Let the preseason begin

By: Bob Kellett | March 13th, 2009

Now that we are at the tail end of a dramatic week of MLS expansion goodness, the attention briefly returns to the guys who are suiting up for the 2009 version of the Portland Timbers. The good guys travel to San Jose Saturday to take part in their first exhibition match. What can one expect and what should one keep an eye on?

* Expect San Jose to be more cohesive and more teamy (A term that only true soccer fans such as Mr. Fish and Ms. Fritz can understand). The Quakes have been at it in training for weeks now. They have thrown on their kits and battled it out in six other meaningless matches. They know the routine and each other. The Timbers on the other hand just opened camp this week. The team has about 9 million new players, most of whom play the exact same position (didn’t we try this same stack-the-midfield approach last year?). You can hardly expect a new team that isn’t match fit to play at an especially high level.

* Who makes this trip? I can’t imagine the club paying for everyone to board Southwest Airlines, fly to Silicon Valley, spend a night in a hotel, and eat using their $30 per diem. Does the boss take along his proven veterans or does he use this game as a chance to see what his new players are all about?

* Who gets the minutes in the midfield? Good God, this team has even more midfielders than there are Timbers Army members who are going to name their first newborns “Dan Saltzman”. The first preseason match shouldn’t reveal the pecking order, but it should give an indication of who Gavin Wilkinson is most interested in testing out.

* Does the team bring along a backup keeper or is that a more difficult hole to fill than $15 million in financing?

* The kits. Maybe I have missed this but have the new kits been revealed yet? What will Nike’s paper mache look like this year?

* Pay attention to everything but the final score. The result is not important. That shall be the mantra throughout this preseason. This team has undergone a dramatic face lift. It will take time for it all to come together.