Comments on: Damn, that wasn’t a dream after all

By: bwa

bwa — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:04:19 +0000

i think bolkan played ok. certainly better than thompson. thompson probably got subbed out with an eye on atlanta. but his tactical knowledge of the game is dreadful. especially for a center back. i’ve watched a lot of scott bolkan and he is a class player. with more time on the pitch i’m certain he will demonstrate it better in the future.

By: Finnegan

Finnegan — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:36:37 +0000

Bob you should do a running piece on GW excuses.

I never liked the guy. Sorry but I have had more than one ocassion to travel and play with him and he was ALWAYS a mean spirited SOB. That said – it’s professional football and we don’t have to like the man, he just has to win.

Now that he is losing he has built up very little goodwill to fall back on.

By: RC

RC — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:06:29 +0000

Had to miss this game (not sure if fortunately or unfortunately right now), so appreciate your comments. Everything I’m reading clearly seems Gavin was saving players for Thurs. The vacation doesn’t quite start after Thurs., don’t forget Juve PV on Sat. And given our performances of late, I’m not sure I’d be talking about crushing anyone even with the normal starters in place.

By: fred

fred — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:06:06 +0000

Well, before last year, the Timbers were on a “4-year-plan” to improve, right? And last year, they played well above their true abilities (well, the defense was awesome and the crapTurf(tm) was a very good home-field advantage.

So really, they’ve come “back to earth” this season–if they finish just above mid-pack, that would be where they would expect to be in “year 2 of the 4 year plan,” right?

I still think that Wilkinson is trying to figure out how to make the switch from “pack, punt and pray” to playing a possession, pass, build-up game. And really, the combination of players that we have right now haven’t shown that they can bridge that gap, yet.

And they’ve had a tendency (a game and a half v Miami, against the Rhinos) where they just thought they could show up and magick would happen. That’s the hangover from last year’s “overacheivers.”

Now we find out whether the 2008 Timbers can adjust–and I don’t think that they can expect to challenge for the top of the table, not this season–but pick themselves up and finish somewhere above .500. Does Wilkinson, at this point, realize that his strike force (and his outside mids) don’t *play* route one well? Can he adjust either his tactics or his personnel?

The danger, IMO, is that they completely implode.

By: Cap Ap

Cap Ap — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:43:24 +0000

I’m with you on that, Zack…oh, it’s okay we got beat by a men’s league team, we didn’t try. Blech.

By: Bob Kellett

Bob Kellett — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:42:59 +0000

And suddenly Gavin Wilkinson is starting to sound a lot like Chris Agnello.

By: Zack

Zack — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:29:44 +0000

This makes me want to puke.
“I think if we would have played our starting lineup, we would have crushed them,” Wilkinson says. “We’ve had a [heck] of a lot of games in a short period. … I would say we [did] not put a lot of emphasis on this competition.”

By: Bob Kellett

Bob Kellett — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:19:27 +0000

That might have been the case. He was in a suit on the sidelines. He, Gregor and Knowles all were talking with Wilkinson for an extended period of time before the game. He also was out signing autographs after the game. I can forgive Wilkinson if Thompson was sick. His other selections and game management were enough to make me sick.

By: Zack

Zack — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:16:37 +0000

Reports from the message board stated that Scot with one T was very sick.