The Timbers’ Press

(1:20:12) Assessing Phil Neville - The Mess That Is The Secondary Press

(1:22:23) Assessing Phil Neville - Is The Press Worth The Risk? Is it Working?

(1:25:25) Assessing Phil Neville - Conclusion - Is Phil A Good Coach?

(1:28:26) Call for Listener Topic Suggestions!

(1:28:50) Timbers News! New Signings! MLS News

(1:33:18) Vancouver (A) Preview

Content Links:

Timbers pressing data from 2025: https://soccerment.com/mls-2025-data-driven-insights-from-the-first-5-rounds/

The physical demands of Major League Soccer (including EPL comparison) : https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12551844/

Velde for Olympiacos vs PAOK including positional rotations to support a winger in posession:

https://youtu.be/tHxl-JNxM6Y

What a highly structured and organized press looks like in MLS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOawmYLOIY

Listener Topics and Questions:

Thanks for listening and please do send us your questions or topics for analysis for the next episode :⁠⁠⁠timberstimepod@gmail.com

It's Timbers Time! In this episode we analyse the heartbreaking injury time loss to Houston. Lots to talk about tactically in this one from formation and positional changes, Velde finally scoring in regular season play despite a penalty miss, and more issues with the press. Plus an Academy special! We break down the production of the Timbers youth team system since they joined MLS, how do they match up to other teams that joined MLS around the same time? How about other franchises with limited catchment areas? We get stuck into the data with surprising results and wrap up with an LA Galaxy preview.

This episode's talking points include:

- Finding the positives in a third defeat in a row

- What went wrong for the Houston winner?

- Should DaCosta play the 8 more regularly?

- How suited is Guerra to playing as a solo striker?

- Is Pantemis’ lack of confidence becoming a problem? Do we need to think about a replacement GK?

- Velde misses a pen but finally scores in the regular season! Will this be the confidence boost he needs to start a run of good form?

- Pressure on Phil after 3 straight losses, are his press conference excuses valid?

- Does dominating possession mean you controlled the game?

- Academy Special! We do a deep dive into the Timbers academy production since the club joined MLS in 2011

- What are the TImbers worse at than lowly Chivas USA?

- What CBA / Roster Rules limit Eric Izoita’s appearances for the Timbers?

- How much of a problem is Jimer Fory’s disciplinary record?

- Galaxy (H) Preview

Content Warning: Moderate swears

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(1:23) Houston (A) - Starting XI & Formation Analysis

(2:59) Houston (A) - First Half Analysis

(13:56) Houston (A) - Second Half Analysis

(31:40) Houston (A) -Post Game - Moment and Man of the Match

(33:20) Houston (A) - Post Game - Should DaCosta Play the 8 More Regularly?

(35:45) Houston (A) - Post Game - Gage Guerra as a Solo Striker

(38:20) Houston (A) - Post Game - Form and Confidence Worries for Pantemis

(40:50) Houston (A) - Post Game - Final Thoughts and a few Positives

(41:54) Houston (A) - Phil’s Press Conferences -

(48:35) Academy Special!

(59:27) Roster Rules / CBA and Eric Izoita

(1:03:01) Listener Question - Is Jimer Fory’s Timbers Future in Question due to his Disciplinary Record?

(1:05:12) Timbers News! New Signings! MLS News!

(1:10:34) Galaxy (H) Preview

Thanks for listening and please do send us your questions for the next episode:⁠⁠⁠timberstimepod@gmail.com

It's Timbers Time! In this episode we break down the 4-1 defeat to Vancouver, talk about new faces including young academy star Eric Izoita and new signings Caicedo and Aravena. We focus mostly though on our GM Special - what makes a good GM and does Ned earn that accolade? We continue our dive into the Timbers roster spend history assessing the team’s history of DP signings and all of Ned’s pickups since he took over as GM in 2022.

This episode's talking points include:

- Izoita’s Dream Debut!

- A New DMid! We assess the signing of Caicedo

- GM Special! What makes a good GM?

- The Mess and the Press vs Vancouver

- Dissecting Phil’s Post Game Press Conference

- Rating the Timbers DP signings since 2011

- Ned’s signings as GM

- Hit, Miss or Maybe?

- Criticizing Ned’s Strategic Approach

- T2 Scouting Report!

- Houston (A) Preview

Content Warning: Moderate swears. Gold stars to us for not “effing and blinding” at this terrible performance, frankly.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(1:43) Vancouver (H) - Starting XI & Formation Analysis

(4:27) Vancouver (H) - Tifo Shoutout

(5:09) Vancouver (H) - First Half Analysis

(14:25) Vancouver (H) - Second Half Analysis

(25:23) Vancouver (H) - Moment and Man of the Match

(27:06) Vancouver (H) - Phil’s Press Conference

(30:40) Listener Question! Kelsy vs Guerra

(35:11) GM Special! What makes a good GM?

(38:45) GM Special! Timbers All Time DP Signings

(56:43) GM Special! Ned’s Signings - Hit or Miss?

(1:01:06) Criticizing Ned’s Strategic Approach

(1:08:15) T2 Scouting Report!

(1:11:19) Timbers News! New Signings! MLS News!

(1:17:48) Houston (A) Preview

Thanks for listening and please do send us your questions for the next episode: ⁠⁠⁠timberstimepod@gmail.com