Eternally Beatable, Forever Gaslit

Merriam-Webster is the world’s most trusted dictionary. When you’re dealing with the English language, easily the most complicated in the world, the sheer amount of words and tenses can overwhelm any non-native speaker. “Insanity” is one of the most fascinating words in the English language. This word can be traced back to 1590, and it was first used to describe the mentally ill: “A severely disordered state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder.”

However, as English continued to evolve as a language, this serious word began to have a less serious meaning. When someone uses the word “insanity” in 2025, they’re usually referencing the modern definition: “extreme folly or unreasonableness and/or something utterly foolish or unreasonable.”

The beauty (and frustration) of the English language can be summed up like this: the dictionary definition of “insanity” isn’t the one everyone thinks about. It’s a clever witticism whose origins are untraceable. 

This following quote has been credited to Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, or numerous other historically significant humans who probably never said it. As such, the origin of this definition is unknown. One day it was created, and soon it spread throughout the massive volume of English speakers worldwide. You all know it: “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

The Portland Timbers lost 1-0 to the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field tonight. This result breaks Portland’s unbeaten streak at the home of their biggest rivals, which stretched back to May 27, 2017. Tonight’s game featured every single definition of insanity, from those who watched to those who were directly involved.

Recap

To their credit, the Timbers weren’t necessarily bad in the first half. However, the same issues that have been plaguing this team over the entire season were apparent. A disorganized out-of-possession structure allowed the Sounders to move the ball through the middle at will, while their continued inability to create a big chance left them grasping at straws around Seattle’s box. Seattle found the breakthrough in the way that they usually do: a cutback cross. 

This sequence began from a Jesus Ferreira long ball to Paul Rothrock, who acted as the outlet on the right wing. Rothrock controlled the ball and was able to run directly into the middle of the pitch, which created space for him to pass the ball backwards to Nouhou. The Cameroonian quickly moved the ball to Albert Rusnak, who found Ferreira in the right channel. 

There is no midfield support, so Ian Smith is Ferreira’s marker. That’s rather unfortunate, because Alex Roldan is obviously overlapping. It’s so easy to see what comes next.

Smith knows what’s coming next, so he’s already trying to beat the younger Roldan to the ball. Keep an eye on Pedro de la Vega. He’s going to score this goal (spoiler).

Every single Timber is ball-watching, and no one’s paying attention to De la Vega.

Smith fails to stop the cross, and David Ayala fails to block it. It’s an easy chance for De la Vega, who has the entire goal to aim at. He buries it.

This goal is preventable, but it’s also a goal that good teams routinely score. I don’t like the Seattle Sounders, but they are a good team and they score goals like this all the damn time. Now the Timbers were chasing the game. However, in a game like this, all they needed was one clear chance. And their opportunity came in the 34th minute.

This sequence begins with a simple Finn Surman pass to Juan Mosquera. De la Vega is already anticipating the pass, so he’s moving to challenge the Colombian fullback.

SIKE! Surman isn’t choosing the safe option. His pass finds Kristoffer Velde on the right wing. Mosquera springs into action by making an underlapping run.

This is a great run from Mosquera, who suddenly finds himself in a pocket of space in the channel. It’s able to do something that the Timbers rarely do: create space to attack into. Usually, they’re forced to attack into the space that the opposition gives them. 

Here’s another rarity: Mosquera quickly passes the ball with his first touch. The execution of this pass isn’t perfect. It’s pretty clear that it’s intended for David Da Costa, but the pass is a little overcooked. However, this slight mistake actually works in Portland’s favor. It creates a 50/50 for Kevin Kelsy and Kim Kee-Hee. Jackson Ragen vacates his spot in the backline to challenge Mosquera, so Cristian Roldan has to defend the pocket created by Ragen’s absence.

Kelsy wins the 50/50 and touches the ball into space for Da Costa. In this sequence, the Timbers make two quick and correct decisions with one-touch passing. They rarely do this, and now they’ve created a big chance from it. Something to think about.

Da Costa’s first touch isn’t perfect, but it does create enough space for him to shoot. And he has to shoot because there isn’t a single support runner anywhere around him. Antony isn’t crashing the box, Kelsy and Mosquera are behind the play, and Velde is barely inside the attacking third. 

