PORTLAND, Ore. — As Minnesota United FC’s three front-office leaders watched from a suite at Providence Park, many Loons players on the pitch didn’t earn positive job reviews Sunday.

The Portland Timbers, the defending Major League Soccer champs, sawed through the shorthanded Loons 4-0 in their opening matches of the weeklong Simple Invitational.

“It’s a test to see where we are, and I just said, ‘Look, we failed, obviously,’ ” said United coach Carl Craig. “Not just because of the score, because the score is somewhat irrelevant when you are down to nine men. You can’t expect anything but to lose. But it was lack of discipline in certain areas.” Related Articles What’s in Minnesota United FC’s name? Depends on who you ask

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One positive Sunday was a peer review. Before the game, Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson praised the early work of United owner Bill McGuire, president Nick Rogers and sporting director Manny Lagos.

Wilkinson said United is further along in its transition than his club was in climbing from a lower-level league to MLS. With Wilkinson at the controls, the Timbers made the climb from USL to the top domestic league in 2011 and made the playoffs for the first time in 2013. United likely will move from the North American Soccer League to MLS after this season.

“One of the things that I wish we would have done differently is invest the year prior to MLS,” Wilkinson told the Pioneer Press. “Started to acquire more players, more assets leading to our final year (in USL). … I could have done a better job of positioning us going into MLS.”

Wilkinson could pass on that tip of the cap to Lagos during in-person meetings early this week. Wilkinson will share his thoughts and experiences on navigating the expansion process on Monday and Tuesday.

The Loons started strong Sunday with some deep advances led by new Loon, MLS veteran Ben Speas.

His, and the team’s best chance, came in seventh minute when he outran Timbers defender Nat Borchers, but goalie Adam Kwarasey deflected the shot away. Speas has been added to an attack this preseason along with fellow MLS vets Danny Cruz and Bernardo Anor.

When Wilkinson’s positive comments were relayed after the game, Craig didn’t take the opportunity to seize a silver lining.

“It doesn’t matter where they are; it matters where we are,” Craig said. “Where we are at this moment is simply not good enough. That’s it. It’s not because we don’t have players. It’s because players didn’t do what they were asked to do. We can manage that.”

A chief reason United was blown out were red cards distributed to defenders Tiago Calvano near the end of the first half and Kevin Venegas in the 62nd minute.

The Loons were down 2-0, with 11 players against 11. With United down to 10 players, they fell behind 3-0 on a nifty give-and-go goal from U.S. men’s national team member Darlington Nagbe in the 56th minute. With nine players, Diego Valeri was rewarded with a penalty kick he converted after Venegas cut him down in the 64th.

Craig had no issues with swallowing the red cards.

“It was a good test for us to play against a good team like them,” said goalie Sammy Ndjock, who made eight saves, some stunning. “We want to do something this season and get better for next season in MLS and we got a lot of work to do. I’m disappointed, but it’s OK because its the first game.”

Craig said the biggest breakdowns came because wide defenders, Venegas and Justin Davis “got too high” and “central defenders getting pulled all over the place.”

Calvano and Venegas will be suspended for Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Fire, but they can return for the final match of the round-robin tournament on Saturday vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps.

While United has improved the attack in the offseason, also adding NASL stalwarts Lance Laing and Stefano Pinho, the Loons have not added depth at defense. They came to Portland with only four defenders under contract.

The Loons have since brought four defender trailists to Portland to see if they can earn spots on the roster. Damian Lowe, Tony Walls, Anthony Wallace and Chris Ritter will get a longer look starting Wednesday.

Timbers manager Caleb Porter didn’t follow Wilkinson’s lead after the game. Asked if anything or anyone on the United stood out or surprised him, he shook his head and said, “No.”