Timbers announce departure of youth technical director Larry Sunderland

[Unregistered]

Let’s all be honest.

Gavin runs a dinosaur of a program with no real intentions of developing players. If the Timbers were serious then they would have better facilities than every local club. Trouble is, Vantucky and Eastside have better facilities than a Pro Club. Second, they hire coaches with different backgrounds and philosophies. This does not build players for their 4-3-3 system. Not only that but the negative tone the coaches give is a huge turnoff. Finally, they need to understand that they are not getting the best players to come or stay in their academy because of the culture that has been built. The pathway is “pro only”....so when a player figures out he won’t be a pro he leaves...

[Unregistered]

Let’s all be honest.

Gavin runs a dinosaur of a program with no real intentions of developing players. If the Timbers were serious then they would have better facilities than every local club. Trouble is, Vantucky and Eastside have better facilities than a Pro Club. Second, they hire coaches with different backgrounds and philosophies. This does not build players for their 4-3-3 system. Not only that but the negative tone the coaches give is a huge turnoff. Finally, they need to understand that they are not getting the best players to come or stay in their academy because of the culture that has been built. The pathway is “pro only”....so when a player figures out he won’t be a pro he leaves...

Better facilities? It’s very apparent you haven’t seen what the TA has access to. If by nice you mean potholes you can lose your prius in, gun ranges all set in a rural white trash environment, then sure. Hell, The gun ranges next to those other two crap holes are probably nicer. Go home, you are drunk

[Unregistered]

Let’s all be honest.

Gavin runs a dinosaur of a program with no real intentions of developing players. If the Timbers were serious then they would have better facilities than every local club. Trouble is, Vantucky and Eastside have better facilities than a Pro Club. Second, they hire coaches with different backgrounds and philosophies. This does not build players for their 4-3-3 system. Not only that but the negative tone the coaches give is a huge turnoff. Finally, they need to understand that they are not getting the best players to come or stay in their academy because of the culture that has been built. The pathway is “pro only”....so when a player figures out he won’t be a pro he leaves...

For the past several years, the Timbers have given the impression of "we're running this academy because we have to, not because we want to; given the local talent pool, it's like fishing for salmon in a large pothole".

That said, pretty much all professional academies are looking to develop pros, either for sale or for the first team. Some have some community function, but they have a different mission than youth soccer clubs.

One problem the Timbers do have (all academies face this at some layer) is too many players who are in the category of "good enough to train with the future pros, but not good enough to make it"--the so-called "training cones". These receive free training just like anyone else (and who knows, might have a growth spurt that puts them into contention)--but as you note, if it's obvious that a player is falling behind, many do question the investment in time. Which is fine--everyone has choices to make.

Speaking of potholes...

Better facilities? It’s very apparent you haven’t seen what the TA has access to. If by nice you mean potholes you can lose your prius in, gun ranges all set in a rural white trash environment, then sure. Hell, The gun ranges next to those other two crap holes are probably nicer. Go home, you are drunk

It's dumb to compare the TA training center with a youth club. The Timbers don't have to support a club of thousands of players, host youth tournaments, or have a baseball diamond. For the purposes of having a place for players to train, King Street is adequate. The turf is nice, and the indoor facilities are at least adequate.

The more interesting comparison is with academy training centers at other MLS clubs, many of which are palatial compared to what the Timbers have. And many of the amenities many of these offer--things like residence halls and classrooms for out-of-town players--have little to do with soccer.

The "white trash" comment is rude and offensive. (And Fisher's Landing, which Harmony is located near, is decidedly middle class). I'm sorry that seeing roads without sidewalks makes you think of "Deliverance".

[Unregistered]

Did you see the U14s playing on ESPN today at the Nexen Man City Cup in Oceanside? National TV. Was great to hear the commentator talking about the strong showing from the MLS clubs. One west coast MLS team was, not surprisingly, absent.

Don’t tell me that doesn’t attract talent. Every kid wants to play on TV.

Btw Sounders beat LAFC and Surf today.

Crossfire Premier's 05 team is there, and is 0-1-2 so far, IIRC.

Last time they played 05TA, I believe XFP won 2-0.

I wouldn't send the 05 TA team, as it was last year, to that tournament either (although TA seems to avoid ANY tournament or competition they aren't required to participate in); with all the turnover this past month (the Slytherins being finally sent flying off on their brooms, other players quitting and a few more likely departures being rumored, and lots of new players), fielding a team might have been difficult.

How many games were on ESPN? I know the Dallas Cup U14 supergroup does get televised occasionally. Most youth tournaments, even big ones like Surf or the Mayor's Cup, draw little interest from national TV.

[Unregistered]

It's dumb to compare the TA training center with a youth club. The Timbers don't have to support a club of thousands of players, host youth tournaments, or have a baseball diamond. For the purposes of having a place for players to train, King Street is adequate. The turf is nice, and the indoor facilities are at least adequate.

The more interesting comparison is with academy training centers at other MLS clubs, many of which are palatial compared to what the Timbers have. And many of the amenities many of these offer--things like residence halls and classrooms for out-of-town players--have little to do w

The "white trash" comment is rude and offensive. (And Fisher's Landing, which Harmony is located near, is decidedly middle class). I'm sorry that seeing roads without sidewalks makes you think of "Deliverance".