Da Costa is forced to take this on his weak foot, which isn’t optimal. However, the actual shot is very well-struck. It’s a DP-quality attempt.

However, Stefan Frei has all the time in the world to prepare for it. He makes a really good reactive save to push the ball out of bounds for a Timbers corner. Portland finally strings together a sequence that creates space and disorganizes a defensive block, but a really good save (from a shot that only needed to be taken due to a complete lack of supporting runs) denied them of an equalizing goal. That’s something to build on. The Timbers did not build on it.

In the 42nd minute, Seattle won both headers on a Frei goalkick and Rothrock was free to run behind Portland’s backline with the ball. Maxime Crepeau came off his line to close down the angle and made a great save on the Seattle native. The first half ended 1-0.

Technically, the Timbers had another chance in the 30th minute. Sloppy passing at the top of the box created a jumble of bodies and Antony’s nose for the ball put a loose ball into the box for Kelsy to hit. But Nouhou made a good block, and the ball went out for a corner. That’s what center referee Rubiel Vazquez signaled after the ball exited the field of play, but his linesman (who didn’t have a clear view of the block) gestured for a goal-kick. This was the only major officiating error I can find from this game.

Portland had a chance to equalize in the 53rd minute. Prior to this opportunity, Kamal Miller made a herculean block on a Rothrock cutback to the elder Roldan in Portland’s box. The Timbers had an opportunity to counter, and Velde was finally unleashed after being held in check by Nouhou for the entire first half. His entry pass found Antony in stride, but a horrific first touch caused the ball to fall directly into Frei’s arms. Velde was able to create a shot on his own in the 67th minute, but his attempt whizzed past Frei’s far post and out of bounds. Crepeau was forced into action again seconds later after another easy Sounder buildup sent Georgi Minoungou running down the right side with the ball. His cross found Danny Musovski in the box, but Crepeau made another outstanding point-blank save. In the 83rd minute, Velde received a pass in space with room to charge into Seattle’s box, but his weak right-footed attempt was too easy for Frei to corral. During the second half, the Timbers routinely threatened Seattle’s box, but they didn’t threaten Seattle’s goal. However, in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, their best chance of the half had arrived.

Velde has drawn three defenders. However, it is the dying moments of a rivalry game, and only three Timbers have arrived to crash the box.

Can this be classified as an early cross? Velde hits it in stride, and it does force the defense to scramble to react. Because of how the Timbers attack in general, I’ll call it an early cross.

Although this cross is met by Joao Paulo, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Because the ball was played early, every player in the box has to scramble for it. The angle that Paulo takes is very risky, and the Timbers actually have players in the vicinity to pressure and force a bad touch or loose ball.

That’s exactly what Felipe Mora does by simply being a body in the box. The ball falls in the center of the box, with two Timbers (Mora and Omir Fernandez) in a perfect position to shoot.

This isn’t a perfect chance by any means. But it’s all that Mora could hope for. With a goal drought of 20 games and the opportunity to finally find the back of the net, he turns and hits it first time. Is it the best option? Well, he can’t see Gage Guerra and the space that has opened for a through ball. He’s in full reaction mode. This is a shot that he has to take. And he can’t just shoot. He has to score.

Mora takes a couple of seconds to adjust himself to shoot. Instead of looking up, he’s looking directly at the ball. He doesn’t see Guerra or the lane for the pass. He’s only thinking of the drought. His thoughts are entirely focused on getting that ball into the goal.

And he shoots it directly at Frei.

This was Portland’s last real chance. However, the Sounders couldn’t help themselves. Someone needed to be heroic. At this point in the game, it was clear that Portland’s unbeaten streak at Lumen was going to end. But that doesn’t stop the innovators. They couldn’t see what every other person in the stadium could. When you’re in a desperate situation, old habits kick in. The Seattle Sounders are no exception. 

I could name a multitude of reasons why this tackle from Albert Rusnak is unbelievably stupid. First of all, he doesn’t need to make it. He has a supporting defender in the immediate vicinity. Second of all, a tackle like this is 90% more likely to result in a red card than a ball recovery. Third of all, the Timbers would never score on this developing attack. All that they have done recently is create incredibly threatening half-chances. Their counterattacks in this game, by and large, were toothless. Rusnak is assuming that the Timbers would actually threaten Seattle’s goal if Omir Fernandez is able to carry the ball an additional 5 yards. That’s a gross overestimation by the Slovakian midfielder. But the Sounders had two objectives in second-half stoppage time: concede a goal and get a man sent off. 

