In a change of pace, Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese held his regular media session on Thursday without a game in the near future. Instead, his team has just begun its prolonged run-up to their next match, a win-or-go-home, Western Conference quarterfinal against FC Dallas on November 22 at Providence Park (7pm PT, ESPN).
“We feel very proud that we are going to be able to play at home, [but] missing the fans,” Savarese said toward the end of this session. “We know that it is going to be tough, but we've been preparing for this challenge, and we're looking forward to it.”
Though some of Thursday’s questions touched on next weekend’s matchup, Savarese’s video conference was most noteworthy for the time he spent reflecting on the season, as well as his view on a rare break for his team. In an effort to play as many games as possible this season, Major League Soccer created a tight schedule over the last two months, making week-long breaks exceptions to a more crowded norm.
Come kickoff on November 22, the Timbers will have gone 14 days between games, their longest break since MLS’s season was temporarily suspended this spring.
“In these moments when you have too much time, you tend to get a little too comfortable,” Savarese explained, having already said the break would “definitely be a good thing, for us to have had the chance to regroup.”
“That's one thing that I know the guys will not do,” he continued. “They’ve been through these moments and this experience, for us to know and understand, to make sure that we're sharp, and that our mind is ready to raise the level as soon as we need to. That starts in the practices and the closer that we get to the game.”
Part of the team’s current break, taking place as players like forward Felipe Mora and midfielder Andy Polo are away with their national teams, has allowed Savarese to reflect on the “sacrifices” he’s seen during 2020, something he didn’t limit to those on the ground in Beaverton.
“When we go and analyze all … the things we have gone through,” Savarese began, alluding to his team’s COVID-19 precautions, “and how disciplined our guys have been when they sacrifice, we have to understand: We talk so much about the sacrifice of the players, but what about the sacrifice of wives? What about the sacrifice of the children, the families? They have to be in the house. They have to be cautious. They have to make sure that they are so aware of doing the right things to make sure that the players are healthy. The fact that the guys have done that and the families have done that, I’m extremely proud.”
Savarese alluded to the team’s success at the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, something he says, “looks like it was 10 years ago, because nobody talks about it anymore.” It’s the way 2020 has felt for most of us. The periods of shock, then acceptance, then adjusting and regrouping all feel so distinct, and in some cases, so long ago. When a break like the current one arrives for Portland, it feels like another twist – a new challenge in a year that’s tested the team’s ability to adjust.
The adjustments that extend into players’ personal lives are one type of twist, albeit an unconventional one. They’ve defined 2020, though there have been other, more conventional challenges the team has had to overcome.
“We miss Seba,” Savarese said, alluding to the loss of Sebastián Blanco to a fall ACL injury. It was the first of two ACL tears the team was dealt since summer. “Now, we start missing Jaro [Niezgoda] as well. And [Dairon] Asprilla wasn't available for a long time.
“So, a lot of credit for the guys that have been just making sure that they all support each other and where we are. And right now, [we are] preparing the best that we can for this first match of the playoff, and [are trying] to make sure that we arrive very strong, with a strong mentality.”
This week, the team is focusing on the little areas of improvement. For some players, that may be a specific technique on the field. For others, it would be strengthening one area in the gym. Maybe it’s just rest before the playoffs take hold. As Savarese explained elsewhere in his press conference, a slow buildup is taking place before that match. “Of course, in the end, you have to make sure that the guys use this time to recover, to get better, to work on some individual things,” he said, “but the intensity, the mentality needs to be very much focused on the first match that we have in the playoff.”
In between, it’s OK to take a moment to reflect. After 27 games in a COVID world, the Timbers have earned as much. But it’s not only the players that have made sacrifices. In the locker room and beyond, the Timbers’ as family, extended, have changed their lives to make a season possible. The reward for those changes is their health, but it’s also a chance for a trophy in the postseason.
