Our KeyBank Scouting Report usually focuses on three different aspects of the coming Portland Timbers game, hoping to avoid defining a game by any single element. But in the wake of last Saturday’s victory in Columbus, Ohio – and in the build-up that started after the game three weeks ago, in San Jose, California – a single theme is becoming increasingly clear, one which is defining improvement in every aspect of the team.
At times, this theme gets called commitment. At others, it’s referred to in more general terms, like work. Mentality is a related but more over-arching concept, while the word desire has also been evoked.