It’s what they’ve been doing all season. They can’t help themselves. If they’re winning or tied, they concede. If they have a solid lead or are trailing, someone gets a red card. 5 minutes were initially allocated for the Sounders to throw this game away. Three minutes in, Mora shoots the ball at Frei. Four minutes in, Rusnak gets the red card. Initially, Vazquez shows Rusnak a yellow. The entire press box is in agreement: this is a red card and it will probably go to VAR and get upgraded to a straight red. To no one’s surprise (except the lower bowl of Lumen who cannot believe that their team has done another oopsie like they’ve been doing all year) Vazquez is sent to the monitor and sends Rusnak off. Portland has a man advantage (a common occurrence at Lumen) and they will do absolutely nothing with it.

The best chance that occurs for the remainder of the game is the 10-men Sounders getting through on goal via Musovski, and a trademark Diego Chara tackle to nullify the threat. The last action of the game is Velde winning a corner kick, but Vazquez blows the whistle before the Timbers have a chance to take it. He had seen enough. Everyone had. He spared the Timbers an opportunity to embarrass themselves again. For that decision, he deserves praise. The Timbers deserve nothing. 

Player Ratings

Most of my takeaways from this game are big-picture. So let’s get right into the player ratings. However, I’d like to acknowledge one thing: for the first time this season, I completely agree with the g+ player ratings.

Usually I don’t agree with these. G+ can be a flawed metric. But these ratings are pretty accurate. So I’m going to go through each player from highest to lowest. 

Maxime Crepeau: 9

Crepeau isn’t on the chart, but I’m going to start with him first. In his first start in a month-and-a-half, he looked brilliant. He made every save that he needed to and De la Vega’s goal was a chance that heavily favored the shot-taker. This is a game where the Timbers lose 2-0 or 3-0 without Crepeau making several incredible saves. A performance like that deserves a win. 

Finn Surman: 9

Finn Surman is the team’s MVP. There’s no denying it. He made a total of 17 defensive contributions in this game. This includes 2 tackles (one of them as the last man), 3 blocks, 9 clearances (5 aerial), 2 interceptions, and 2 ball recoveries. He’s a Terminator. During this international break, he’ll be testing himself against Poland (Robert Lewandowski) and Norway (Erling Haaland). Lordy.

Kamal Miller: 9

Miller’s absence from the starting lineup was a serious wake-up call. Since returning, he’s been outstanding. Tonight, he put in a textbook defensive performance. But his passing (specifically his willingness to play long balls) were my favorite part of his game. Since returning to the team against Vancouver, he’s looked like the center back who was supposed to be a foundational piece for this team. 

David Da Costa: 7.2

Da Costa looked bright. This is the biggest compliment I can give him, and it isn’t backhanded at all. Since Leagues Cup, he’s looked more like a passenger than a DP. The only criticisms I can really think of apply to the entire team. He was active all over the pitch but lacked the decisiveness that a DP needs to bring to the game. 

Cristhian Paredes: 6.8

The Paraguayan tried to be the “pass-before-the-pass” guy, and did an OK job in that regard. However, he wasn’t at his best defensively, and continued to give the ball away in the middle of the pitch.

Kevin Kelsy: 7.9

After the game, Phil Neville said that Kelsy “showed that he was a man.” I agree. I thought he was making the right decisions and was one of the few attackers to play with intensity and purpose. However, this team is allergic to giving him service in advantageous situations. More on that later.

Diego Chara: 8.4

I thought this was going to be Diego Chara’s 400th start in a Timbers uniform. It wasn’t. He came off the bench and made one of the defensive plays of the game. He probably should have started. 

After the game, he said the defining quote of the season: “We need to start making better decisions with the ball.” Yep.

Kristoffer Velde: 5.8

After a brutal first half that saw him get clamped by Nouhou, Velde slightly improved in the second half. However, both of his best chances to score ended in a shot that went just wide of the post and an easy diving save for Frei. The same player who said “Let’s see if we can provoke it over there and spice it up a bit,” lost 4/17 ground duels and didn’t complete ANY of his 11 attempted crosses. 

