Soccer <\/p>\n
The Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire show rolls on, this time down to Fort Lauderdale to get an up-close and personal look at the GOAT and a few of his closest friends, hosting a struggling Toronto FC<\/a> side who are still kinda stuck in first gear (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Inter Miami<\/a> obviously aren\u2019t. They\u2019re off to a torrid start, are aiming for back-to-back Supporters\u2019 Shields and seem to really love getting everyone\u2019s best shot every single week. They\u2019re playing like a big team with something to prove, which makes sense since they\u2019re built like a big team with something to prove.<\/p>\n So are Toronto, in their own way. But they\u2019re not playing like it. That’s been a persistent problem for a once-dominant club that\u2019s fallen on hard times of late.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Inter Miami CF<\/strong><\/p>\n Toronto FC<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s somehow come quietly \u2013 weird, when you consider how much hoopla there\u2019s been around Miami for the past two years \u2013 but the Herons are flying. They\u2019re atop the Supporters\u2019 Shield standings, have created a bit of separation (they\u2019re on 2.6 ppg; their nearest competitor is under 2.2) and are playing the type of ball that says they\u2019ll likely be staying at these lofty heights for months to come.<\/p>\n They have already survived an injury to Messi. They have actually upgraded the Diego G\u00f3mez spot. They have added more quality depth. They have significantly improved the central defense. They have continued to develop their homegrowns and last year\u2019s SuperDraft picks.<\/p>\n Expectations entering this season were already high. They have only climbed since first kick. It certainly feels like Miami are playing to break the single-season points record they set last year, and when that\u2019s on the table, every single outing carries extra weight.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The only unabashedly good thing that\u2019s happened for the Reds so far in 2025 was the semi-breakout of Deandre Kerr<\/a>, the academy attacker who\u2019d developed into a true center forward over the past 18 months and looked to have won the job. Two goals in 220 minutes for a team that doesn\u2019t create much? That\u2019s good work.<\/p>\n Then he limped off injured last week. I haven\u2019t seen an official timeline on his expected return.<\/p>\n And the silver lining is gone just like that, which means things are tough in The Six. The high-end guys on the roster aren\u2019t performing, the young players haven\u2019t really developed, none of the midfielders have broken lines with their passing, none of the center backs have done particularly well defending in their own box, and so on.<\/p>\n They\u2019re looking for any kind of ray of light here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Inter Miami CF: When does Luis Su\u00e1rez get a much-deserved rest?<\/strong><\/p>\n Su\u00e1rez is a grizzled 38-year-old. When he was with Gr\u00eamio in 2023, reports indicated the osteoarthritis in his right knee forced him to consider retirement. Tata Martino shared last July that Gr\u00eamio suffered from an inflamed knee and added, \u201cit is a knee that he works on permanently, week by week.\u201d<\/p>\n HE HAS STARTED ALL 10 MATCHES FOR INTER MIAMI IN 2025, PLAYING 785 OF AN AVAILABLE 900 MINUTES.<\/p>\n The Uruguayan is not only universally available with a knee he must coax into match readiness\u2026 but MVP-level productive! I am in complete awe. Su\u00e1rez’s warrior credentials cannot be questioned, but it\u2019s hard to believe this pace is sustainable for a full season, plus Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> (however long that lasts), the FIFA Club World Cup and the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n Forward Allen Obando<\/a>, the 18-year-old Ecuadorian wunderkind signed on loan last week, needs to get his visa issues settled, get integrated into the squad and start eating some minutes ASAP. Games like Toronto FC at home would seem to be the perfect opportunity to take a blow. We\u2019ll see if Su\u00e1rez gets one.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Victoria en casa ???????????? pic.twitter.com\/lIq5pimcsw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Luis Su\u00e1rez (@LuisSuarez9) March 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Toronto FC: Does going to Miami raise Toronto\u2019s level or show their true colors?<\/strong><\/p>\n Everybody seems to get up for Inter Miami, understandably so. Will Toronto rise to the occasion?<\/p>\n At this point, I\u2019m not locked in on tactics, personnel choices or results for TFC. No, it\u2019s much simpler than that. Will the Reds put up a fight? Will they stick together and compete for 90 minutes? Or will they wilt the moment Miami put one on them (because that\u2019s going to happen)?