Tag: Eric Miller

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Soccer Timbers

Kickin’ It with Eric Miller

Photo by Kris Lattimore

Entering his third season with the Portland Timbers, MLS veteran Eric Miller’s versatility has been crucial in Portland’s defense.

He played minutes at both fullback positions and at centerback in 2023. The team announced Jan. 9 that Miller signed a new contract through the 2025 MLS season.

Former Timbers head coach Gio Savarese had very appreciative words to say about him.

“We got really lucky that he became available,” former Timbers head coach Gio Savarese said. “I think every team needs players like him.”

Eric Miller is also a standout off the pitch; he has been a vocal ally to LGBTQ people and advocate for causes including pet adoption. The city of Portland and fans should feel fortunate to have a player who is a superb human being and person.

Contributor Phuoc Nguyen had the chance to sit down and chat with Miller last year. Here’s some highlights from that interview.

Photo by Kris Lattimore

Phuoc: What do you like to do for fun on an off day?

Eric Miller: We’ve been trying to get out and explore Oregon a little bit. We’ve been doing some wineries, checking out restaurants, coffee shops, kind of all that stuff there.  Just getting to know the city a little bit.

Phuoc: Have you found your favorite spots to eat or coffee shops yet?

Miller: There’s a spot—it’s like 10 minutes south [of] where I live, called South Store Café—that is amazing. That’s like in farm  country, it is so good. They have an amazing breakfast. Really cool vibe, which is like a restaurant and a house. Then Ken’s Artisan Pizza, really good too, in Southeast. It’s amazing pizza. It’s really, it’s an awesome place.

Phuoc: Do you have a favorite food and dessert?

Miller: Favorite food is probably chicken parmesan. I love it. Favorite dessert is probably anything that my mom bakes. My mom’s, like, an incredibly good baker. She’s working hard around the holidays, making really delicious baked goods.

Phuoc: What is your favorite berry?

Miller: I recently tried these berries from all around Oregon. We went to the Hill Farm Market with our buddies, and we had Mt. Hood strawberries. They were amazing. They were so good, really good blackberries from, I don’t know where they were from honestly, but just like really phenomenal berries.

Phuoc: Do you have any pets?

Miller: We have two dogs. We have a German Shepherd who’s six, named Otto, and an English Shepherd who’s nine, named Cooper.

Phuoc: Have you ever played FIFA as yourself?

Miller: Way back in the day, when I was a younger player. We used to use a bunch of guys who live in the same place, and we were, like, goalies and defenders, so we all put ourselves as forwards and tried scoring on each other, which was pretty fun.

Phuoc: Do you have a favorite movie?

Miller: My favorite movie? I’ll say Saving Private Ryan, that’s a great movie.

Phuoc: What’s your favorite music to listen to? Do you have a favorite artist?

Miller: I like a very wide variety of music. After being in Nashville—my wife was really into country before. She kind of got me to the country. I really like Chris Stapleton. He’s really good. I love seeing him live.

Phuoc: If you could pick an entrance song, what would it be?

Miller: Ah man, I don’t know. We had a guy in Nashville who’s goal song was “Danger Zone.” I would do “Danger Zone.” That’s pretty good. I might go with that, too.

Phuoc: Do you watch any television? If you do: any TV show you’re currently obsessed with?

Miller: We’ve been watching Only Murders in the Building, me and my wife. That’s a really good show. I’ve been watching The Bear, that’s a great show. We, a while ago, finished the show Downton Abbey. It’s, like, a show for old people, but I absolutely loved it. It’s phenomenal.

Phuoc: If you could have a dream vacation, or go to a place you haven’t been to, what would it be?

Miller: My dream vacation? Me and my wife went to Hawai’i on our honeymoon—that was awesome. I loved it. We went to Kauai which was super cool. So, I would say maybe my dream vacation would be to go to, like, the Mediterranean or Europe in the summer, because we don’t really get to do that.

Phuoc: Do you have any items on your bucket list you could share with us?

