There are multiple factors to consider when evaluating the success of a Major League Soccer player signing, with luck being perhaps the main factor. Player identification, scouting, internal development, the opportunities you provide, or the just the relationships you maintain throughout the soccer world – they’re all things to consider when asking why a player has (or hasn’t) worked for a team; or why a player even arrived on your doorstep to begin with. More often than not, multiple factors have to come together to make the relationship work.
That’s the context I use when looking back on July 25, 2017, the day Bill Tuiloma was announced as a Portland Timbers player.