The Portland Timbers fell to NYCFC in the MLS Cup Final in 2021, then proceeded to miss the playoffs entirely the next season for the first time in six years. A playoff without Cascadia felt downright wrong. Last season was the first time neither Portland or Seattle were in the playoffs since... ever. Portland joined in 2011, while Seattle joined the league in 2009. In 2022, the Timbers finished one point out of the playoffs with an 11-10-13 record. They barely lost in the summer months, won four straight games late in the season, but it was not quite enough. They failed to win any of their final three games, needing just one to qualify. Their goal scoring was quite spread out, 10 for Asprilla, nine for Niezgoda, Blanco and Moreno scored six each. Overall, it was a rather disappointing season for the Timbers Army.
The issue with this is that the Timbers did next to nothing this off-season outside of their club record signing. This may sound contradictory, but they need a lot more than one player. In fact, they are still getting rid of players. At the time of this writing, the Portland Timbers have just dealt center back Bill Tuiloma to Charlotte FC. One spot that this team does have depth is at center back, so getting $800K in GAM for him is not the worst case scenario. Back to their signing though, the Timbers signed attacking midfielder Evander for around $10m, which is high enough to fall within the top ten largest incoming transfer sums in MLS history. The 24-year-old that hails from Brazil was sold by Danish side Midtjylland, where he scored 12 goals and assisted six in his last full season. He will have a massive weight on his shoulders. The only other signing barely counts as one, because Nathan Fogaca was already with the Timbers, and just had a contract option triggered. They also lost Josecarlos Van Rankin, who was the team's starting right back previously. The only other somewhat notable move is George Fochive becoming a free agent.
For a couple of teams in the league, a mild off-season is acceptable because their team is in good shape already. Unfortunately for Portland, they have put up a pretty disappointing off-season outside of spending big on Evander. The biggest problem is the attack, where there is almost no depth right now. Sebastian Blanco is the best form of depth, which isn't the worst thing, but he's now aging and 34 years of age. Up top, Felipe Mora is currently injured and will not return until around June. Dairon Asprilla will be out for at least the first month of the season due to knee surgery. This leaves them with just Jaroslaw Niezgoda up top, who has his moments, but is inconsistent. It's still expected that the Timbers will sign a #9 at some point, but for now they're in some trouble. Yimmi Chara and Santiago Moreno are bright spots that will play on the wings. Evander will play the attacking mid role, ahead of Diego Chara and Eryk Williamson. U22 Initiative midfielder David Ayala is also injured and out for at least another month. With Tuiloma gone, Zac McGraw and Dario Zuparic seems like a safe bet at CB, with Claudio Bravo and Juan Mosquera out wide. Aljaz Ivacic should continue in net. Injuries have plagued this team before the season even started, and their quiet off-season depth wise may come back to bite them. By no means is their starting lineup bad, but it's hard to see the Portland Timbers in the top spots of the Western Conference at this moment in time.
Projected XI:
GK: Ivacic
DEF: Bravo, McGraw, Zuparic, Mosquera
MID: Williamson, D. Chara, Y. Chara, Moreno, Evander
FWD: Niezgoda
Off-Season Grade: D+
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