BEAVERTON, Ore. – Portland Timbers’ head coach Giovanni Savarese’s assessments of his team’s games rarely change significantly with time. The views he offers in the minutes after a final whistle almost always line up with those he’ll offer in the days that follow, after he and his staff break down tape of the two hours that just passed.
This trait isn’t exclusive to Savarese. Any competent coaching staff is going to give its players a clear set of objectives ahead of a game. Whether it be in a game’s immediate aftermath or in the days that follow, coaches’ assessments almost always come down to those objectives.