South Florida’s long-suffering soccer fans are starting to get restless, and who can blame them?
Inter Miami is only five games into its third season, but the results so far are not promising. The team remains winless with one tie and four losses. With just one point in the standings, Inter Miami is in last place among the league’s 28 teams and its minus-10 goal differential (three goals scored, 13 allowed) also ranks last in MLS.
Going into this season there was reason for excitement.
The club had just signed U.S. national team defender DeAndre Yedlin and unveiled the all-pink “Heartbeat Kit,” a stylish uniform dedicated to the passionate fans who have been beating their drums and singing their hearts out through torrential rainstorms, lightning delays and many forgettable games since the team’s debut in 2020.
There was reason for optimism even though, for financial and other reasons, Inter Miami dropped 17 players from last year’s roster, including high-priced designated players Blaise Matuidi and Rodolfo Pizarro and fan favorites Lewis Morgan, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Nico Figal.
Highly respected chief soccer officer Chris Henderson, along with his scouts and coach Phil Neville, scoured the globe to assemble a revamped roster that would be younger, faster, hungrier — and, yes, cheaper, to compensate for more than $2 million in fines levied by MLS for roster rules violations related to Matuidi’s contract, which was negotiated before Henderson’s and Neville’s arrivals.
Brazilian Jean Mota was signed to pair with countryman Gregore in the midfield. Jamaican national team captain Damion Lowe and Swede Christopher McVey, along with Yedlin, were added to rebuild the back line. Leonardo Campana of Ecuador, Emerson Rodriguez of Colombia, Robert Taylor from Finland and speedy Ariel Lassiter were brought to add punch to the attack.
And 17-year-old local product Noah Allen is among the talented youngsters expected to make an impact.
“We had to take a risk,” Neville said before the season. “Me and Chris knew we had to make real big changes. We had to send a strong statement. Why? Because the first two years weren’t good enough. It wasn’t acceptable from the top down to the very bottom.
“We brought in the players that we wanted to bring in. Now I can 100 percent say that this roster is mine and Chris’ and we feel as an organization we’re in a miles’ better place to reach our goals and create the culture we want.”
Inter Miami finished 10th the first season, good enough for a spot in the COVID-expanded playoff play-in game, which they lost. Last season, they finished 11th, out of the playoffs. Time will tell how far this squad goes. No doubt it will take time for so many new players to develop chemistry, but the lack of goals so far is alarming.
Despite the promise of exciting, attacking soccer, this team has found the back of the net only once in the run of play through five games. The other two goals came from Gonzalo Higuain penalty kicks.
In the 3-1 home loss to Houston on Saturday, Miami took 22 shots, but 16 of those were from outside the box and only five were on target. Houston, by contrast, had half as many shots (11), but nine were inside the box and five were on target.
Neville has urged his players to make the extra pass to create better chances, and to be more “ruthless” when it comes time to finish.
You know who could solve their scoring woes?
Lionel Messi.
Don’t laugh. The rumors linking the Argentine superstar to Inter Miami have been brewing for years and continue in recent weeks. Once upon a time, I rolled my eyes and scoffed at such a suggestion. Lately, I’m starting to think it’s not out of the question.
Messi’s contract with Paris Saint Germain runs through 2023 but Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas hinted at the start of this season that the club would extend a lucrative offer for the day he decides to leave PSG.
Messi has a home in Miami and has said he wouldn’t mind spending a few years in MLS. His salary is $41 million per year, a different stratosphere than the $6 million Higuain – Miami’s highest-paid player – makes. But surely, MLS, adidas and other sponsors would get involved with creative packages to lure a megastar like Messi to America.
“Leo Messi is still one of the best players in the world, his skills have not diminished,” Mas said. “I think, and David (Beckham) has a relationship with him, if he does leave PSG, at the time he leaves it, we’d love to see Lionel Messi be a player at Inter Miami and be part of our community. Can it happen? Look, we’ll push. I’m an optimist at heart. Could I see that happening? It’s a possibility.”
Some reports from Europe say Messi could join Miami this summer. Others say it would more likely be after the World Cup. Either way, if it ever happens, it would be one of the biggest stories in South Florida sports history. Consider that he has 317 million Instagram followers (LeBron James has 117 million). Inter Miami would instantly become one of the most followed clubs in the world.
In the meantime, Neville must win with his current roster and win soon. He is aware that fans are getting restless. He heard the boos from the stands on Saturday night.
“I’m feeling their pain,” he said. “It hurts me immensely when I hear them at the end because we deserve that, and they deserve better.”
Yes, they sure do.
