BEAVERTON, Ore. – If the first two days of Portland Timbers preseason training are any indication, a consideration which, in the abstract, looked like a potential negative may actually be a positive.
The truncated offseason the team earned by making it to the MLS Cup final? One that saw Giovanni Savarese’s group play into the second week of December? That may have given the Timbers less time to recharge this offseason, but as early, active sessions of preseason have shown, it also meant less time for players’ fitness levels to drop.
“Actually, it does help,” left back Jorge Villafaña said, of the team’s short break, “because you don’t lose that much fitness, and you already have a base.