Miller: On my bucket list? Win MLS Cup, you know? That’d be great. I’d love to do that. Other than that, just travel, see the world. All that fun stuff.

Phuoc: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Miller: Maybe being able to teleport? So I can go see all my friends and family in different places.

Phuoc: Would you rather teleport once every 24 hours or shapeshift for the entire week.

Miller: Teleport.

Phuoc: Do you have a favorite Pokémon?

Miller: No, my mom didn’t let us have the cards. I played video games at my friend’s house, but I’m not a big Pokémon guy.

Phuoc: Who’s your best friend on the team? (Editor’s note: Reminder that this interview was from last year.)

Miller: [David] Bingham, that’s my boy! We golf a little bit together.

Phuoc: If you could take one thing from your hometown [in Minnesota] and bring it to Portland, what would it be?

Miller: Can I choose my family, or no? I choose my family because I should, and it would be great to have them out, especially when we have our daughter[…] But if I couldn’t choose people, I think I would choose like the lakes. The general lake life there is so fun, and we have great weather here [in Portland[ to just have, like, a bunch of lakes, to be able to go to and boat and fish and tube and all stuff. That would be awesome.

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Soccer

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, LAFC 0

Photo Taken by the Amazing Matthew Wolfe

International duty made a mark on this game for both teams.

Five Los Angeles FC players missed the match due to international duty: Denis Bouanga, Stipe Biuk, Denil Maldonado, Christian Torres, and Cristian Olivera.

Three Portland Timbers got call-ups for their countries: Juan David Mosquera, Miguel Araujo, and Bryan Acosta. However, the most notable absence was Dario Župarić, who was out due to yellow card accumulation.

If you play against LAFC, you never know which stars will show up—even on the road.

Unfortunately for Will Ferrell, who is a member of the LAFC ownership group and made the trip up to Portland for the match, a shorthanded LAFC had no answer for the home side.

Interim head coach Miles Joseph led the Timbers to a 2-0 statement win over one of the best sides in MLS.

Although LAFC is struggling as of late, this takes nothing away from how tough of a season it has been for Portland, and how big of a victory this was.

LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy misplayed two balls in a span of two minutes that allowed the Timbers to strike first.

In the 28th minute, Larrys Mabiala had his biggest moment of the season with a headed goal off the corner kick.

 

In the 53rd minute, Claudio Bravo finished one of the best-worked goals of the season for the Timbers.

The home side were absolutely dominant in the second half and could have scored even more.

But Portland’s backline was the key. Defenders scored both of the goals and kept the clean sheet.

“I was really pleased with the performance from the start of the game all the way to the end. It was really a complete game for us,” Joseph said. “We even came in at half time and spoke a little bit about some adjust[ments] and showed a little bit of video again, and we came out an scored a goal in that exact way. It was pretty impressive.”

Photo by Matthew Wolfe
No Župerman? No Problem!

Larrys Mabiala filled in for Župarić and Araujo in both of their absences. Did he deliver? Absolutely.

His first half goal set the tone for the Portland Timbers.

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

Mabiala led the team in shots and shots on goal and was third on the team in possession won.

“The back line was shorthanded, but those are the same guys that are going out every day on the training ground,” Mabiala said. “We know what we have to do; the instructions are very clear from the coaching staff, and we all try to make a positive point. We are trying to show the coaching staff and everyone that the guys that are not playing that much, we can have a chance, and they can count on us whenever they need us. […] It doesn’t matter who’s playing just as long as we’re all targeting the same thing, which is getting the wins on the weekend to qualify for playoffs.”

His partnership with Zac McGraw and with fullbacks Eric Miller and Claudio Bravo helped preserve a rare shutout for the team.

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

Bravo, in particular, was brilliant. It doesn’t get much tougher than Carlos Vela as a defensive assignment, but Bravo met the challenge head-on. He also led the team in tackles, tackles won, possession won, shots on target, and tied for one goal.

