Timbers Tid Bits: Scouting Edition
by Geoff Gibson on Oct 28, 2011 12:16 PM PDT
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PrintOver the last few days there have been a number of reports coming from various media organizations (including us!) that have stated where technical director Gavin Wilkinson will be heading over the off season to scout for players. These locatins include: Colombia, Ghana, Togo, Europe and the less exotic locale of Los Angeles, CA.
The reason I bring this up is because, well, as we head into the off-season we'll begin getting rumors of players coming in for 2012. My question to you is, who or what kind of player would you like to see brought in and from where (if you even have a preference). Put yourself in Gavin's shoes and scout for the Timbers. Who do you bring home with you come January?
Timbers news
Timbers' Wilkinson to embark on global search for players
Timbers' general manager will spend much of the next month scouting players.
Portland's Wilkinson wants to mine more Colombian talent
The nation is a goldmine for MLS!
The Portland Timbers Official Ice Cream Flavor Is Gourmet, Organic, And Infused with Portlandness
There is an official Portland Timbers everything...
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San Jose Earthquakes: Team makes inroads with fans, plans to 'strive to be best' on field
Major League Soccer team, working to build $60 million stadium by 2013, targets making big improvements for 2012 after selling out final six home games of 2011 season.
Cummings goal enough for Rapids to edge Crew
Jamaica striker Omar Cummings scored in the dying moments of the first half as the champion Colorado Rapids defeated the Columbus Crew 1-0.
So Just How Bad Were The 2011 Whitecaps?
Was the season really a failure and as bad as it looked on paper?
Former German international Frings enjoys MLS adventure
Whether playing on a rugged pitch surrounded by armed guards in Nicaragua or Mexico City's altitude, former Werder Bremen captain Torsten Frings said on Friday he was enjoying his first season.
MLS playoffs -- best teams are in the Western Conference semifinals
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Here's another disturbing MLS-related article I saw today:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/soccer/10/28/twellman.mls.ap/index.html?sct=sc_t2_a5
Former New England Revolution star Taylor Twellman said Friday that the Major League Soccer team ignored his symptoms of multiple concussions, even sending him back on the field after he said "I have a concussion’’ following the hit that eventually forced him to retire.
Considering how the officiating for the Houston-Portland game was, and especially how the American sports landscape is being colored by the amount of brain trauma suffered by NFL players, this concerns me quite a bit. Concussions do happen, although not as much, in our version of football and it’s a scary thought teams and officials aren’t doing a bit more to protect players. The look on Chabala’s face after he was on the ground when that POS Houston player knocked him down really pissed me off, there could’ve been something very dangerous that happened there.
In fairness, everyone was complicit in Twellman's fate.
He clearly says, on television, that he has a concussion, but back then the magnitude of what happened simply wasn’t understood. That video remains one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen live, and the trainer that sent him out should have been fired, but he was hardly alone. I’m glad that concussion awareness is moving to the forefront of sports, and I have a huge amount of respect for Twellman and his efforts to make this an issue. Hopefully, what he suffered doesn’t happen again.
Say what you want about America, thirteen bucks still gets you a hell of a lot of mice!
Did you read how he played his last game
He said he got himself ready for his final game, on June 7, 2009, by taking four Vicodin, three Excedrin and "shotgunning a Budweiser’’; he entered as a second-half substitute because he could only manage to play for 45 minutes at a time and scored two goals.
Simply scary but No Pity is right they have advanced the treatment over the last 3 years.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
He played an unconscionable amount after the concussion
The crazy thing was, he was still one of the best players in the league, even after the concussion. If you watch the OTL segment he did a while back, you can see him go up for a ball the same game he got the concussion, get tapped on the head, and go down for 7-8 seconds before being able to get back up.
This was the worst, though:
Doctors told him he had everything from diabetes to the flu to "post situational depression’’ – ostensibly because he was upset the team had refused a $2.5 million transfer offer from a team in England.
The OTL report is an interesting segment if you haven’t seen it. Only about a month old. He reveals that he just started dreaming again back in early September (which apparently means that he might be healing a little). It was a pretty touching moment.
Say what you want about America, thirteen bucks still gets you a hell of a lot of mice!
Sick
Head Injuries are so dangerous and totally misunderstood up until 2 or 3 years ago.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
To Answer Geoff's question
I would say I want technically skilled players who are willing to mix it up physically.
First off I think our wings need to be a bit more seasoned and have better quality around the box. Which means better crosses and better shots on target.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
I agree with Geoff
We had one goal from our wing positions all season long, Nagbe’s goal of the year. Now, that’s at least partially due to the crazy voodoo curse that Alhassan had on his head all year, but still, that’s appallingly low production from the wings.
I like the way Wilkinson puts it:
I think we have a good group of guys who have preformed well … We need to have more depth in this squad, and for those players to put more pressure on one another.
When I write, I write for the Timbers. Contributing Editor of Stumptown Footy
by Andrew Wheeler on Oct 28, 2011 5:35 PM PDT up reply actions
Oops
I meant I agree with Ryan.
When I write, I write for the Timbers. Contributing Editor of Stumptown Footy
by Andrew Wheeler on Oct 28, 2011 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions
I want some more defenders.
Given Horst and Futty’s predilection for being injured, I would love another central defender. Some top level wing backs too. Palmer and Chabala are (more than) serviceable, but we could still use an upgrade there.
Also, I would love for the Timbers to pick up some young talent that will not count against the salary cap (generation adidas or homegrown players).
Contributing Editor for Stumptown Footy
by William Conwell on Oct 28, 2011 6:25 PM PDT reply actions
I'd like to upgrade at right back
Palmer was alright initially when he came over, but i thought he was a bit questionable down the stretch.
I’d also like to bring in one more quality CB. I would hate to see Futty not on the Timbers though.
volatilelyle.com
by almost awesome on Oct 29, 2011 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions
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