Soccer <\/p>\n
No wins, two losses, one draw. Doesn\u2019t sound great. Sounds pretty bad, actually \u2013 the type of skid that sees a team fall out of Supporters\u2019 Shield contention, or sees a coach land on a slightly warm seat.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
It\u2019s also the combined record of the three MLS entrants \u2013 Inter Miami CF<\/a>, Seattle Sounders FC<\/a> and LAFC<\/a> \u2013 in this inaugural edition of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup<\/a> after one round of Group Stage games. And if you want to just look at the record, you could argue you\u2019re seeing the tale of three teams out of their depth and over their heads.<\/p>\n I think you\u2019d be doing yourself a disservice if you did that, though. The results are ultimately what matters, of course; I\u2019m not going to argue that. But the way the games played out gives us plenty of data for where these teams stack up on the world stage, what they need to work on going forward and hopefully what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In all three games, the MLS team played better ball in the second half than in the first.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In Inter Miami\u2019s case,<\/strong> I\u2019d call it \u201cmuch, much, much better ball.\u201d They basically didn\u2019t show up for the first 45 minutes against Al Ahly in the tournament opener on Saturday night, and only through the grace of the soccer gods and an \u00d3scar Ustari<\/a> blinder \u2013 including a saved PK against the Egyptian side\u2019s star winger, Tr\u00e9z\u00e9guet, just before the break \u2013 did this one stay scoreless.<\/p>\n Miami were, I thought, the marginally better team after the half. Getting Tom\u00e1s Avil\u00e9s<\/a> off the field was a big part of that, as the 21-year-old center back continues to be a liability (he was lucky not to see red).<\/p>\n The bigger adjustment was one I\u2019ve been waiting some time for: Lionel Messi<\/a> dropped deeper into midfield to get more touches as an orchestrator and playmaker, rather than as just a pure attacker. At the same time, both center forward Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> and the wingers released a little higher and earlier.<\/p>\n If you want to put numbers to it, it\u2019s the difference between a 4-4-1-1, which is what I\u2019d call Miami\u2019s shape in the first half, and a 4-2-1-3, which is what I\u2019d call what they trotted out in the second.<\/p>\n This is, I think, the path forward for Miami over the rest of this tournament and the rest of this season. Their biggest issues in this game came from the gap between Messi\/Su\u00e1rez and the central midfield duo of Sergio Busquets<\/a> and Federico Redondo<\/a>. Tightening that up means both a better rest defense and an attack that isn\u2019t so reliant on Messi to put the ball in the net.<\/p>\n Got to drop Avil\u00e9s for good and go with that 4-2-1-3 with Messi as more of a midfielder. That\u2019s the only way for this team to exert real pitch control.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Sounders were actually pretty good in the first 45 against the Copa Libertadores champions, Botafogo. And I\u2019ll make the point here that I made on BlueSky:<\/p>\n When we talk about the financial disparities in the modern game and the mountains MLS teams must climb, we usually think about it in European terms. That misses what\u2019s been happening in Brazil post-COVID, as a new wave of ownership has invested at levels unprecedented in the Americas.<\/p>\n For Botafogo, that doesn\u2019t just mean buying guys on their way back from Europe (like wingers Artur and Matheus Martins), or the best players from elsewhere in Brazil (like Jair, the 20-year-old center back from Santos who opened the scoring), but also shopping in MLS. Over the past four windows, they\u2019ve bought three of the best MLS No. 10s in Jefferson Savarino, Thiago Almada and Santi Rodr\u00edguez. Santi had 16g\/6a for NYCFC<\/a> last year; for Botafogo, he is a squad player.<\/p>\n They are, essentially, a team with 15 DPs. And when you\u2019re playing against a team with that kind of firepower, you can\u2019t:<\/p>\n Those are the cardinal sins, and the Sounders were guilty of both. A needless Nouhou<\/a> reaction to Artur\u2019s provocation just before the half-hour mark gifted Botafogo the set piece (off the still-magical left foot of Alex Telles) that Jair headed home. Fifteen minutes later Stefan Frei<\/a> was stuck in the mud as Igor Jesus made it 2-0 on a header that should have been saved. Concede like that in a tournament like this and you\u2019re cutting your own throat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could not handle Seattle in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a quote from Botafogo\u2019s manager Renato Paiva, and his players echoed that thought in the mixed zone: they spent the entire second 45 chasing the game, as Seattle made a more concerted effort to play on the front foot and get the kinds of wide overloads they\u2019ve thrived on. Subbing out Nouhou and Kim Kee-Hee<\/a> at halftime for Reed Baker-Whiting<\/a> (clean in possession and dangerous on the overlap, including a 1v1 moment where he broke Vitinho\u2019s ankles) and Jon Bell<\/a> (reliable covering in behind as the Sounders pushed their line higher) was key, as they gave the home side a little more diversity and unpredictability in attack.