Offense! Attack!
Photo by Matthew Wolfe

Joseph has led a resurgence for the Timbers in the attack.

In his four games at the helm, they have scored two goals in each.

Joseph said scoring was something Portland has been focused on in the postgame presser.

If he can somehow lead the team into the top nine of the table, does the interim title get removed for a permanent one?

Don’t say it

Could this Portland Timbers side really make a late season push? Joseph and the team are giving themselves a chance and making things very interesting.

McGraw put everything in perspective.

“It’s known to everyone we haven’t won two games in a row yet this season all year,” he said. “We need to build off this. Obviously, last year we went on a similar run winning games at the end, but it came down to decision day, and ultimately, we didn’t make the playoffs.

“All we can do is really go into Austin, which is not an easy place to play by any means, and push for three points,” McGraw said. “LAFC is a great team; they’re defending MLS champions, and it’s a big morale booster for the team.”

Matthew Wolfe
Photo by Matthew Wolfe
Photo by Matthew Wolfe
Photo by Matthew Wolfe
Photo by Matthew Wolfe
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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 1, FC Dallas 0

Credit: Kris Lattimore

The Portland Timbers are in a bit of a scoring drought, with only two goals in their past four games heading into their match against FC Dallas. To make matters worse, left back Claudio Bravo was out due to yellow card accumulation, and the Timbers had fallen to 12th in the Western Conference standings.

Dallas, on the other hand, came into the game in tied for third in the west.

Portland needed three points, badly.

The Timbers showed their hunger early and often, forcing Dallas to play the majority of the game on the back foot. The visitors looked nothing like their usual selves, and the Timbers picked them apart all game.

The one issue for the Portland Timbers has been their finishing—a story that held true early on in the match. They could not punish FC Dallas for their lackadaisical defending and turnovers.

In the 36th minute, that all changed. Evander hit a perfect cross onto the head of Franck Boli, who put it away to make the scoreline 1-0.

Defensively, the team remained stout and up for the challenge all evening.

The biggest controversy came in the 71st minute, when FC Dallas’ Geovane Jesus and Portland’s Diego Chará got tangled up. Referee Ted Unkel’s original call was a straight red for Jesus, but that was later overturned in favor of a yellow to both players.

Unkel’s officiating all night was inconsistent and led to frustration from both sides.

Still, the Timbers were able to pick up their first home win in nearly a month to move back into eighth place in the table.

Credit: Kris Lattimore

Moving forward

Right now, Boli is the Timbers’ best option as the No. 9. His work rate gives the team so many opportunities.

Although he has not always been the most clinical, he has deserved every start and minute he’s played this season.

After being benched at Seattle, Boli made a huge difference at home against FC Dallas—most notably scoring the lone goal of the match.

 

Credit: Kris Lattimore
It’s Miller time

After starting at right back ahead of Juan David Mosquera at Seattle, Eric Miller earned another start against Dallas, this time at left back. Miller has not seen a lot of playing opportunities, but has been solid when given the chance.

His understanding, communication, and leadership with the backline has been superb the past two matches. The role and responsibilities the coaching staff has given him has been simple and effective.

Head coach Gio Savarese was pleased with Miller’s performances. “We got really lucky that he became available” said Savarese. “I think every team needs players like him that can provide so much discipline on the field. I thought he was phenomenal today.

“Not only today,” he said, “also in Seattle. Playing on the right side in Seattle, playing now on the left side and didn’t miss a beat. His leadership, his communication, his way of not only playing but his presence on the field was very, very good. He faced different guys today. He managed all of them very well… He managed everyone the way he had to and helped the team make sure that we had a very solid defensive type of game today.”

Miller’s experience in MLS—he’s played in the league since 2014—has paid dividends for the Timbers and will serve them well for the rest of the season.

Final stats
  • xG: Portland 1.29, FC Dallas 0.3
  • Total Shots: Portland 14, Dallas 5
  • Evander led the team in shots, chances created, completed passes in the final third, and crosses attempted.
Credit: Kris Lattimore