I wasn’t the one trying to say a couple local clubs were better than the academy’s facilities. , I agree there isn’t and shouldn’t be a comparison. The TA benefits from most of the same environment as the first team. That is worlds above any local club here in Portland. I also don’t think many mls academy’s even have use of their first team’s facilities so I’m guessing theirs aren’t as good either.

Plenty of higher end metro areas don’t have sidewalks (west hills, LO etc) It’s still called vantucky for a reason.

[Unregistered]

I wasn’t the one trying to say a couple local clubs were better than the academy’s facilities. , I agree there isn’t and shouldn’t be a comparison. The TA benefits from most of the same environment as the first team. That is worlds above any local club here in Portland. I also don’t think many mls academy’s even have use of their first team’s facilities so I’m guessing theirs aren’t as good either.

Plenty of higher end metro areas don’t have sidewalks (west hills, LO etc) It’s still called vantucky for a reason.

SWWA is routinely rated nationally as a best place to raise kids with access to recreation and far higher performing public schools than OR. Middle of the road public policy resulting in high state economic performance, plus sales tax based on consumption vs overloading state income taxes and property taxes like OR are positives too.

Having grown up in one of the wealthiest zip codes of Seattle Metro, higher educated, higher paying job, I choose to live in Vancouver or affectionately called “the couv”! Vantucky is a name for WA neophytes or more likely SWWA Xenophobics who travel up the whopping 10 miles or so from Portland Metro only when the “have to” with closed minds, judging from the outside what they loosely see or experience without ever living there, in their closed air conditioned cars, parking at a field and then returning home. I have many friends in LO, Portland, Beaverton and have had the privilege of driving all over neighborhoods low rent and high rent in both Portland Metro and SWWA. The not so amazing thing is there are thoughtful, good people to be found anywhere in any demographic. So make your “scratch the surface” judgments about neighborhoods and people, I can assure there are many productive people in SWWA that don’t want you living here anyway.

[Unregistered]

Plenty of higher end metro areas don’t have sidewalks (west hills, LO etc) It’s still called vantucky for a reason.

The point isn't to argue about sidewalks or other urban amenties. The point is that such socio-economic insults like "vantucky" or "general lee" ought to be kept out of this forum.

Were a Trump voter from the east side to state that the TA training center was "located in Mexico", I suspect you'd be offended, and rightly so. That said--SW Allen between 217 and Murray, and especially the stretch between Lombard and Hall, is a HEAVILY Hispanic neighborhood, so the hypothetical Trump voter in this example would be every bit as accurate as the suggestion that Harmony is surrounded by rednecks.

In other words--find something else to write about. Nobody cares about the gun range next door to Harmony--it's well-run and professional, not a bunch of local yokels blasting everything in sight with no regard to safety.

[Unregistered]

Better facilities? It’s very apparent you haven’t seen what the TA has access to. If by nice you mean potholes you can lose your prius in, gun ranges all set in a rural white trash environment, then sure. Hell, The gun ranges next to those other two crap holes are probably nicer. Go home, you are drunk

1 field for five teams. Practice until 10pm at night.

The Timbers are so far behind the curve.

The kids don’t play on the parking lot.

[Unregistered]

.

In other words--find something else to write about. Nobody cares about the gun range next door to Harmony--it's well-run and professional, not a bunch of local yokels blasting everything in sight with no regard to safety.

Gun ranges were mentioned because both sites the op mentioned being better than Timbers are located in such a rural space a fun range is next door.

[Unregistered]

Gun ranges were mentioned because both sites the op mentioned being better than Timbers are located in such a rural space a fun range is next door.

True; there's not many places in Beaverton or Portland to put in a large athletic facility. Of course, the nicest such facility in town is probably Walker Road, which the Timbers have access to, but do not own (and it's not really set up to be a professional academy venue); and it only has five soccer fields (two turf, three swamps).

Most of the other big venues like this are either located in low-rent districts (Delta Park) or on the fringes of town (Hood View).

But bringing "white trash" into the discussion was not necessary.

[Unregistered]

True; there's not many places in Beaverton or Portland to put in a large athletic facility. Of course, the nicest such facility in town is probably Walker Road, which the Timbers have access to, but do not own (and it's not really set up to be a professional academy venue); and it only has five soccer fields (two turf, three swamps).

Most of the other big venues like this are either located in low-rent districts (Delta Park) or on the fringes of town (Hood View).

But bringing "white trash" into the discussion was not necessary.

Timbers can’t expand unless they try to buy the park to the west and I’m sure that wouldn’t be allowed or okayed.

And yes to the swamp. I would prefer kids played on grass but until clubs own their own fields and can maintain them in our climate that’s not going to happen

[Unregistered]

Facilities rank fairly low on the list of things that make it a substandard program.

[Unregistered]

At the very beginning Merrit Paulson has the opportunity to revamp Delta and take most of it over...build an entirely intimate setting with four fields. $17 million dollar investment though and since the Timbers are not committed to developing local players they said no thank you!

[Unregistered]

the academy is now halfway to being much better. The next move is to get rid of RM the fraud.

[Unregistered]

Are they hiring someone new? Or just going to let the thing limp on (even more) unsupervised?