by Matt Hoffman
The Timbers had only just arrived back at PDX when news leaked about the details emerged about whose contracts the club had declined for 2016. “It’s a business,” is a phrase you’ll hear every now and again, and there is nothing that really quite drives that point home like a taking part in a parade between calls to your agent and your broker.
Simply put: change happens to a team, like any soccer league truly. But being in a salary-capped league like MLS truly accelerates the process. That the Timbers fielded five players on Sunday who were with the team in its MLS inception is rare, indeed.
Captain Will Johnson told us himself that he likely (though probably not to Seattle). Maximiliano Urruti had his contract declined and may find himself in a new city come Friday. First round draft pick Nick Besler also had his contract declined. Meanwhile Cascadia Corner Player of the Year recipient Jorge Villafana is reportedly heading to Santos for a transfer sum just south of $1 million
This is where expressions such as, “Don’t be sad that it’s over; be happy that it even happened” offer solace, but only precious little.
Key components are missing but of Diego Valeri, Darlington Nabge, and Fanendo Adi remains. There are promising youth like Lucas Melano, Michael Seaton and Alvas Powell who will have a full off-season to get even more integrated into the Timbers system.
Between then and February, new players will emerge to fill the vacant positions and in late February, the cycle begins again.
Gilda Radner, who would be 70 next year if she were still with us, once said:
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginnings, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”
That’s going to be my lasting memory of the 2015 MLS Cup Champions. Two months ago, the Timbers lost 1-0 at home against Sporting Kansas City. The playoffs looked plausible, but prolonged success seemed bleak. 26 days later the Timbers would meet Sporting again and win by only the slightest of margins.
But that all doesn’t matter now. Because the 2015 Timbers are, as Assistant Coach Sean McAuley put it: Legends.
What transpired from that cold October loss to today was one legendary hell of a ride.
