Phil Neville sounds annoyed, and understandably so.
With just one win in their last six matches – granted, it was a startlingly impressive victory over Western Conference leaders LA Galaxy – and five of their last six available points dropped at home vs. non-playoff teams FC Dallas and Austin FC, the Portland Timbers aren’t exactly in ideal form as the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs loom.
“The last two games have been a real disappointment, frustration, anger,” PTFC’s English coach told MLSsoccer.com in a 1-on-1 conversation from the club’s training facility in Beaverton, Oregon during the international break. “We looked at those games as, with our home record, games where we could really get us up to where we want to be. You add six points onto our tally, I think we're where we should be then. So I think it was a real sort of killer blow, the two games. We had enough chances in the game, we're a team that scores a lot of goals, got a lot of quality.
“But over the over the course of the season, the league table doesn't lie. You are where you are because of the form, because of things that have happened. So we've got to accept that.”
High-stakes Decision Day
With 52 points instead of 46, the Timbers would sit fifth in the West instead of ninth, and be assured of rest and preparation next week instead of fighting for their lives on short rest in the Wild Card match. They’d be certain of avoiding the conference’s top seed in the event they advanced to Round One, and would probably feel a lot better about their postseason prospects overall.
Neville knows, however, that a positive result on Decision Day can go a long way towards assuaging those frustrations. That’s because Portland’s regular-season finale is a Cascadia Cup decider – a Saturday visit to Lumen Field to duel the Seattle Sounders, their most bitter rivals, in a match that will decide the season series between the clubs as well as the winner of the prized trophy MLS’s Pacific Northwest trio fight over every season (9 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“At the start of the season a fan said to me, ‘I don't care if we finish in the playoffs or not, as long as we beat Seattle.’ And I felt at the time, I thought, ‘That's some statement.’ But that's what supporters feel,” said Neville.
“You do whatever it takes to win the game, for your supporters, for your town, for your club. And I think that is a proper derby. That's what derbies mean to me,” explained the former England international. “Man United-Liverpool was a game where, when I went on the pitch, I was playing more than just a game of football. It was for all the families and friends that were United fans. It was for the badge, it was for the city, it was for bragging rights, and I feel as if with this derby, it's the same.
“That is what should get you out of bed in the morning. And that's why this game is so big for both teams.”
Evander's MVP form
It’s appropriate that this contentious fixture falls on the final day of what’s been a fairly chaotic, roller-coaster campaign in the Rose City.
At their best, Portland have looked like legit MLS Cup contenders, inspired by a career year from playmaker Evander, who’s leveled up and pushed himself into the Landon Donovan MLS MVP conversation with a whopping 33 goal contributions (15g/18a), co-best in MLS alongside reigning MVP Lucho Acosta of FC Cincinnati and one ahead of Lionel Messi and Cucho Hernández.
The silky Brazilian has more than doubled his 2023 output and passed the eye test as well, looking unplayable at times with his blend of skill, strength and swagger. He’s been ably aided, too, by Jonathan Rodríguez (16g/7a) and Felipe Mora (14g/6a), the first teammates in MLS history to all reach 14 goals in a season, while the service of Santiago Moreno (6g/14a) has also been key. The sum of it all is an explosive attack redolent with South American vibrance and creativity.
“To unlock him, we had to give him a platform, we had to give him freedom, we had to give him trust, we had to give him belief,” said Neville of Evander, explaining how PTFC sought to reduce their No. 10’s defensive duties so he could focus on getting forward. “Then we have to give him responsibility and challenge. The challenge is that you have to carry this team into the playoffs. You have to carry this team at times. That's what comes with the tag of a DP.
“We got to the point in the season where I turned ‘round to him and I said, ‘Look, your biggest challenge now is, can you win an MVP? Which means your game has to go on to another level. You have to show that you're carrying this organization.’ There's a difference between carrying a team and an organization, and the best DPs are the ones that carry and are the face of the organization. When you think of Cincinnati, you think Acosta. When you think of Columbus, you think Cucho. That's what people are now believing at Portland. Portland Timbers? Evander. Why, because he's elevated his game to a level, and because of that, he gets more trust, more belief, more confidence. And I think the kid’s been sensational.”
