Tactics Corner: Red Hot Cremaschi, Messi Scorcher Helps Miami Survive the Texas Heat
FC Dallas gave Inter Miami its toughest test yet. Here's how the Herons climbed out of it.
photo from Inter Miami CF
Are you not entertained, La Familia?
Inter Miami’s 5-3 penalty win against FC Dallas on Sunday was exciting, but besides the Lionel Messi masterclass, there were a lot of issues on the defensive end that revealed themselves during those exhilarating 90 minutes that ended with the two sides level at 4-4.
Let’s get the positives out of the way before we get to the critiques.
Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba both had solid games.
Although Busquets was caught out of position during certain defensive transitions, it was largely due to Miami’s offensive set-up and lack of midfield around the 35-year-old rather than his shortcomings.
Another bright spot was homegrown midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who made an immediate impact after coming off the bench in the 64th minute.
Thanks to Messi’s inevitability, Miami survived what would’ve been a disastrous result, and now they’re set to take on Charlotte FC in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals this Friday at DRV PNK Stadium.
Before that happens, let’s break down what went wrong (and the incredible things that went right) during the Herons’ 5-3 penalty win vs. Dallas.
Still Plenty Of Work To Do!
photo from Inter Miami CF
Tata Martino lined Miami up in a 4-3-3, making only two changes to his starting lineup from the previous game against Orlando. Noah Allen was replaced by Jordi Alba, and Diego Gomez took Benjamin Cremaschi's place in central midfield.
Remember when I mentioned in my previous piece that Miami’s attacking setup in the final third was a high-risk, high-reward tactic?
Yeah, Dallas exposed that - and then some.
For the first five minutes of the match, it held up well, though!
Messi scored in the sixth minute from a vintage cut-back pass from Alba, which gave Miami the early lead.
Unfortunately, Miami's weakness in playing a expansive, possession-based style was heavily exploited by Dallas' speedy front line.
Under normal circumstances, Miami would look to control the tempo with heavy spells of possession in the opponent’s final third to create consistent goal-scoring opportunities.
Yedlin would push up, Arroyo would drop back into the right-back spot, and Miami would overload the left as Messi roams free:
As a result of miscommunication in the midfield and the fullbacks advancing forward, Dallas used their wingers Bernard Kamungo and Jader Obrian to exploit Miami’s open flanks, leaving center-backs Kamal Miller and Sergiy Kryvtsov isolated and desperately outpaced:
Miami push so high up the field that it left their midfield exposed and defenders scrambling to get back when the opposition counters.
Dallas took advantage of this disorganization for most of the night until Martino made substitutions late in the second half.
Benjamin Cremaschi Shines
photo from Inter Miami CF
One of the aforementioned substitutes was homegrown midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi.
As soon as he stepped onto the field, his movement, physicality, and positional awareness pulled Dallas’ backline out of shape and made it easier for Miami to play the style they wanted to.
Just watched him in this clip below.
Cremaschi is always scanning, constantly looking for space, and progressing the ball well; super impressive from the 18-year-old:
By this point in the match, Miami had switched to a back three (Arroyo dropped back as a defender, and Taylor slotted in as a right wing back,) which allowed Alba to go on the overlap without worrying about tracking back.
With Alba pushing forward and Cremaschi's off-ball movement, Miami was able to recover from a 3-1 deficit. This led to Messi's game-tying free kick in the 85th minute, and that momentum ultimately helped them advance in penalty kicks later on.
All in all, this game wasn’t Miami’s best, and even Martino said as much in his post-match conference:
“We can’t lose sight of all the things we need to improve. Fortunately, we have been able to overcome them with wins, which helps us to keep evolving, but we are far from a reliable team. Inter Miami in 20 days has the ability to transfrom into a great team and with the players we have - and we have big players that are doing well, you can’t form a good team with just 15 days work.”
Martino is aware that Miami will only get better from here. Messi, Busquets, and Alba arrived less than a month ago, and the team around them will need to adapt.
Let’s hope they’ll be able to evolve quickly when they take on Charlotte in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals this Friday.