This Saturday our Timbers will face off against what many consider the best in MLS Real Salt Lake. RSL is coming off a disappointing defeat on Wednesday, when they failed to become the first MLS to qualify for the Fifa Club Cup. Sadly all they needed was draw against Mexican side Monterrey at home, a place they like to call the fortress. Well, we like call our house a number of things, but these days the House of Pane fits the bill. The Timbers are averaging over 3 goals a match at home, and a performance like that will be needed for us to take 3 points.

Geoffrey C. Arnold, of The Oregonian reports.

Real Salt Lake must regroup for the Timbers, a task that Kreis admitted will not be easy. Can Real Salt Lake find enough emotion and motivation for the game or will they be emotionally drained? Real Salt Lake could take out their anger on the Timbers or they could come out flat and uninspired.

Read the full article. … Read the rest

Slide Rule Pass takes a deeper look into the Timbers performance and analyzes each sides performance.

The ball had worked it’s way to Barrett after some nice one touch passing had dragged the Timbers defence all over, allowing Donovan to slip Barrett in. Donovan had dropped a little deeper, finding himself in a pocket of space as Alhassan didn’t track him, and Wallace wasn’t close enough to get to him in time before the USMNT star cleverly laid the ball into the path of Barratt, who ran into the space vacated by Futty after LA’s slick passing had pulled him out of position.

Read the full article here.

Timbers Insider has some Post Match Thoughts on the Timbers Performance on Saturday.

There’s also the issue of the center backs. I’m not totally giving up on some combination of those four guys (Brunner, Danso, Goldthwaite, Horst) working out. But believe

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Gisele Currier, known as a “matriarch” of the Timbers Army passed away last night. She was a supporter of the team all the way back to the home opener in 1975, to the more recent era, sitting at the top of 107.  When her sister passed away in 2003, the team filed past her seat and placed a rose on it.

If you want to read memories of Gisele, or pay your respects, visit this SCUSA thread.

Gisele Currier – TimbersArmy.org

Gisele Currier: True Supporter Forever More – PortlandTimbers.com

Gisele Currier, Portland Timbers Army ‘matriarch,’ dies from the Oregonian.

Memorial service set for Gisele Currier, longtime Timbers fan – The Oregonian.… Read the rest

Portland Timbers players were nominated for both Goal of the Week and Save of the Week and won them both. Congratulations to both Jorge Perlaza and Jake Gleeson! This is the second time this season that Gleeson won the honor.

Perlaza’s historic finish wins AT&T Goal of the Week
Timbers’ Gleeson wins second Save of the Week… Read the rest

The Portland Timbers are coming off two big wins that catapulted the club from 8th to 4th in the Western Conference standings. The team hopes to take that momentum into the City of Angels, as they face off against the star-studded LA Galaxy. It will be tough task as they face LA, who will be happy to be home after a three game road trip that kept them from LA for twelve straight days.

The Galaxy are 3-1-3 and are in second place in the west after squeaking by Chicago 2-1 on Sunday while missing key players. Landon Donovan is back after he skipped the 3 game road trip due to knee inflammation, and all signs at this point is that he will be ready to start against the Timbers. LA’s leading assistant man David Beckham will be back after serving a one game suspension for accumulated yellows (five in … Read the rest

Kelly McLain of the excellent Timbers Insider spoke to Assistant Coach Trevor James today about his return to the La Galaxy. James spent five years with the LA Galaxy before coming to Portland this year. James saw stuff in five years in LA, that most coaches don’t see in a lifetime.

James was in LA “pre-Beckham”, was involved in Beckham’s signing, worked under three different head coaches and witnessed the evolution of the team first-hand.

“I saw the changes in the club,” James said. “We went from changing the logo, the uniform, the colors and everything.”

In an instant, the club was the talk of the footballing world and shoved them into the national and international consciousness.

“It was crazy [when Beckham came],” said James, “Because nobody at the club had been around that sort of thing before. And he wasn’t just a big name in the game, he was

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Goal.com interviewed David Beckham at the LA Galaxy training session today and shared his thoughts about the Timbers visit.

“They’re new to this league, but they’ve done well to win their last couple of games,” Beckham noted. “We’re ready for them. We’re at home. We need to make this stadium hard to come to and our team hard to beat. We’ve had a good week’s training and we’re ready for their team. We know what their team is about and we know their strengths. If we perform well, it’s going to be a good game.”

Speaking about the atmosphere at Jeld Wen Field…
“When you play in places like that – and I’ve not played there yet, but I’ve seen some of their games and seen the atmosphere – it helps the players, especially when you’ve got a crowd against you like that,” Beckham stated. “When you play against teams

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The Timbers resumed training on Thursday after a day off. Training started with the usual physical fitness routine. Then went into a variety of pass and shoot drills. There was also an increased emphasis on defending the ball around the box.

Typical stuff on a decent weather day in Beaverton. The guys left the pitch and boarded a bus back to the stadium, a new training routine. The players are now using the locker rooms back at Jeld Wen Field and being bussed in and out from the stadium. The boys left the training grounds just in time, as a driving rain and light hail came down just as they were finishing boarding the bus.

Video and pictures after the jump