Attack-first mindset
Conversely, PTFC flat-out struggled at times, stacking a nine-game winless skid during the spring and limping on the road all year; the Timbers’ 3W-8L-5D away record is the worst among playoff-qualified teams. They appear equally capable of conceding at basically any time, posting just six clean sheets in league play. They can also reel off goals in bunches: Only three teams in MLS – Inter Miami, Columbus Crew and the Galaxy – have scored more league goals than Portland’s 64.
“That's my frustration, is this team's got incredible qualities to be a top-four side,” explained Neville. “We just need to improve in a lot of aspects of our play as well. Defensively, we're letting too many goals. We've lost too many games on the road, so we've still got a real hell of a lot of work to do.”
In total, it’s made Portland something of a neutral’s favorite, with a front four that attacks with gusto, a fragile back line and a tendency towards open, end-to-end games. In June The Athletic ranked PTFC seventh on its “most entertaining to watch” list, which is not exactly the sort of distinction that makes Neville’s day.
“Even though we are probably the people's team, that means nothing to me as a coach, because I'd rather be hated by everyone and be in the top four, challenging LA Galaxy, challenging LAFC,” he said. “That's my feeling. I'd rather score 10 fewer goals and be in the top four than play the way that we are and be in ninth.”
Neville was a no-nonsense defender in his playing days, and in his previous coaching gig, a two-and-a-half-year stint in charge of Inter Miami, devoted substantial focus to making the Herons a sturdier defensive unit. This season has convinced him that his Timbers squad are simply not that sort of team.
“We've tried,” he noted. “We've tried ‘let's keep it tight, let's play a low block, let’s counterattack.’ This team, there are characteristics of this team that don't suit that style. We learned that very early on, that we are all or nothing. We have to be all or nothing. If we go half-measures, we're not the same team. If we try and sit deep, we're not the same team.
“We have to attack, we have to be high press. We have an almost ‘go for it’ mentality. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but I think we've nailed our flag to the mast in terms of the way that this team has to play.”
Stick to the script
It marks another chapter in his coaching evolution, a process which in many ways began when he was still on the pitch, learning from the leadership of iconic figures like Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes.
“I played for a club in Manchester United that had to take risks to win games of football, that attacked. So I'd say that that that philosophy is what we've seen this year,” Neville explained. “I worked for a manager and club at Everton that had a different type of mentality. So I would say that going into my coaching career, I wanted to adapt a little bit of both. At Miami, I always felt we were a more defensive-type team because of the players that we had; compact and defensive type.
“Here, I think it's been the opposite. I think we've got a set of players that have to attack, that are at their best when they're attacking, they’re at their best when they've got that sort of mentality,” he continued. “I definitely have had to adapt a little bit this year. But what I haven't had to adapt is taking risks to win games of football, I think that has to be in every coach's mind. For you to be successful, for you to win things, you have to take risks. This team is the biggest risk-taking team in the whole of the conference, I feel.”
Portland can clinch the Cascadia Cup with a draw in Seattle on Saturday. Neville makes clear, however, they’re not cut out for that sort of cagey approach. Besides, a win would give them a chance to host the Wild Card match, depending on eighth-place Vancouver’s result at Real Salt Lake (9 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
So it’s safe to expect them to goose the throttle at Lumen. And that’s a welcome indicator for those aforementioned neutrals looking for fireworks in the back half of Decision Day.
“It's non-negotiable in a way that we learned very early on this team. They haven't got the capability to do that, they haven't got the qualities to do that. We haven't got the leadership and characters in the team to do that,” he said. “If we want to play that way, then we can't play that way with this group of players … that's the way that we've gone, and we're going to live and die by that this season.”
