Portland Timbers coach John Spencer is excited by the roster they're putting together. Former Manchester United striker Kenny Cooper is the latest major name to ink with the Timbers, while ex-Arsenal fullback Kerrea Gilbert is another with the new MLS franchise.
"We'll have competition for places all around," former Chelsea and Rangers star Spencer told oregonlive.com. "We're very happy with the strength and depth and the good thing is the experience. We have guys who have played MLS before.
"We want to be able to start in a formation and be versatile enough to change our formation without making any substitutions.
"It's a testament that we've got good enough players that we might be flexible enough and good enough - technically and tactically - that we can change formations at any given time."