You could feel it around practice all week; sense it in the Portland Timbers’ voices when they came off the field. With two weeks to stew in the team’s 0-2-0 start, players have been itching to get back on the field - ready to get stuck in to with someone other than themselves.
Unfortunately, the Timbers’ return to competitive action (12:30pm PT, UniMás, Univision Deportes and Twitter) coincides with a visit to one of the most talented teams in MLS – a team which, thanks to Oscar Pareja, has the identity and balance you would normally associate with a title contender.