Cole Bassett back home in multiple ways when Rapids host Timbers

Cole Bassett returns home when the Portland Timbers take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday in Commerce City, Colo.

The Timbers acquired Bassett, a 24-year-old midfielder from Littleton, Colo., from Colorado in early February for $2.65 million. Bassett racked up 31 goals and 21 assists across all competitions and 172 appearances in a pair of stints with the Rapids (2018-21, 2023-25). Because he can play multiple roles in the midfield, Bassett drew immediate praise from Portland coach Phil Neville, and he recorded an assist in his Timbers debut.

Portland (1-0-0, 3 points) earned a 3-2 win in its regular-season opener at Columbus last Saturday. Ariel Lassiter netted the match-winner in the 88th minute. Felipe Mora and Antony Alves Santos also tallied goals for the Timbers.

"I really believe he's a top player," Neville said about Bassett. "I think his performance was outstanding. He was probably our best player (against Columbus). He's a multi-functional midfield player. ... He's a central-midfield player that can do every job that's asked of him."

Meanwhile, Colorado (0-1-0, 0 points) opened its season with a 2-0 loss at Seattle last Sunday. The same issues that plagued the Rapids last season bubbled up again in new coach Matt Wells' debut. Colorado was outscored 56-44 last season and missed the MLS Cup playoffs on a tiebreaker at 41 points, finishing 11th in the Western Conference's final table.

Wells said Colorado is still in an adjustment phase to his strategy. Even with that transition, the Rapids controlled 58.8% of the possession against Seattle, although the Sounders doubled Colorado up in spots (14-7).

"It's not about changing, it's about making the right process," Wells said. "That obviously takes more than four weeks for the guys to recognize in the moment what passes to play at the right time."

While Colorado showed it can win the possession battle, it has to be more intentional when building and connecting a series of passes to sustain an attack.

"If we made the right choice with a pass, we then got the touch wrong or were too flicky with possession," Wells said. "We were nowhere near secure enough."

--Field Level Media