The Portland Timbers lost their third straight game since the firing of Coach John Spencer, have been outscored 11-3 in those three games, and are now the sole occupants of lastplace in the Western Conference with 19 points from 20 games.
On Saturday, the Timbers fell, 5-0, at FC Dallas, which had won only four of its previous 21 games. The Timbers also set an MLSrecord for the most road minutes without a goal, now having gone 697 minutes since scoring away from JELD-WEN Field.
“What is there to say? Humiliated,” Timbers interim headcoach Gavin Wilkinson said. “I think we quit tonight. I don’t think tactics lost us the game. It’s not me isolating the players. I’m in it with them, soI’m very careful about what I say there. But we are embarrassed tonight. We found a way to lose the game, scored an own goal, and then dug a deeper hole and didn’t track runners. Youcan’t tactically allow for players to not track runners. They’ve got a job to do. It’s up to us collectively to get the jobs done. But this is unacceptable, completelyunacceptable.
“I feel humiliated. I feel terrible for the organization. We talk about how great our fan support is. We had a group of fans that traveled tonight, and I apologize tothem. And that’s me and the organization apologizing. It’s important that we readdress the situation.”