The Herons Get Their Wings Clipped, Fall In US Open Cup Final

_{LAST MATCH: Miami 1 - Houston 2}

_{NEXT MATCH: vs. NYCFC, Saturday, Sept. 30th, 7:30 PM EST}

_{WHERE TO WATCH: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV}

Good morning! Not the most pleasant way to start your day, but yes, Inter Miami fell 2-1 in the US Open Cup Final.

In what was a frustrating game to watch from a far, the Herons lost the opportunity to win two trophies in a season.

Hey, at least they have a playoff race to look forward to…

In the email today:

Well, that happened.

Despite all the talk about placing importance on the final, and how the team wanted to win their second trophy this year, Inter Miami fell flat in their quest, losing to the Houston Dynamo 2-1.

The Herons came out looking tactically inept and uninspired, misplacing passes and, simply, being outworked by Houston.

Head coach Tata Martino lined up his side in a 4-3-3 which saw one of his wingers, mainly Facundo Farias, tuck inside to deal with the well-coached Dynamo midfield. As I wrote in yesterday’s newsletter, Houston’s midfield isn’t to be taken lightly and should be closely watched if Miami wants to win the match.

Unfortunately, Miami’s tactical wrinkle didn’t work, and Houston’s midfield ran riot.

Amine Bassi, Hector Herrera, and Adalberto Carrasquilla ended the match completing over 83% of their passes and created a combined seven chances.

Miami’s attack couldn’t deal with Houston’s high press and one-touch passing.

In the end, the Herons got beaten by the better team. Now, they’ll look to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

• Tata Martino’s tactics weren’t ideal. Miami had no real attacking threat on the wings:

  

• Everything they tried through the middle was quickly snuffed out by Houston’s defense.

• After the match, Tata said Houston was simply the better team.

Our take: This Miami team has been able to win without Messi before, but last night, they looked unlike their usual selves. All they can do now is switch their focus to making the playoffs.

2)🔢 Player Ratings From The Big Match

• 🧤 Drake Callender - 7: Did well to keep shots out, his defense really let him down.

• 💨 Noah Allen - 7.5: Gave it his all, but didn’t quite have the attacking support of his team behind him.

• 🏋️ Kamal Miller - 8: One of Miami’s best players, was smart in his tackling and had a good defensive position when Miami was in danger - especially towards the end.

• 💪 Serhiy Kryvtsov - 5.5: Looked a step too slow all night, and couldn’t deal with the pace of Houston’s attack.

• 🇺🇸 DeAndre Yedlin - 6.3: An okay shift from the Inter Miami vice-captain, but got caught out a couple of times.

• 🧮 Sergio Busquets - 7: Had a typical game for his standards. Gave away a couple of balls, but kept the tempo and tried to push the team forward.

• 🇵🇾 Diego Gomez - 5: Not a good cameo from the Paraguayan. He has just recovering from injury, so that may have a lot to do with his poor performance.

• 👶 Benjamin Cremaschi - 6.5: Ran his legs off and got into good midfield positions towards the end of the match. Unfortunately, he just didn't have the final ball.

• 🚀 Robert Taylor - 6.5: Didn’t affect the game much, ghosting through the first half.

• 🧔‍♂️ Leo Campana - 7.5: Tried his best, linked up well with Josef Martinez when he came on, but couldn't find the back of the net.

• 🌟 Facundo Farias - 5.5: Arguably his worst game in an Inter Miami kit. Didn’t have the same offensive impact that he did in other matches.

Subs:

• 😡 Josef Martinez - 8.1: Scored a late goal that kept Miami in the match.

• 🇭🇳 David Ruiz - 7.1: Had a couple of nifty dribbles that caught the Dynamo defense off guard, but didn’t do too much on the offensive end.

• 🇦🇷 Nicolas Stefanelli - N/A: Wasn’t on long enough to make an impact.

• 🇪🇨 Dixon Arroyo - 6.8: Came on and provided solid, progressive passing for a stagnant Heron team.

3) ☹️ Well, At Least He’ll Be Fresh For The Playoffs…

4) 📊 Poll: Tactically Fell Short…

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

Results from our last poll, Will The Herons Win Tonight:

83% of you said Yes.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 😕 In a blockbuster trade, the Portland Timbers - spitefully, traded star point guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, after the player expressed heavy interest in only moving to the Miami Heat.

• 😩 Manchester City’s winning streak ended yesterday after losing 1-0 to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.

• 🤝 An international broadcast company apparently wants to fit the bill to see Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr take on Inter Miami. 

The newsletter today was written by: Alex Windley @aaw_1998

Thanks for reading! Catch you on the flip side!