Ian Smith: 7

A couple of strong moments from Smith in the first half (overlapping runs and a couple interceptions) raised this grade. I thought he met the significance of a rivalry game in his first start against the Sounders. It was the right move to sub him off after he got yellow-carded.

David Ayala: 6.6

Portland’s completely disorganized midfield isn’t entirely Ayala’s fault, but he wasn’t making great decisions with the ball at his feet. He routinely invited pressure when he didn’t need to, and probably should have blocked the cross that turned into De la Vega’s goal. Over the past couple of weeks, his performance level has started to drop.

Omir Fernandez: 7.2

His most notable moment of the match was being the victim of Rusnak’s red card. But he did show the proper will and drive to try and find an equalizer. 

After Fernandez got tackled, only one Timber comes to his defense: Diego Chara, to talk to the referee. No one gets in Rusnak’s face. They don’t care.

Ariel Lassiter: 6.8

He was brought in to play fullback, and looked like he was out of position. But he gets a couple extra tenths of a point for effort.

Gage Guerra: 6.8

Guerra entered the game as a striker and didn’t get any service. I’d rather see him on the field than Felipe Mora. It didn’t surprise me at all to see him enter the game first instead of the veteran Chilean.

Felipe Mora: 5.8

He had to put that shot anywhere else, but he shot it directly at Frei. The scoreless streak has reached 21 league games.

Juan Mosquera: 6

Per the counting stats, Mosquera was solid. But for the eye test, he was awful. I’d like to give him credit for his contribution to Da Costa’s chance. Those types of runs and first-touch passing are what the Timbers are missing in the final third. 

However, he routinely fell down on the defensive end. I’ve never seen him slip so often. Is it the surface? Maybe. But he also fails to track De la Vega on Seattle’s goal. I don’t think he was on his game yesterday. 

Antony: 5.4

Antony is the perfect Phil Neville attacker. His elite skill on the ball can create something out of nothing. When the Timbers are in transition, he can be unstoppable. However, he can be completely out of ideas when the Timbers are in the possession phase of play. Tonight, he routinely made horrific decisions and made terrible touches that led to turnovers. He could be an elite player. He has all the tools to do so. However……

Coach Rating: 2

Is this a terrible coaching performance? I don’t think so. In fact, I believe it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect.

Neville’s job as a coach is to put the players in their best position to succeed. At halftime, it was obvious that Velde was having a difficult time with Nouhou on the right wing. However, Neville made no adjustments. Velde stayed on the right side, and Antony remained on the left. He couldn’t even swap the wingers. 

Waiting until the 80th minute to make a sub is inexcusable. It was blatantly clear that the Timbers were still struggling with their usual issues, but Neville didn’t see anything wrong. “I feel like we’re doing everything except the most important thing: putting the ball in the back of the net.”

This is where the gaslighting begins. Well, where it continues. The Timbers have had a problem with their out-of-possession structure all year. It hasn’t changed. They continued to leave too much space between the lines and made it way too easy for Seattle to progress the ball. They’re “doing everything” because the center backs and goalkeepers have to put in herculean performances every week to keep games close. I’m so tired of talking about this. I shouldn’t have to mention the out-of-possession structure every week. But it hasn’t changed, and the Timbers continue to get gashed. They’re eternally beatable. 

They aren’t tough to play against when the other team has the ball, and they aren’t tough to play against when they do have the ball. Their attack is fascinating because they create their own downfall. 

When the Timbers have the ball, they always allow the opposing defense to fully recover. They create the blocks that they can’t break down through their own indecisiveness and lack of urgency/aggression. It doesn’t surprise me at all that they can’t score goals. They simply don’t want to. Teams that want to score (like the Sounders) take every opportunity that they can to move the ball forward and bring players into the attacking third at speed. The Timbers do move the ball forward, and they do (occasionally) bring players into the attacking third. But that last element is completely absent. 

The Timbers do nothing with urgency or aggression. They opt to slow down when they need to go fast. They spend more time at the top of the opposition box waiting for something to happen instead of forcing something themselves. 

