Taylor Twellman, former Major League Soccer MVP who now serves as lead analyst for MLS on Apple TV, met with Hudson River Blue and other members of the soccer media to provide some insights on Inter Miami CF and New York City FC before the two teams play the Eastern Conference Final this Saturday in South Florida.
Twellman is very familiar with Inter Miami and their star-studded lineup, as he served as color commentator for the vast majority of Miami matches broadcast on Apple since Lionel Messi joined Miami during the summer of 2023.
He was also on the call for ABC when New York City FC won MLS Cup 2021 in Portland, OR. While Twellman says he believes Miami is currently in the best form he's seen them hit during their Messi Era, he also sees similarities between this year's New York City squad and the one from 2021 that defied odds and reached the mountaintop to become MLS champions.
In previewing the 2025 Eastern Conference Final, Twellman warned not to read too much into the two regular-season meetings between New York City and Miami this year, acknowledging that both teams are very different here now in the penultimate round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
"Having spoken with New York City people, they're preparing for a different Miami team than they were when they played them at the beginning of the year. They're a different team," said Twellman.
Here are four takeaways from our conversation with Twellman.
What makes Miami so scary
"I've never seen Miami with Messi on the field look this good. I just haven't," said Twellman of the team that just dropped back-to-back 4-0 wins on their playoff opponents, first Nashville SC at home to seal their Round One series, then FC Cincinnati away in the Conference Semifinals.
What's behind the Herons hitting this new height? They tightened up their defense, and they surrounded Messi with more dynamic complementary (Argentine) attacking players in 19-year-old winger Matteo Silvetti and midfielder Baltasar Rodríguez, while leaning into more direct and vertical approaches to getting through opposing defenses.
Some of the change also coincides with Luis Suárez being out of the Miami starting lineup, as he was suspended for the decisive Game Three against Nashville in Round One, then benched for the Semifinal in Cincinnati.
"Silvetti and [Tadeo] Allende are vertical players. They haven't had that because Suárez has had to play next to Messi, and they've done it in a different way," said Twellman. According to Twellman, Miami is also now a lot more defensively solid because of personnel choices made by first-year coach Javier Mascherano.
"At the end of the Nashville game, and I've done more Messi games than anyone. I've never seen Miami and Messi, on the field together in a game like that, be as defensively sound, competent in their structure," said Twellman. "They'd never had a clean sheet in the playoffs, they've had two in a row. That's not a coincidence. Rodríguez is healthy, Silvetti's now been integrated, Rocco Ríos Novo is a better goalkeeper for what they want to do."
Lionel Messi provides the assist to Matteo Silvetti | Courtesy MLS and Apple TV
Messi, for his part, is on an almost unbelievably prolific run scoring and assisting goals, and Twellman thinks tweaks to the team around the legendary Argentine have helped him play at this high level. "Suárez and Messi, they still can break you down, it's just a different way now because Messi is a false 9. He can break you down single-handedly by playing combinations, but now you've got a young man, Silvetti, running in behind, and it is borderline unplayable to guard Messi."
How New York City can win
Twellman said New York City will be, unsurprisingly, considered the underdogs heading into Chase Stadium for this Eastern Conference Final, though he thinks there's a path to victory that would look a lot like the one Atlanta United FC earned to eliminate Miami from the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
"The way New York City wins, it's not going to be keeping a clean sheet, it's just not. Matt Freese may have to make a ton of saves. It's going to be the way Atlanta beat them in Game Three last year," said Twellman.
"They're going to have to score, they're going to have to find a way to be dangerous. They're going to have to be. If you ever go into a game trying to get a clean sheet against Messi and Miami...it's very difficult to keep them off the off the board," Twellman continued.
The Argentine buildup as Agustín Ojeda passes to Nico Fernández Mercau who feeds Maxi Moralez | Courtesy MLS and Apple TV
The Apple TV analyst really wants to see New York City try to take the game to Miami, not sit back, absorb pressure, and try to defend. "I just think if New York City goes into this game saying we're going to win this 1-0 off a counter, or 0-0 and go to penalties, you're playing with fire. They've got to go into this saying, 'We've got to find a way to score a couple goals,'" Twellman said.
"New York City's really got to believe that scared money doesn't make money. If you're at all scared to play and keep the ball and try to get them to chase the game and give them a taste of their own medicine, then I'm afraid you've lost before the game's already started."
Praise for Pascal's work, Nico's signing
While he offered plenty of advice to the New York City head coach, Twellman also praised the work of Pascal Jansen in his first year coaching in Major League Soccer, saying he's flown under the radar despite leading his team to the Conference Final.
"In MLS, with the salary cap structure, you have to coach each player up. That's Designated Players to the Homegrowns, you've really got to manage, and Pascal's done that," said Twellman.
"I just can tell from watching games and watching that group, there is a real belief within that group that whoever's playing, they've got a shot to win this. That speaks a lot to the manager in pushing all the right buttons in the right ways."
Another correct button pushed by New York City this season, in Twellman's eyes: Signing Nico Fernández Mercau as a Designated Player. "I think Nico has been one of the best signings in the league," Twellman said.
"That roster wasn't good enough the first 15, 20 games of the year. So to survive that and then all of a sudden to flip the script a little bit, it reminds me of 2021, where it feels like the camaraderie of the group, there's no real egos. No one's really a distraction. They've had horrific injuries, yet they go to Philadelphia and win against the Supporters' Shield winners. So that's that speaks to the manager and understanding how to coach Players 1 through 22 on the roster," said Twellman.
Hudson River Blue Staff
The psychological side
Twellman didn't fully agree with the concept proposed by Hudson River Blue's John Baney that New York City is playing with proverbial "House Money" at this point in the season, surpassing on-field expectations and free of pressure. That's because Twellman had high hopes for New York City heading into these MLS Cup Playoffs.
"To preview the playoffs, I said since Nico Fernández has come to New York City, I would not want to play them, and the reason why I said that is because Alonso Martínez becomes even more dangerous. I didn't think Charlotte would win that series. Now, did I think they'd go to Philly, win without Andrés [Perea], Alonso? Absolutely not," said Twellman.
"Saturday is going to be even greater. They're going to have zero expectation to get something out of this game, and I will promise you this, Pascal will tell them that a million times, because that's how you play into the 'house money.'"
To Twellman, New York City needs possession and a foothold in the game to heap the pressure on Miami and create a sense of anxiety among the pink-clad populace of Miami fans inside Chase Stadium.
"If Miami's dominating the game, the legs become heavy, pressure builds, Miami's in the driver's seat. The longer New York City's in the game with high energy getting after it, some fluidity in the attack and creating chances, you become a little bit lighter in your ways, you become more instinctual in how you play, and the truth is, the heavier legs will be on Miami," Twellman said.
"This building builds anxiety the longer they go without scoring a goal, because everyone in Miami shows up, they expect an early goal: It's Messi, this is what Miami does, they score four goals a game. If New York City can somehow build that anxiety – that's what Atlanta did brilliantly last year – then yeah, the 'house money' comment works."
Though he's definitely ranking New York City FC as underdogs against Miami, Twellman did not sound like someone who's surprised to see them in the Eastern Conference Final, nor did he think they're unheralded around the league.
"I just thought they were so good at the end of the year," Twellman said. "I don't think New York City is really under the radar with the rest of MLS. A lot of people liked them when Nico showed up."
