Your Friday start: Does Miami have what it takes to make a double?

The first round begins with Inter Miami hosting Atlanta United at 8:30 pm ET (Apple TV – Free). You can also look Player Spotlight on Lionel Messi on TikTok.

Seattle and Schmetzer extended contract for several years

Seattle Sounders and head coach Brian Schmetzer agreed to extend the contract for several years. Schmetzer, appointed in the summer of 2016, has led Seattle to two MLS Cup titles (2016, 2019) and four league championship appearances.

MLS Announces 2024 Year-End Awards Finalists

Major League Soccer MLS Year-End Awards 2024 finalists announcedhonoring the league’s best players during the regular season. The finalists include representatives from 15 MLS clubs, and the winners will be announced during the 2024 Audi Cup Playoffs. Supporters’ Shield-winning club Inter Miami is the most represented club (six finalists), followed by Columbus Crew (five ) and LAFC (three).

The first round begins tonight, and with it begins Inter Miami’s fight for the double. However, they have a lot to prove before they get there.

Inter Miami are now the clear favorites, but…

The match against Atlanta United is just the first step. The Herons are the clear favorites, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they shrug off a hot but flawed Atlanta team with relative ease. However, this is not what interests us. We’re wondering what will happen when they face off against the best of the best in the East and West.

Tournament play is not the strength of the current generation of players. They suffered a major defeat in the Concacaf Champions Cup after being outplayed and thrashed by Monterrey. They exploded in the League Cup when they jumped out to a 2-0 lead and saw it evaporate in just 13 minutes against Columbus. When they came up against teams capable of consistently and confidently exploiting their weaknesses, they were unable to pull off the magic act that helped them win the Supporters’ Shield and points record.

That doesn’t necessarily apply to this series. Atlanta is not that team. They may have been the team when Thiago Almada had his best MLS game in Atlanta’s 3-1 win over Miami in May, but they don’t have that firepower right now. Or at least they never demonstrated that kind of firepower. But this is still the starting point for Inter Miami. This is the first step towards facing Columbus again and potentially getting a shot at the MLS Cup against one of the best in the West. If they are going to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the league and possibly the best team in the league, they need to win the MLS Cup. That means they’ll have to do what they’ve struggled to do this season when it matters most: win a must-win game against a team in their weight class.

Will anything change for Miami to make this happen?

In 2018, Tata Martino took over a high-scoring, high-energy Atlanta United team and steered them toward a much more pragmatic approach to the postseason. It worked pretty well.

The Five Stripes didn’t stop attacking or anything, but they made some moves in formation and personnel that bolstered the defense. Would he do the same with the Heron team? Is this the best idea for this group? Is this even possible in this group?

It’s not entirely clear. There’s a small part of me that thinks it’s not even worth actively trying to limit defense issues when you can just stick with what the Shield gave you. A big part of me thinks you might not even be able to do it with this group. Atlanta United’s 2018 team had several guys on defense who were poised to thrive in a more stealthy formation. I’m not sure that Inter Miami has such players.

That being said, if you’re going to make that shift… well, why do it against Atlanta? Yes, the Five Stripes were the only team to take four hits against Miami this year, but that feels like a curveball you’d want to throw to a team you know can handle your fastball. The Crew is perhaps the only team in the East that is really worth worrying about there.

After all, the Herons probably aren’t trying to push too many buttons in this series. But the ones they do print will likely tell us a lot about how they’ll try to approach matches with scarier monsters in the future.

Atlanta needs immediate regression (progress?) to the mean.

The Five Stripes are the anti-Miami. For all the good fortune the Herons have had this year, Atlanta United have had the opposite result. Except, of course, for the 3-1 win over Miami in May, when Atlanta went toe-to-toe with Lionel Messi and company and knocked them off the field. It happened. This actually did happen in part because Thiago Almada played the match like a World Cup final, but Saba Lobzhanidze and Jamal Tiare played a big part in the impressive performance.

Atlanta took a few breaks a few months later when Inter Miami came to Atlanta. Messi was substituted midway through the game and it started straight away in a match where both teams had huge chances and ended in a 2-2 draw. At the moment, the Five Stripes are the only team that Miami has not been able to work miracles on.

It’s unclear how significant that is, given how much of a changed Atlanta team has been since that May win and how much healthier Inter Miami have become since their 2-2 draw a few weeks ago. But all it takes for this to suddenly become very interesting is for Atlanta to finally catch some luck on the counterattack. And no matter how Miami does tonight, there should be some room left in the post for Atlanta.

Just imagine, a couple of goals with minimal shots on target turns this game on its head. At this point, a tie could lead to penalties, Atlanta could come away with a win, and it could all come back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where 70,000 people are eager to see Atlanta pull off an unprecedented upset.

It’s not that far-fetched. In the end, Atlanta continues to avoid death. Maybe they really are starting to use all the breaks they didn’t get this season at the right time.

Can Atlanta make enough runs to make that happen?

There should be five stripes exhausted. This will be their third game in six days. One in Orlando, one in Montreal, and now one in Ft. Lauderdale. They criss-crossed the east coast in tight, must-win matches. We know they’ll be ready to fight early in the match, but you’ll have to worry about the adrenaline wearing off and legs getting heavy later. If we’re making predictions for tonight, I’m guessing Atlanta will come out and run out of steam as the game goes on. However, Miami will have to be ready for a challenge. They can’t ignore Atlanta… even if they feel pretty confident.

Good luck there. Find a place to stay.