Phil Neville went on “This is MLS” this week and spoke about his time playing for Sir Alex Ferguson. “We didn’t train tactics, we trained character.” 

This quote is infamous, much like his “God is a Timbers fan” quip from last year prior to the Timbers suffering their worst loss in club history. As someone who observes every open training session, I can confirm that they do train tactics. I usually don’t have an issue with the game plans laid out for their games. Sometimes I don’t see the players executing it. That’s the biggest indictment of Neville’s tenure. 

If you’re going to be mentality-first, the team has to compete. Instead, they’re the most beatable team in MLS. And it isn’t due to a lack of talent or a catastrophic ability to shoot themselves in the foot. After the Houston loss, I called out this team’s lack of competitive growth. 

There has been some growth. Kelsy has looked like Portland’s starting-quality striker over the past couple of games. However, he hasn’t scored a goal since August 16th against Cincinnati. That’s not his fault. Per my recollection, he hasn’t blown a single can’t-miss chance since that Cincy game. He simply hasn’t had a can’t-miss chance to blow. His fellow attackers refuse to find him in advantageous situations. Instead of firing in an early cross that could lead to, well, ANYTHING, the ball gets dragged back and the entire opposition defense recovers.

These Timbers have no character. They have no drive. It’s still a collection of individuals playing in a system that is actively hindering their ability to be competitive in a game of soccer. These issues have been the same since February. They’ve continued into March, April, May, June, July, August, September, and now October. 

Neville said that the Timbers “dominated” the first half. I disagree with that assessment. They had moments of control, sure, but in order to dominate you need to show purpose, intent, and an idea of how to score a goal. Outside of that sequence that ended with Frei saving Da Costa’s shot, those ideas and all the mental traits that accompany them were absent. 

“They had 3 or 4 minutes from the foul to the VAR review to the red card and they played an extra minute. That’s staggering.” Per my notes, that entire sequence lasted two minutes, and three minutes were added onto the initial 5 minutes. The Timbers actually got more time. It didn’t matter.

“I didn’t think the referees or the 4th official had good games.” I thought that the Timbers had a couple of moments where they could’ve received a red card, but replay showed that the referee’s initial ruling of “no foul” was correct. Neville was more adamant about some offside calls, but I didn’t think there was anything egregious outside of the corner kick that turned into a goal-kick in the 30th minute. 

“I thought we played well. I thought we were doing everything, in and out of possession, and we’re missing one phase of our play that’s absolutely killing us at this moment in time.”

I don’t need to add any more quotes. This one says it all. It’s one thing where a game is decided on a razor-thin margin, but the Timbers did not look like winners yesterday. I’m not going to be gaslit. If that is “playing well” and “doing everything” it’s completely unacceptable. That “one phase of play” could be anything. In my mind, it’s almost everything except Finn Surman, Kamal Miller, Dario Zuparic, James Pantemis, and Maxime Crepeau’s desperate defending.

The 2025 Timbers are a polar opposite of the 2024 team. Sitting at 11-11-11, they’ll equal last season’s record with a win on Decision Day against San Diego. But they’re one win away from matching last season’s point total in the opposite fashion. Last season’s Timbers failed to desperately defend, and their offense had to ensure their competitiveness. In 2025, their defense works their ass off to ensure that games remain within reach. They went from relying on their DPs to begging their DPs to change the game. That’s what it comes down to. 

Last year’s team had an identity: the team that never stopped trying to score a goal. This year’s team doesn’t stop getting in their own way. It’s the most bland and uninspiring Timbers team since they joined MLS, especially considering the talent on the roster.

This is Neville’s defining moment as Timbers head coach so far. Forget the 5-0 against Vancouver last year. After that game, he was furious. After tonight’s loss, he tried to paint a picture of this team’s competence and their “good performance.”

Final Whistle

This loss drops Neville’s record against the Sounders to 1-2-2. In that one win, they were competitive and desperately defended their own box. In the first draw, one moment of magic from Antony provided Portland’s lone goal and the Timbers didn’t have control with a man advantage. The second draw saw the Timbers fail to threaten Seattle’s box during the entirety of the second half. In both losses, the team gave up. After the first loss, I was fuming. After this one, I’m completely apathetic.

