Portland Timbers v L.A Galaxy Preview

No one captures the sentiment of Portland fans better than Timbers owner Merritt Paulson when he tweeted earlier this week, "Sick of losing to galaxy this season...let's end that :)"  Nothing is worse for Portlanders than losing to L.A, not even Galaxy forward Robbie Keanes new haircut.

Kick off for tonights game starts at 8:00 and the faux hawk sporting Keane comes in leading both teams in scoring with 6 goals on the season so far. No surprises there as the Timbers are still struggling to put the ball in the back of the net. 


While certainly girls will be clamoring to Jeld-Wen tonight to catch a glimpse of David Beckham, lets not forget that there is also a game to be played.  The first three points that newly in-stated head coach Gavin Wilkinson will have a chance to capture.   Look for the Timbers to mimic a slightly more defensive mentality, much like the one they had under Wilkinson during his tenure coaching the Timbers in the USL.   I would expect a little more tenacity and doggedness reflective of Gavins hard nosed demeanor through out the years.   However the same question still stands on where the Timbers will find their creativity.  If either Darlington Nagbe or Kalif Alhassan feature, one will most likely have a little mote of a creative role within an otherwise well drilled Wilkinson side.  A win (or I'll even go as far as saying a convincing draw) for Portland tonight would add some stability to Wilkinson's most likely temporary role.   Also with the Timbers second from bottom in the Western conference standings, it could change the attitudes of players and fans for the rest of the season. 


Galaxy Player to Watch: David Beckham
You know Beckham is coming to town when I forfeited my season ticket so my mother could go to watch her long time beau.    Every time David Beckham travels to any MLS city, albeit his sixth season in the league, he commands enough attention that the now tattooed maverick has become accustomed to.  However it was his free kick, and retrospective one game ban by the MLS, that was grabbing the headlines last week.  That goal he scored in a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes epitomized how Beckham, can still with one kick, show us why he is one of the of the sweetest strikers of the ball to this day.  In case you missed the goal you can see it here.  Becks can't motor around the field like he used to, but look for him to provide Timbers goalie Troy Perkins plenty of headaches with his delivery.

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