One day after flying back into town from their preseason stint in Tucson, Arizona, the Portland Timbers were back on the training pitch today, continuing their preseason preparations at the newly christened Providence Park. Today's practice was a short one, coming immediately on the heels of the team's return to Portland.

The day's workout started off with a variety of warm up and agility drills, run by one of the team's EXOS trainers. From there the Timbers went into a series of passing drills, growing gradually in intricacy as the session progressed then breaking into two groups for seven on three possession drills. Finally, the team finished off practice with a series of seven on seven matches played on a short field.

Trialists and Guest Players

Of the unsigned Timbers' rookies, only George Fochive and Aaron Long remain with the team. Victor Chavez and Nikita Kotlov were both released from camp, according to Caleb Porter, after not showing enough in Tucson. Taylor Peay and Schillo Tshuma were both with the team after being officially added to the roster two three days ago.

Goalkeeper trialist Justin Luthy also remained with the team today. Porter addressed Luthy's situation after practice concluded, saying that the team would likely keep him on as a training keeper but would be unlikely to add him to the roster. The Timbers' other keeper trialist, Rafael Diaz, was no longer with the team.

Francis Dadzie, who was on trial with the team in Tucson, was no longer with the team today as well.

Injuries and Absences

Michael Harrington was not at practice today, having been given the day off by Porter after his long USMNT camp.

Diego Valeri and Steve Zakuani both went through the initial warm ups with the rest of the team, before breaking off to work with one of the team's trainers. Both worked out on the sidelines for a large portion of the practice before doing some jogging on the sidelines. Zakuani eventually went indoors, but Valeri stayed outside, jogging, through the entire practice. When the team's games of seven on seven had wrapped up, Valeri was still out on the pitch, practicing his free-kicks on head trainer Nik Wald.

Also on the sidelines today were Steven Evans, Bryan Gallego, and Rodney Wallace, all three of whom were working with the team's trainers in a limited capacity. It was encouraging to see Wallace, only three months removed from tearing his ACL in the Timbers' playoff match against Real Salt Lake, out on the pitch and working out already.

Practice Notes