Diego Chara was at the podium for tonight’s first press conference, and I went into the hallway after it ended. The visiting post-game presser room at Lumen is another closet, and it was easier to wait in the hallway for Neville than sit behind the door with no room to maneuver. While I was waiting, Brian Schmetzer came into the hallway.

Back in May, Schmetzer roamed the cavernous service level of Providence Park accompanied by pen clicks that could be heard for miles. Tonight, he was grinning from cheek to cheek. This rivalry is personal for him. The ocean flows through his veins instead of blood. This is what he desperately wanted for ages. For 8 long years, his beloved Sounders were unable to taste victory on their home field against their biggest rivals. The gigantic weight that held him down for those 8 years was lifted. Due to my complete apathy about this result, I took the opportunity to do the unthinkable: I congratulated him on the win.

He wasn’t the first member of Sounders personnel that I congratulated. As I was walking to the presser, I ran into Craig Waibel in the tunnel. I looked at him, gave him a fist-bump, and said, “Nice win.” He was beaming with joy. The weight was off his back too. But Schmetzer’s weight was heavier than anyone. More than Jordan Morris, who still hasn’t scored a goal against the Timbers since Barack Obama was President. More than Cristian Roldan, who has also been around for the entirety of this streak and once again bossed the midfield. 

More than Paul Rothrock, the local kid who has become a Sounders hero. After the game, Rothrock stayed on the field to talk to a row of fans hanging on the rails of the South End stands begging him for a picture, autograph, or some combination of both. When Neville’s press conference ended, and I began the walk across the south endzone back to the press box, Rothrock was still there. A kid asked him for his warm-up shirt. He politely declined. I congratulated Rothrock as well. The relief in his eyes was palpable. The weight was lifted. 

Now we go back to Schmetzer, the unflinching leader. He responded with a brief but monumental quote: “It was a good game, a hard game, intense. I loved it.”

That last line was spoken with one of the biggest smiles that has ever crossed his face. I kept repeating it to myself as I opened my Notes app to write it down. I didn’t want to forget it. I had to get every word. This one sentence was more important than anything Neville said yesterday. 

Nothing that anyone on the Timbers can say matters. Their performances speak for themselves. The only thing that their words validate is the head coach’s opinion that the Timbers played well. Based on their actions, they’re perfectly fine being a complete void of a soccer team. Other teams inspire courage, hope, fear, or even terror. Those descriptors can apply to opposing teams or even their own fans. The 2025 Portland Timbers can only inspire apathy. A complete lack of caring. A complete lack of will and drive to beat their biggest rivals. It’s beyond unacceptable.

A legion of fans traveled north to be in the stands for this game. Along the way, they spent their money. Gas or a train/bus ticket, accommodations in case they didn’t want to travel back the same night, a game ticket, a jacked-up price to park their car, and countless dollars of beer and food. At a time where nothing is cheap and everything costs an arm and a leg, these fans spent their hard-earned money to go to Seattle, sit in the worst away section in the league, and bring their fire and passion to their team from the nosebleeds. This is how their team repaid them.

If this streak ended due to the Sounders dominating Portland and completely outclassing them, I wouldn’t be angry. Seattle does that on occasion. Sometimes a team is just better and proves their superiority. The Seattle Sounders did not do that tonight. They presented a version of themselves that was beatable, but required effort, character, and proper ideas to accomplish that hypothetical victory.

The players did not bring the effort. The coaches did not provide them with the proper character. And the coaches did not give them the ideas and structure to win. This loss is more infuriating than the 6-2. I left Providence Park after the 6-2 acknowledging that sometimes your team just runs into an unstoppable force that scores the most outrageous goals that leave you with a shrug. In the 6-2, the Timbers outshot the Sounders. They were competitive. They forced the Sounders to pull out every trick in the book to score each of those 6 goals. Some of those goals would never be repeated. They were destined to occur in that game. Portland couldn’t stop them. They were acts of God.

Tonight, the Timbers allowed the streak to end. Losing to the Sounders is unacceptable, but another tier of outrage is reached when the team allows themselves to lose to their biggest rival. The streak was going to end at some point. Dropping it like this is offensive. It’s distasteful. It’s utterly lousy.