<\/p>\n Toronto need a win desperately, of course, but any reason to believe they\u2019ve got a turnaround in them would be invaluable currency for Robin Fraser at the moment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n When Messi\u2019s been on the field this year, they\u2019ve played out of what I\u2019ll call a 4-4-1-1. What I mean by that is Messi\u2019s nominally a forward \u2013 they\u2019ll usually defend with a front two and banks of four behind him, so it kind of looks like a 4-4-2 \u2013 but he\u2019s totally free to drop in and become a playmaker, or flare wide to become a winger, or even, yes, do forward things running off of Su\u00e1rez’s movement and hold-up play.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a completely free role. The game is oriented around him because when you orient things around Messi, he makes goals happen:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Messi releases a pass. The defender turns his head for a half-second. Messi is gone.<\/p>\n How many hundreds of times have we seen this over the past 20 years? pic.twitter.com\/tYKsw0wpyO<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) February 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The midfield balance changes depending on whether or not Messi is out there. When he is, head coach Javier Mascherano tends to insert another ball-winner. When he isn\u2019t, he tends to go with a more creative player. Often that\u2019s young Venezuelan Telasco Segovia<\/a>, who\u2019s been simply brilliant.<\/p>\n The other change is that things become more 4-3-3ish when Messi\u2019s on the bench. Su\u00e1rez will drop in as a False 9 playmaker while the wingers stretch the field. And irrespective of the formation, it\u2019s always going to be Sergio Busquets<\/a> pulling the strings from deep.<\/p>\n One other note: This team\u2019s not as ball-dominant as they were last year. They\u2019re very content to play out of a mid-block for big chunks of the game, and even selectively press for a bit.<\/p>\n That nearly came back to bite them last week against Philadelphia<\/a>, though, as they can get a bit complacent when they\u2019re not actively pushing for goals. As talented and experienced as they are, they can\u2019t let themselves go flat.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s been hard to tell. New head coach Robin Fraser\u2019s trying to cook dinner with someone else\u2019s groceries, and so he\u2019s kind of improvising his way through the early part of the season. We\u2019ve seen a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-4-2-1 and a 5-4-1 and, to be honest with you, none of it has really worked all that well.<\/p>\n Some of it is just a lack of cohesion in the team, and some of it is probably just not enough individual talent. Though even the guys who are, in fact, individually talented aren\u2019t bringing it to bear:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Osorio taking ankles, Kerr with a very good turn and ball across the six… Bernardeschi just out there chilling at the corner of the box. pic.twitter.com\/sKQ3NFHjh6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n If you\u2019re going to play with wingers \u2013 and Fraser has always tried to have true wingers out there; lately it\u2019s been Derrick Etienne Jr.<\/a> on the left with Lorenzo Insigne<\/a> as a nominal No. 10 \u2013 you need them to be goal-dangerous off the ball. So far, neither of the Italian DPs have been, while Etienne\u2019s only had sporadic moments. All of which makes it really hard for the whole thing to actually work.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also no threat of running in behind: TFC have hit only three through-balls all year as per FBRef, which is tied for second-to-last in the league. Even more concerning, I think, is that the Reds are down in the bottom third of the league in switches of play, when being able to play across the game channel like that was such an integral part of Fraser\u2019s best Colorado Rapids<\/a> teams. When they were really cooking, they\u2019d drag you to one side, then open the game up and attack you up the other.<\/p>\n Toronto have done very, very little of that. So far, anyway.<\/p>\n Look, this feels like as big a mismatch as we\u2019ll see all year. Before the season, I picked Miami to win the Shield and Toronto to win the Wooden Spoon. Neither have given me much reason to think I\u2019ll be wrong.<\/p>\n But also\u2026 this is MLS. This league hits somebody in the face with the chaos hammer every single weekend. No reason it can\u2019t be Toronto\u2019s turn to swing it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n I think it\u2019ll be a 4-3-3ish 4-2-3-1 with Segovia as a 10 and two field-stretching wingers. Expect Messi to come in for the final 35 minutes or so.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n I\u2019m going to assume they\u2019ll stick with the 4-2-3-1 they used last week in what was probably their most solid defensive performance of the year. But a 5-4-1 wouldn\u2019t shock me at all.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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Inter Miami CF<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Toronto FC<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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