Project has become a loaded term. At least, it has in the soccer world. Unless you frequent the rarified heights of somebody like Pep Guardiola, who seems intent on taking his “project” to a new megaclub every three seasons, the word always carries a euphemistic tone. No club that wants to win now calls itself a project.

It’s why you don’t see the Portland Timbers, for all the changes they made this offseason, use the p-word. Change in coach? Significant roster movement? A new emphasis on bringing in youth? Those are trademark qualities of a new project, but not for Portland. The team finished first in the Western Conference during last year’s regular season. Slow start be damned, the team wants to do the same again this season.

If New York City FC’s 5-0-2 start is any indication, City Football Group’s MLS venture is on track to reach similar heights this year, but it wasn’t so long ago that one of Major League Soccer’s newest teams was being described in a project’s terms: starting from the ground up; adopting long-term goals for culture and style; the adherence to a broader, global vision. Before they reached the field, NYCFC seemed like next page in a PowerPoint presentation, one that charted CFG’s plans for world domination.

The realities of actually competing came through in NYCFC’s 2015 debut, forcing the organization to regroup the following offseason. But in the shakeup that hit their technical staff, the franchise found a perfect project master – the type of person that can come in, look at your disheveled and demoralized office, and convince the team’s it’s not so bad, after all. Reassigning Patrick Vieira from Manchester City’s reserves, CFG injected the identity and purpose New York City had lacked in year one, and over the last two-plus years, Vieira has started to take NYCFC out of project mode.

Consider where the team was when he took over. Despite importing David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andre Pirlo, the team struggled, as most expansion teams do. Through history’s lens, their 37-point debut hit the middle of the first-year curve, but there was something missing, something that, from the outside, we didn’t realize was absent at the time. Amid all the arguments defending what then-head coach Jason Kreis had done, we couldn’t see what CFG had access to in Vieira – what they had been grooming since he retired with Manchester City five years before.

Quickly, North American soccer got up to speed. At the end of his first 11 games in charge, Vieira had not only produced an improved record (4-3-4) but was determined to dramatically change the team’s style, for better or worse. Highlights of New York City trying to play out of the back, failing, and conceding easy goals were juxtaposed against the team’s improving results: 5-4-2 over their second 11 games; 6-3-3 to close the last third of the season. NYCFC would make the playoffs in their first season under Vieira, finishing second in the East in the process, but people wondered what they could have been if Vieira just accepted that his team couldn’t always play the same approach.

It was a refrain that echoed more resoundingly after Vieira’s team was ushered out of the postseason:

This, however, is how most projects grow. Occasionally, one will break that pattern -- as Portland did in 2013, finishing top of the West in Caleb Porter’s first season – but there’s a type of scientific method to most development. Make some discrete, step-wise improvements. Assess them over the season. Repeat that process again in the offseason.

After his first season, Vieira’s squad underwent a major turnover, with only two regular starters keeping their spots throughout the 2017 campaign. At its core, though, the team’s identity was the same. They were intent on being a patient but purposeful possession team, and with the acquisitions of two new central defenders (Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot), a revamped midfield (Alexander Ring, Yangel Herrera and Maxi Moralez), and a new, line-to-line winger (Rodney Wallace), Vieira addressed the issues he’d discovered.

New York City FC starting lineup evolution, 2015-2018 Position 2015 2016 2017 2018 Goalkeeper Josh Saunders Josh Saunders Sean Johnson Sean Johnson Defense Jed Brovsky Andoni Iraola Ben Sweat Ben Sweat Defense Jason Hernandez Jason Hernandez Alexander Callens Alexander Callens Defense Chris Wingert Frederic Brillant Maxime Chanot Maxime Chanot Defense Sean Facey Ronaldo Matarrita Ethan White Anton Tinnerholm Midfield Andrew Jacobson Andrea Pirlo Alexander Ring Alexander Ring Midfield Ned Grabavoy Frank Lampard Yangel Herrera Yangel Herrera Midfield Mix Diskerud Tommy McNamara Maxi Moralez Maxi Moralez M/F Kwadwo Poku Jack Harrison Jack Harrison Jesus Medina Forward Patrick Mullins Khiry Shelton Rodney Wallace Ismael Tajouri Forward David Villa David Villa David Villa David Villa Eastern Conference Finish 8th 2nd 2nd TBD (1st on 4/20)

NYCFC again finished second in the East last season, and although they again exited the playoffs at their first stop, Vieira’s third year hints at a step further. Through seven games this season, New York is scoring more, conceding less, and collecting more points than ever before.

New York City FC goals, goals allowed, points, 2015-2018 Year Goals/Game Goals Allowed/Game Difference Points/Game 2015 1.44 1.71 -0.27 1.09 2016 1.82 1.68 +0.14 1.59 2017 1.65 1.26 +0.39 1.68 2018 2.29 0.85 +1.44 2.43

In some ways, Portland has embarked on a project of their own, even if they can’t say as much. The aspirations are higher than Vieira inherited when he began in New York. But with any coaching change, especially when it accompanies significant roster turnover, you have think beyond year one. What parts of what we have, now, will be here when we’re our best selves? What sacrifices do we have to make now to reach that long-term goal?

Vieira made those sacrifices in year one, and it the same time, he moved his team forward. The same happened in year two, but now, it the sacrifices may be over. Quickly, New York City has reached the Power Point’s next slide and may be ready to contend for a title.

That’s what Portland will be up against on Sunday – a project that doesn’t fit the term anymore. After years of crafting and honing his team’s identity, Vieira is ready to compete for everything, and while may still see more steps to make to reach NYCFC’s potential, the Timbers are about to face one of the best teams in Major League Soccer.