Despite a crushing loss across the street by the most important sports team in the city, Seattle had something to celebrate tonight. Streaks like this are always meant to be broken, and my fascination with Portland’s unbeaten run was born out the various ways they managed to keep it going. It’s one of the most interesting streaks in league history. How can one of the most consistent clubs over the last decade routinely crap their pants at home against their biggest rivals? They nearly did again tonight, but the Timbers simply didn’t want to take advantage. 

As I walked out of the bowels of Lumen and back onto the field, a DaBella banner with the Sounders logo was being taken down as the grounds crew prepped the stadium for Sunday’s Seahawks game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All evidence of this victory was promptly erased from the stadium. Many fans of the Seattle Seahawks will walk into Lumen Field on Sunday afternoon without any knowledge of what took place on that playing surface less than 24 hours ago. I walked out of the stadium and ran into a guy in a Mariners jersey who clearly needed some cheering up. My apathy about the Timbers turned into empathy, and I wanted to give him something to smile about. After offering my condolences about the Mariners’ loss in Game 1 of the ALDS, I decided to give him something to be happy about: “At least the Sounders won, right?” His response: “Who?”

Tonight’s loss is another dark cloud on the city of Portland. For the last couple of weeks, Portland is back in the national spotlight after the federal government has tried to advance their authoritarian takeover of American cities. After fabricating another story about the city being under attack, federal troops are set to invade the Rose City again. That’s what it is; an invasion. They’re looking for trouble, and are begging to be provoked. Residents of this city will do what they always do in the face of tyranny: stand up to it. Last year’s Timbers evoked the same sense of this mentality. The 2025 Timbers, in Year 50, allow their rivals to win games.

This is the first year since 2017 that the Timbers have failed to defeat the Seattle Sounders. Of course, there’s always the possibility that they meet in the playoffs, but the Timbers have to show that they want to be in the playoffs first.

None of the teams from Austin on down (except Dallas) want to be in the postseason. Portland remains in 7th place purely due to the incompetence of their neighbors. That line has to be a repeat from a previous article. It’s the common theme of the Western Conference in 2025. None of these teams actually want to win.

Dallas has a game-in-hand which will be played in Carson next weekend. It’s the reverse fixture of their game on Saturday, which they won 2-1. RSL has to travel to Seattle for their game-in-hand next weekend. Based on the math, the Timbers will play a game in the postseason. Not the playoffs, mind you. If Dallas wins next weekend the Timbers will finally drop into 8th place; a Wild Card spot. It’s where they’ve been trending since Leagues Cup ended. But they did everything right except scoring a goal against the Sounders, so it’s OK.

Since it became clear that this team would be in the postseason, I’ve held the belief that this team can only be judged in the playoffs. That thought was based on their performances against their fellow playoff teams right after the Summer Three joined. Now one of those signings is out for the season, another one missed tonight’s game with an injury, and the third had his worst outing in a Timbers jersey so far. These players were brought in to push the team over the line. Instead, their canoe is starting to tip. 

This (awfully long) article began with the definition of insanity. All three definitions were on display in tonight’s game. I showed insanity by offering my congratulations to Brian Schmetzer when a simple nod of respect would have sufficed. That’s the 1590 definition. The disorder referenced in the definition is “apathy,” which someone like myself should never feel about the Portland Timbers. I didn’t need to congratulate Waibel or Rothrock either. But I clearly wasn’t in a clear state of mind.

Neville’s coaching job tonight is congruent with the modern definition. Zero subs before the 80th minute falls under “extreme folly/unreasonableness.” Same with his post-game quotes about how they looked good in and out of possession.

But the colloquial definition is the most important. Flaws with this team’s structure and approach have been apparent all year. Neville has taken zero steps to prevent the Timbers from being eternally beatable. By gaslighting a group of reporters and everyone who watched his post-game press conference, he’s fully committed to “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

Eternal Blue, Forever Green (abbreviated as EBFG) is Seattle’s equivalent mantra to Rose City ‘Till I Die (RCTID). Tonight’s game has given those initials a new meaning: Eternally Beatable, Forever Gaslit. The objective for Phil Neville’s Timbers going forward is doing everything in their power to change that. Based on how it’s gone so far, I don’t know if they will. I absolutely think that they can, but they have to want to recognize their own systemic weaknesses. As of right now, I don’t think they will. The canoe is tipping.