Coach: Timbers should be desperate

Despite six-game winless streak, 'we're definitely better than last year'

By Steve Brandon

The Portland Tribune, May 29, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Forward Takayuki Suzuki will miss Friday's Portland Timbers game at Montreal, along with coach Gavin Wilkinson, as both serve one-game suspensions after their ejection Monday against Miami. Suzuki has one goal and one assist, and only seven shots, in seven games.

L.E. BASKOW / THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

The Portland Timbers are missing more than just a win in their last six games.

“We’re definitely a better team than last year,” says coach Gavin Wilkinson, whose team is in an 0-2-4 slump. “What we’re missing is the sense of desperation in every game.

“Last year, we had a lot to prove (coming off a 7-15-6 record in 2006), and we did that (going 14-5-9).

“This game is about desperation. Every game should be like a final.”

The Timbers have lost two in a row, both at home. Were they flat?

“Yeah, I think so,” Wilkinson says, adding that “it’s up to the coaching staff to find the answer to that.”

Portland has scored only two goals in its last six games; both came at Puerto Rico.

At the pace the Timbers have been on the last half-dozen games, over the 30-game season a team would finish 0-10-20, with only 20 points and 10 goals.

• In the heat of the moment, Wilkinson sometimes rips into his players, especially when he perceives that their effort hasn’t been complete.

But, he says, “I have a ton of confidence in the players we’ve got. I think they’re a great bunch of guys.”

• Portland plays Friday night at Montreal and Sunday night at Rochester.

On June 8, 2007, a tricky rookie, Bryan Jordan, drew a foul in the penalty box in the 75th minute, Andrew Gregor connected on the penalty kick, and the Timbers left Montreal with a rare 1-0 victory.

“We got a great result there last year,” Wilkinson says. “Now we need to see if we can turn things around. If we stop worrying about the results and start looking at the performances, we’ll get back on track.”

• Montreal (2-4-1, seven points) is ninth in the 11-team United Soccer Leagues First Division.

The Impact, a perennial contender, played well Tuesday in a 1-0 loss to Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC. It was the first game of the new Nutrilite Canadian Championship, a six-match tournament that also includes Vancouver.

Montreal played a man down after the 53rd minute and gave up a goal in the 72nd minute.

The tournament winner will go into the CONCACAF Champions League, which brings together the top clubs in North and Central America and the Carribean.

A crowd of 12,083 attended Tuesday’s game, as Montreal works on its bid for an MLS expansion franchise.

“MLS is obviously very interested in Montreal, and rightfully so,” Wilkinson says.

• The Timbers drew with Rochester 0-0 on May 8 at PGE Park.

The Rhinos are last in the United Soccer Leagues First Division at 0-4-3 (three points).

“Rochester is down on confidence,” Wilkinson says. “But they have ability and some experienced players, so they’re not going to stay down for long. We need to keep them there awhile longer.”

• Wilkinson played a game of kick the can late in the first half of Monday’s 2-0 home loss to Miami, and it cost him.

“Taka (Suzuki) got brought down from behind. The official and linesman didn’t call it. I kicked the trash can,” Wilkinson says, summing up the order of events.

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