Despite record run to the Supporters' Shield, Miami were run out of MLS playoffs by Atlanta United in foreseeable fashion
By the end of it all, it was the ghost of Luis Suarez that summarized the whole thing. There he was, all 37-years-old of great Uruguayan striker gasping with every stride, stretching every last sinew in every pass. Spurning the kind of chances he would normally bury, he finally hunched over. He looked old, exhausted, and out of his depth.
This league, one that had been his playground for much of the season, was suddenly too much – too quick, too athletic.
And he wasn't the only one. Want to know how Atlanta United beat Inter Miami 3-2 on the road Saturday night, clinched a 2-1 series win, and secured the biggest playoff upset in Major League Soccer history? It starts with something admittedly simple: Atlanta is a team, assembled for success. Miami is four star aging individuals with a handful of highly rated players – but not a cohesive side.
Yes, this collective rolled through the regular season, won the Supporter's Shield, and set a new MLS points record (74) in the process. But when it came to the what matters, the games in which the hard yards have to be put in, and the tanks have to be emptied, Miami looked old, disconnected and poorly constructed.
Having Lionel Messi's mates roll up to South Beach makes for some delightful soccer – and resounding impact in every measurable manner for MLS. But in the real version of this league – the frantic, chaotic, messy thing that has always been – an imperfect roster was exposed.
AFPThe Barcelona Galacticos assemble
At first, everything seemed fine. It had been widely assumed that Messi was going to be an Inter Miami player. When the club announced his signing in July 2023, it only seemed fair that Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets were to join him. Suarez's arrival, rumored for some time but confirmed in January, made sense. The vibes were good. The Barcelona boys were back. There they were, smiling together in training, laughing with Tata Martino – their former Blaugrana manager – Miami's Galacticos assembled in full, ready to run MLS.
And for long stretches of the season, they did just that. Busquets sat at the base of midfield, dictating the tempo, moving the pieces around. Alba pushed up the left. Suarez stayed high. Messi, in the middle, mastered the spaces in between. When all four were on the pitch, and, crucially, the regular season game's tempo slowed to a crawl, Miami were near-impossible to beat.
The Barca legends were playing at half speed, but thinking quicker than everyone else. The other pieces – Diego Gomez, Yannick Bright, Julian Gressel and Co. – just had to fit in.
It's important to note, though, that this was an unusually constructed roster. Rarely are MLS teams so laden with stars. The big names offered quality, sold shirts, and packed stadiums like MLS had never seen before. But they were a real change from MLS Cup winning sides of old.
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In a sense, then, it was little surprise that Miami managed to keep ticking along when Messi and Suarez left for Copa America. Martino still had the spine of a good team. Leo Campana, a bench player for Miami who would start for MLS sides – proved his quality during June and July. Gressel, Gomez, Bright, Robert Taylor and others are all solid MLS players in their own right.
And with Alba and Busquets still around, Miami continued to pick up points. It is too simple to suggest that Miami don't need Messi to win – and scandalous to say that they are better off without him. But in the dog days of the season, in which everyone is impacted by the international tournaments and the whole thing becomes a bit of a slog, Miami had a real buzz and energy.
It proved to be something of a paradox, though. That success – eight wins in nine games without Messi – showed that this can still be a winning side. The bones of a typically successful MLS team were in place. their playing style changed. Busquets played center back for a while. Alba's assist numbers dropped.
A more athletic Miami, not as buoyed down by its old legs, picked up points. In a sense, it all showed that there was multiple ways in which Miami could win. But there was always going to be a pivot to the style of old.
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Atlanta, ironically, were the first team to really expose all of this in the regular season. It was Sept. 18, and Messi was on the fringes of the return from his high ankle sprain sustained in Argentina's win in the Copa America final. Everyone else was back, and Miami tried to play in their typical, high-possession sort of setup.
The Black and Red ran rings around them in a 2-2 draw that really should have been a win for the home team. They imbalanced Miami, moving the ball side to side quickly, before hitting the ball long. The Herons, hammered by injuries and looking leggy, were constantly running backwards towards their own goal, an imbalanced unit gasping for air.
This was chaos, frenetic football. Fantastic entertainment for the neutral observer, but immensely concerning for Martino. Of course, Messi entered the fray, Miami got their goals, and a late curler from Aleksey Miranchuk salvaged a draw. The box score suggested an against-the-run-of-play sort of comeback for Atlanta. But watch the game, and the signs of how to beat this team were starting to appear.
GettyMartino making mistakes
Martino, though, never changed. He tinkered with his system here and there. Sometimes he played a back three, other times a back four. But the weaknesses remained the same. Miami were too light in midfield, too slow at the back, too easily manipulated off the ball. It is, admittedly, the curse that every manager in possession of great attacking talent faces. Martino's main job, in effect, is to get the most out of Messi, and put together a solid enough structure around him to ensure that Miami don't get outgunned.
For long stretches, he did the former. But as the season went on, injuries racked up, and tired legs started to show, the latter became a real issue. Miami's game two setup perfectly summarized it all. He started in a shrewd back three, with Bright operating as a do-it-all center midfielder. The Herons took a 1-0 lead into the break – a stroke of luck from a rare Brad Guzan goalkeeping error giving them a slight advantage at half time. This was hardly a scintillating attacking showing, but there was a relative solidity to things.
The first mistake was not having an adequate replacement for Bright after he left with an injury. The Italian might have struggled on the ball, but the hardworking midfielder had consistently been one of the Herons' better defensive players throughout, was among MLS's leaders in interceptions per 90 minutes. Even when sloppy, his presence and energy alone offered something. Martino should have opted to play Gressel, who offered some similar traits. Instead, Benjamin Cremaschi – a far lighter and more attack-minded player – came on. Miami were simply played through for the equalizer after an hour.
And in the 84th minute of game two, with the score locked at 1-1, Martino lost the series. He took off center back Noah Allen – Miami's best player on the night – and switched to a back four. The idea here was presumably to go for a win and tie things off. Instead, Miami were all over the place, and the 94th-minute Atlanta winner was thoroughly deserved.