So, faced with the difficult task of winning games with an incomplete squad, Inter Miami’s best path towards sustainable success for the first chunk of the season was always going to be pragmatic, disciplined defending: Don’t step too far forward, don’t get exposed, and let veteran midfielders take care of business. Heading into the year, Miami lacked a creative playmaker, purposely leaving a Messi-sized hole among the starters.
Without the two Brazilians anchoring the squad, Inter Miami lost what was supposed to be its biggest asset coming into 2023: Compact defending.īuilding this asset was very intentional.
The initial recovery timeline projected Mota would be out until at least September, though he could miss the entire rest of the year. Just over one month later, Gregore’s midfield partner Jean Mota went down with a long-term injury of his own: Mota, who started 33 games in 2022, suffered a knee injury against the Columbus Crew at the end of April. The initial recovery timeline projected that Gregore, who started 30 games in 2022, would be out through at least the middle of September. Up against New York City FC in the third week of the season, key defensive midfielder Gregore went down with a foot injury after a heavy challenge from former Miami attacker Matías Pellegrini. Things started to unravel for Inter Miami just weeks into the regular season. Let’s dive in and answer those questions ahead of what will be the wildest summer in MLS history. Adding Tata Martino as manager, as Miami did officially yesterday, will also be a boost – the Argentine has a history working with Messi and Busquets, and also knows MLS well from his title-winning time at Atlanta United.īut what do we know about what’s actually wrong with Miami right now? Why have the players struggled so much in 2023? And how should Messi and Busquets fit into the equation to help them turn things around in time to snag a playoff spot? With Messi’s legendary playmaking ability and Busquets elite passing vision, Inter Miami will enjoy an obvious talent boost once those two start suiting up. Messi will be joined in Miami by his former FC Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets. Second, we know that Inter Miami will be adding the greatest soccer player on the planet (or at least one of them!) to their team when Lionel Messi signs this summer. Miami has the worst expected goal differential per 90 minutes in the league (-0.60) according to FBref, and is currently in the midst of a seven-game losing streak in MLS.
Inter Miami is currently second in the race for the Wooden Spoon, an “award” given to the MLS team that finishes with the fewest number of points at the end of the regular season. We know a couple of things about Inter Miami at this point in the MLS season.įirst, we know that they’re bad.
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