Rock bottom is proving to be quite deep for the Portland Timbers.
And after Saturday’s 5-0 demolishing at the hands of heretofore equally hapless FC Dallas, there’s no telling exactly how much farther the Timbers will fall.
Full Match Highlights
Sure, Portland have now gone winless in 10 games on the road with eight losses. But their futility has now reached historic levels, all against a FCD team that had won once in their last 15 games.
The Timbers set a new MLS record for the most road minutes without a goal, now having gone 697 minutes since scoring away from JELD-WEN Field. The last time the Timbers scored on the road was April 14 in a 3-1 loss to the LA Galaxy.
“What is there to say? Humiliated,” Timbers interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson said. “I think we quit tonight.”
It was Dallas dominance from the word go.
On a sweltering night at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas, the Timbers managed just one shot on goal – an attempt in the 9th minute by forward Mike Fucito, who was making his third start in a Timbers jersey, that bounced off the post with the game still scoreless.
Portland threats were nowhere to be found from that point on, with regular striker Kris Boyd, midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Jack Jewsbury and right back Steven Smith all starting the game on the bench as the Timbers played their third game in eight days.
Dallas’ possession advantage ended at nearly 58 percent but hovered in the 70s for much of the game.
The Timbers made six attempts on goal and didn’t earn a corner kick, while Dallas flowed freely on offense. They fired off six shots on goal off 14 attempts.
“I don’t think tactics lost us the game,” Wilkinson said. “It’s not me isolating the players. I’m in it with them, so I’m very careful about what I say there. But we are embarrassed tonight. We found a way to lose the game, scored an own goal, and then dug a deeper hole and didn’t track runners. You can’t tactically allow for players to not track runners. They’ve got a job to do. It’s up to us collectively to get the jobs done. But this is unacceptable, completely unacceptable.”
In three games since Spencer was fired, the Timbers are 0-3-0 and have been outscored 11-3. They’re now the sole occupants of last place in the Western Conference with 19 points from 20 games.
“I feel humiliated,” Wilkinson said. “I feel terrible for the organization. We talk about how great our fan support is. We had a group of fans that traveled tonight, and I apologize to them. And that’s me and the organization apologizing. It’s important that we readdress the situation.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at dcitel@hotmail.com.
