There’s a reason that the world is watching Inter Miami, and that reason is Lionel Messi. His ex-Barcelona and now-Miami teammates are stars, for sure, but MLS has seen stars. The league has never seen Messi, though. His presence is a phenomenon.
For the past few weeks, Inter Miami have had to navigate life without that phenomenon. An injury has kept Messi out of the XI, with the Herons taking every precaution with the Argentinian star. He isn’t being rushed, and in his absence, his teammates have been tasked with surviving without him.
It’s been a month since we’ve seen Messi play in an MLS match. Injuries have kept him out of everything save for two CONCACAF Champions Cup matches against Nashville SC, which set up Wednesday’s quarterfinal clash with Mexican powerhouse Monterrey. That first leg looks set to mark Messi’s return, which will obviously be welcome news to anyone associated with Miami.
Since Messi’s last league match, a 5-0 demolition of rivals Orlando City, the Herons have played four league games. From those games, they earned four points. Three of them came in a win over D.C. United with the further point being earned this past weekend in a draw with NYCFC. Mixed in there was a loss to CF Montreal and an absolute battering at the hands of the New York Red Bulls, who truly exposed Miami at a rain-soaked Red Bull Arena.
You learn about teams during adversity, and there’s no bigger adversity for Inter Miami than missing Messi. Throughout this run, we’ve learned plenty about this group and gotten glimpses into the club’s plans to cope in the moments when their star is unavailable.
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Suarez can carry the team
Heading into the season, there were so many concerns about Luis Suarez. How would his knees hold up? How would he handle the grueling travel of MLS? Was he in Miami to hang out with his friends or to lead a team to a trophy? But since the season got going, he sure has answered those questions.
With seven goals in his first nine games in all competitions, Suarez has proven that he’s here to make an impact. He scored twice against D.C. United in Miami’s first game without Messi and then added another in the recent 1-1 draw with NYCFC. Even without Messi feeding him, Suarez can still make one heck of an impact.
He’s not the player he once was, and he can’t singlehandedly dominate a game like he did at Liverpool or Barcelona, where his relentless effort up top set the tone for those around him. Suarez is a genius in the box and one heck of a finisher, though, and in this team, that’s all he has to focus on.
Without Messi, Suarez has stepped up and led the line well. He’s not a passenger or a bystander; he’s a leader, one that can fill gaps and change games in those moments without Messi involved.
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Midfield needs time
The key to success for Inter Miami’s midfield was surrounding Sergio Busquets with horses. The ex-Barcelona star can run games with his mind, but he needs the legs around him to make that happen.
Right now, though, Miami are missing a few of those horses, namely two key ones. We’ve known about Benjamin Cremaschi, who should be coming back relatively soon. He was injured during the preseason, but the talented young midfielder is getting closer to returning from his sports hernia.
The recent injury to Federico Redondo, though, was a big setback. The young Argentine will miss around two months after suffering an LCL injury. He’d just signed with the club and has been labeled a Busquets clone in the past, so losing a player of Redondo’s skillset is a big blow for the Miami midfield.
Diego Gomez has been good, while David Ruiz has stepped in and filled holes all over the field this season. Still, we haven’t seen what this Miami midfield can look like at full strength.
Without Messi, it’s been mixed. The Herons did great against D.C. but were then totally overrun by the Red Bulls’ relentless press. A shift of Busquets to centerback against NYCFC offered a new look that could be useful once this team is at full-strength.
When Messi returns, the midfield will need to do all of the running behind him, while he provides the creative spark. But, with or without Messi, we still don’t quite know what the ceiling is for the team in the middle of the field.
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Style remains similar
Inter Miami have an identity. They’re a clear possession-based team, one that wants to dominate the ball. Tata Martino’s team want to dictate the game and let their creators create. Ultimately, they’re betting on quality to win out over variance.
With Messi, that’s all obvious. They have perhaps the greatest player of all time on their team, and it’s no secret that they’re banking on him to do ridiculous things. When Messi is out of the lineup, though, the style doesn’t change. Miami continues to dominate the ball, even if the moments of Messi magic aren’t there.
Thus far, Inter Miami have completed 3,232 passes in MLS. In second place? The Columbus Crew at 2,861. Miami, of course, has played an additional game, but the gap from Miami to Columbus is as big as the gap from Columbus to Sporting KC, who are seventh in the league.
The point is this: Inter Miami are committed to their style, no matter who is on the field
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Gressel’s playmaking is key
Surprise, surprise: Julian Gressel isn’t Messi. No one is, to be fair. There’s no player on this planet that can take over a game quite like the diminutive Argentine, no one who can create for himself or others the way Messi can.
Gressel, though, is one heck of a creator, one who does help set things up, particularly in Messi’s absence. His assist against NYCFC was an absolute peach, a perfectly-hit cross onto the head of Suarez. That’s been his MO for years, as Gressel has long been a weapon, particularly with his crosses.
Having done that with Atlanta United, D.C. United, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Columbus Crew, Miami are just the latest team to weaponize him. He can start centrally, on the wing or at wingback, and he’ll contribute no matter which of those spots you place him in.
Gressel isn’t Messi, but he is a chance-creator, one that makes life much easier when other stars are out of the XI.
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Defense is a mess
There may be no saving Miami’s defense. It’s the team’s Achilles heel, the one thing that may just prevent them from competing at the top, top level. In big moments, Miami may just have to go out there and outscore teams, and that’s much, much harder without Messi on the field.
They’ve largely been okay since Messi’s injury, aside from one game, when the Red Bulls ran all over them en route to their 4-0 win. The Red Bulls looked like a stylistic nightmare for the Herons, who were terrorized by their own former player, Lewis Morgan.
Miami have made yet another move to try and fix things, signing right back Marcelo Weigandt on loan from Boca Juniors. Martino also made a big tactical tweak against NYCFC, moving Busquets to centerback. Could that be a long-term solution?
For now, though, Miami can’t seem to find the right combination of pieces to make this thing serviceable. Figuring that out will be their goal for the foreseeable future.
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This won’t be the last time
Miami will have to get used to this, too, as it won’t be the last time they’ll be without Messi. Injuries, international duty, rest… There will be plenty of times when the Argentine is either forced or left out of the XI.
These past weeks have proven that this year’s team is better equipped to survive those games than last year’s group. When Messi was injured in 2023, Miami’s season fell off a cliff. This time around, they can at least tread water when he isn’t involved.
It’ll never be ideal, as there’s no situation where Miami won’t want Messi in the XI. And when he doesn’t play, this team is considerably worse. Still, it’s something that Miami will need to navigate in a way that allows everything to come together by the end of the campaign.
