I wasn’t sure what Phil Neville was saying, but the Portland Timbers manager was also trying to answer a question without asking a question.
Neville had made it to the final question of his press conference after Portland’s 4-2 win over LA Galaxy on Wednesday. And up until then, Neville had talked about the exciting play of his star strikers – Evander, Jonathan Rodriguez and Felipe Mora became the first trio in MLS history to each score 14 or more goals in the same season – the determination of his late substitutes like Antony and Eryk Williamson and Kamal Miller’s “brilliance” in defending against one of the league’s best attacks. It was one of Portland’s best performances of the year and came at a time when the club desperately needed the three points to keep its playoff spot.
But to finish, Neville was asked in Spanish what’s next. Of the team’s five remaining games, three are away games – starting with Real Salt Lake in Utah on Saturday.
Portland (12-10-7, 43 points) has not lost at Providence Park since May. It has not won away since June.
The Portland manager paused to clarify the question in English.
“Why do we play differently at home than away?” asked Neville.
The reporter nodded.
Neville half smiled and half grimaced.
“I didn’t want to understand that,” he said, laughing. “That’s a phenomenal question.”
Portland’s away problems are the club’s great puzzle, and Neville and his assistants have spent a lot of time trying to solve it. At home, the Timbers have looked similar to Wednesday night, when the relentless attack of the club’s core players simply overwhelmed the Galaxy. Portland has a 9-2-4 record at Providence Park and averages 2.6 goals for and 1.6 goals against opponents per game. The Timbers have scored three or more goals in seven of their 15 home games. Three of the five clean sheets have come in Portland, most recently on Aug. 31 when the Timbers beat rival Seattle 1-0.
The Timbers are an enigma on the road. They are 3-8-3 away at Providence Park. They have been a tough opponent — just remember the time Portland came back against Dallas in July only to lose points in overtime — but they have been a frequent opponent, averaging 1.5 goals for and 1.86 goals against their opponents.
And Neville can’t say for sure. He didn’t think his team played badly in their last away game, a 2-1 loss to Colorado. They just didn’t make the decision. But he also stressed that the team has reached a point in the season where it’s just a matter of making the decision.
“We have to perform away from home. If we want to be a team that wants to challenge you, if we want to be a team that wants to stay in the playoffs for a long time, away games will be part of that,” he said earlier in the press conference in English. “Because of our current position, we will play many of our games away from home. So we will be prepared for that.”
Saturday will be a real test. The Timbers face a Salt Lake team (14-7-8, 50 points) that they already beat 3-0 at Providence Park this year. However, the second-best team in the Western Conference has a 10-3-1 record at America First Field, which sits 4,450 feet above sea level.
Neville mentioned this in his Spanish answer. He said the altitude makes Salt Lake a particularly difficult challenge for the second game of a week. But he also said he hopes Portland’s performance against the Galaxy is a confidence booster on both ends of the court.
Maybe it was that press conference, too. In the past, Neville was usually asked if he would answer a question in Spanish before it took place. And there were times earlier in the season when he politely declined. On Wednesday, the question just came out like that. And while he took a moment to make sure he heard it correctly, Neville figured he had reached the part of the season where he simply had to answer.
“Estoy cansado,” he said, ending with a grin.
This article originally appeared on The I-5 corridor.
— Tyson Alger
