The Timbers languish at the foot of the Western Conference with just two wins all season and the English coach coming under fire.
Paul Reidypaulreidy67Update: May 12th, 2024 12:05 EDT
Jim DedmonUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Despite a bright start to his tenure at Providence Park with Portland Timbers with two wins in the opening three games, recent form has been poor for the Oregon side and a run of five defeats and three draws in their past eight games leaves the side propping up the Western Conference with just ten points on the board.
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Upon his appointment being confirmed late in 2023 with the MLS side, Timbers fans and in particular, the Timbers Army were angry with the appointment and asked club management to reconsider the decision citing misogynistic tweets from the former Manchester United player in the early 2010s. There were also question marks surrounding his underwhelming spell in two seasons in charge of pre-Messi Inter Miami. Neville replied and described the tweets as “wrong then and wrong now” when he initially addressed them while in charge of the England women’s national team in 2019 and reiterated that again upon moving to Portland.
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Phil Neville Portland Timbers
Derby challenge
The English coach is presented with a solid opportunity win back the flagging confidence of the Timbers faithful when the Seattle Sounders are the visitors to Portland in the latest edition of the Cascadia Derby.
The Sounders are also having an underpar start to the 2024 MLS season and sit above Portland in the table by virtue of a better goal difference.
“I see the next 14 games before the Leagues Cup as massive games for this football club, and now we need to start picking up points,” claimed Neville ahead of Sunday’s match.
These are the lights you're looking for, #RCTID pic.twitter.com/85c64p4XQe
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) May 12, 2024
A poor defence is the heart of the Timbers problems having conceded 23 goals (the second highest tally to date across MLS) with the Mancunian adding: “we need to be a team that’s ruthless enough to go on and win games of football,” Neville said. “And we haven’t seen that apart from a couple of occasions.”
