Good, Bad & Ugly: Messi scores, Berte's back, winless streak continues | OneFootball

Hoyos seems to lack plan to improve Herons' results

Toronto FC played like a team with just one win in its previous 14 matches Saturday but, in a dismal display of uninspired and uninspiring soccer from both teams, the Reds outscored defending MLS Cup champion Inter Miami 2-1.

The Herons (11-4-6, 39 points) now have failed to win in five straight matches and dropped to third in the Supporters' Shield race behind Nashville (49 points) and Vancouver (40 points); Miami still is second in the Eastern Conference behind Nashville, but the Chicago Fire (36 points) are closing the gap.

Las Garzas suffered through a similar slump a year ago, winning just three of 13 matches and losing six, but that span came between April 2 and May 24. The 2026 Herons don't have half the season remaining to right their ship.

Interim Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos defended his players' effort in his post-game comments:

“Our players never play without determination. Never," he said. "(The slump is) a situation we are living, and we have to face it and take responsibility [as coaches]. We have a lot of experience and when we started, thank God we started very well. We will continue to trust in God."

GOOD 1 -- Ian Fray clearance. The 24-year-old homegrown defender, born in Coconut Creek, turned in maybe the best hustle play of the night in the 82nd minute, scrambling back to clear the ball before it could cross the Herons' goal line and give Toronto a 3-0 lead.

GOOD 2 -- De Paul to Messi. It took Inter Miami less than a minute after Fray's heroics to score its only goal of the match. Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul played a perfectly weighted pass to Messi, making a perfectly timed run into the box from the right wing. Messi blasted a shot by Toronto goalkeeper Luka Gavran, who was rushing at the Miami captain. It was the Herons' lone offensive highlight.

GOOD 3 -- Berte's back. Herons' striker Germán Berterame, who left the July 25 match in Montréal in an ambulance after suffering head and neck injuries in an aerial collision with two defenders, returned to the pitch and played the full 90 minutes against Toronto. Neither of his two shots were on target, but he showed the energy and work rate that has become his trademark. Hopefully he will soon return to the pre-World Cup chemistry he was developing with Messi and Luis Suárez.

BAD -- Another injury! Luján, who already has missed six matches with a calf injury, left the match with unspecified muscle pain in the 26th minute. At this writing, there is no update on the defender who, along with center back Micael (out with a severe ankle sprain) and midfielder Yannick Bright (who missed the match serving a red card suspension), has been one of the Herons' most reliable defenders.

UGLY -- Hoyos' coaching. The interim coach seems to be out of ideas; when injuries began to mount, he slowed the Herons' attack and pressure, evidently trying to reduce opponents' transition opportunities and hold more possession. Opponents quickly realized the more deliberate Miami offense lacks width; they stuff defenders into the box to limit the quick, short passing between Messi, Suárez, Berterame, Telasco Segovia or whoever else Hoyos puts in the front line. Opponents still are creating turnovers and still creating opportunities on the counterattack. Yes, injuries and suspensions have limited the tools at Hoyos' disposal, but even using different personal, he puts them in the same system -- trying to force square pegs into round holes. His substitution choices often don't make sense.

I still believe Hoyos will be the coach through the end of this season, but I'm not encouraged by his "trust in God" strategy. I want to trust our coach and, more importantly I want the players to trust the coach is putting them in the best position to succeed. I worry that none of us have that trust at the moment.