Good, Bad & Ugly: Does anybody at Inter Miami know how to coach team defense?

Nashville was more cohesive, more disciplined and better prepared

On paper, Nashville SC versus Inter Miami CF looked like Major League Soccer's game of the week. A win would have given the Herons first place in the Supporters' Shield race and the Eastern Conference standings, bragging rights in a budding regional rivalry, and renewed momentum after a disappointing Leagues Cup showing.

That's what might have been, if Las Garzas had beaten the Coyotes in Tennessee.

Instead, Nashville (13-2-4, 43 points) gave Miami (11-3-5, 38 points) a good ol' fashioned whoopin' and extended their lead over Miami to five points. The Coyotes' press and counter press totally frustrated the league's highest scoring team, and their counterattack shredded the confused mess that was Miami's defense in a 4-1 master class of cohesive, coordinated, disciplined team football. B.J. Callaghan's team looked like a team primed to win a championship; Guillermo Hoyos' Herons looked like a team in need of direction.

To be fair, Miami is still shorthanded; although Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Maximiliano Falcón joined Gonzalo Luján back in the Herons' starting lineup, striker Germán Berterame , wingers Mateo Silvetti and Tadeo Allende, and center back Micael dos Santos Silva, who suffered a sprained ankle against Club León are still out. Our high-profile newcomers Casemiro, Sergio Reguilón and Facundo Mura continue struggling to find consistency under Hoyos.

On the bright side, Las Garzas were a mess last year, too, until they weren't. The Herons didn't find fully take flight until former coach Javier Mascherano pushed Baltasar Rodriguez and Silvetti into the starting lineup; their pace helped create more room for Messi and opportunities for Allende, who set an MLS record for postseason goals with nine on the way to the MLS Cup championship.

Let' hope Hoyos has a similar "ah ha" moment for the Herons, or 2026 could turn into a wasted campaign.

GOOD -- B.J. Callaghan. He said the Friday before the match that his side would play compact, high-pressure defense, and that's exactly what they did. His players were better prepared, kept their shape with excellent discipline on defense, played more fluidly in the attack, and trusted their teammates rather than deferring to a few big-name stars.

BAD -- Inter Miami's defense. Everyone knows the Herons trust their high-powered attack to outscore opponents, leaving their own net vulnerable. I don't know if it's ever been more vulnerable. FotMob's player ratings support my suspicion -- while the team's rating was an underwhelming 6.2 of a possible 10, the starting back line -- wing backs Mura and Reguilón, center backs
Ian Fray and Luján, and keeper Rocco Ríos Novo had an average rating of 5.26.

UGLY -- Rocco's downfall. Ríos Novo almost topped his whiff on Fray's back-pass that rolled into the net for an own goal against Chicago. Almost. In the 63rd minute, Nashville goalie Brian Schwake booted the ball over Miami's defense toward a streaking Hany Mukhtar; Rocco was caught in no man's land, well out of his box; when he tried to change direction to challenge Mukhtar, he slipped and fell to the ground. The Nashville star walked the ball into the goal.

None of the backline starters covered themselves in glory -- they all received player ratings worse than 6.0 -- but Rocco may have set a record for lowest-ever rating: 4.7. Ríos Novo earned his place in Miami history a year ago, taking over for Óscar Ustari between the pipes late in the season and helping the Herons to the MLS Cup championship, but these kinds of mistakes cannot keep happening. Look for Dayne St. Clair to get a second chance at netminder sooner rather than later.

NEXT UP -- Fifteen matches remain in the MLS season; Miami has time to catch Nashville, but it has work to do. Hopefully, matches at the14th place Philadelphia Union on Wednesday and back-to-back home matches against 12th place Toronto and 13th place Montreal will set them back on the right path.

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