<\/p>\n But the real star was Cristian Roldan<\/a> at d-mid. He was the best player on the field, and I\u2019m not the only one who felt that way, as Paiva mentioned him specifically, while FotMob named him their man of the match. It wasn\u2019t just the goal he scored, but the way he bossed central midfield and tilted the pitch.<\/p>\n In the end, both the match momentum graphic and the xG totals tell a pretty accurate tale:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n And in the end, the Sounders had their chances. DP winger Pedro de la Vega<\/a> came on and had a couple of very good looks, one of which was blocked and another of which he scuffed. Paul Rothrock<\/a> came in on the other side and created constant danger against a Botafogo defense that was, by that time, pressed into its own 18-yard box and holding on for dear life.<\/p>\n But they committed both cardinal sins, conceding too easily at the start and letting the visitors off by failing to put great looks away at the end. They did almost everything else right \u2013 controlling things through central midfield, keeping a true No. 9 out there even when they were starved for service, and making aggressive, front-foot subs.<\/p>\n The game, however, is won or lost in the box.<\/p>\n Baker-Whiting and Bell took advantage of the chance they got in the second half. The decision to start Bell, in particular, is an easy one \u2013 Kim\u2019s clearly not fit.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tougher with Nouhou since Seattle will be playing against the ball so much in the next two outings. But that indiscipline from him arguably cost the Sounders the game, and at some point, he\u2019s got to sit for it.<\/p>\n Now seems a good time to send that message.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This Chelsea side is probably the best opponent any MLS team has faced in an official match. There\u2019s been plenty of crossed swords against teams of this caliber in friendlies \u2013 some of which have ended in famous MLS wins (the old MetroStars vs. Bayern Munich in 2001, Sporting KC<\/a> vs. Manchester United in 2010), and plenty of which have ended in one-sided losses.<\/p>\n I think this one fits snugly into the \u201crespectable loss\u201d column. LAFC didn\u2019t look off the pace and were comfortable building from the back (Aaron Long<\/a>, Sergi Palencia<\/a> and Igor Jesus<\/a> were all really, really good). They were down around 35% possession throughout the whole game, but never felt overwhelmed.<\/p>\n The issue was that when they broke lines and got the ball into central midfield, they lacked the creative spark they needed to gash Chelsea\u2019s backline and get into the final third with a numbers advantage. That\u2019s not to say they lacked chances \u2013 Denis Bouanga<\/a> had a few, one of which forced a pretty great save from Robert S\u00e1nchez; Nathan Ordaz<\/a> got into good spots pretty consistently before being subbed with a concussion; David Mart\u00ednez<\/a> was always dangerous, but lacked that final touch.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the biggest difference between the very best teams in the world (which is a group that includes Chelsea, despite Chelsea also being a meme team) and the rest. LAFC\u2019s structure was good and their game plan was excellent; they had their chances on the break. There were times when it felt like 1-1 was more likely than 2-0.<\/p>\n But it became 2-0 because of the quality Chelsea could bring to bear in the final third, and the way players of that quality punish mistakes. That\u2019s where the gap really showed itself.<\/p>\n The gap then became an abyss over the final 20 minutes when Liam Delap came on. Chelsea\u2019s new No. 9 was a game-changer \u2013 his movement was brilliant, consistently opening up LAFC\u2019s backline and compromising their shape in a way Nicolas Jackson hadn\u2019t quite managed (which is not to say Jackson was\/is bad; he\u2019s very good at what he does, but seems to be a more linear type of center forward than Delap was on the day).<\/p>\n This is always the blueprint against a team that\u2019s sitting in comfortably, as LAFC were for most of the game.<\/p>\n LAFC were organized and hard to break down, but the thought of play felt slow any time they broke through the first line of Chelsea pressure (which they almost always did). Instead of pressing the issue, they seemed scared to get closed down and didn\u2019t know where they wanted to go.<\/p>\n Part of that was Jeremy Ebobisse<\/a> having a shocker \u2013 he was justifiably subbed at halftime. I could see Olivier Giroud<\/a> getting the start against ES Tunis, with Mart\u00ednez in for Ordaz (who hopefully will be ok going forward).<\/p>\n They will need to be more decisive in those moments where they\u2019ve created an advantage if they\u2019re going to advance.<\/p>\n And while I\u2019m not expecting it, they really do have a shot. It would be a hell of a statement if they took it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nChanges for Game 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Changes for Game 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Changes for Game 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n