Dominating MLS by Lionel Messi & Inter Miami Not That Easy

First benefit to Inter Miami after joining Leonel Messi was its hits on Instagram saw a huge jump. And Agüero was thrilled to learn that his former teammate Lionel Messi was moving to Miami because the two had been good friends for over two decades.

He was startled, he said Thursday on Argentine TV, but he was glad because Messi and his family will be able to enjoy life without stress in the warm Florida climate.

But Agüero just had to email his pal a screenshot of the MLS Eastern Conference standings.

Agüero remarked to Leo, “Leo, listen to me,” before cracking a grin. We’re way behind you! If you want to make the playoffs, you need to finish in the top nine.

And it might just be Messi’s first real test in the United States. He is coming to a much poorer league than the two in Europe that he has previously played in, and to a team that is now in last place.

Inter Miami has spent the most of its brief history as an uncontrollable chaos. In 2020, the club made a splashy debut in the league, but it rapidly lost its luster due to poor play and inept, dishonest leadership.

It unlawfully formed a team by underreporting salaries to circumvent MLS spending rules, and that squad was terrible.

As a result of a league investigation in 2021, the Miami Dolphins were hit with a significant fine, roster punishments, and management changes.

The squad made strides forward in 2022, but they had the worst attendance in the league, and now they’re back at the bottom of the league in 2023. This is the third head coach in four years for the team. To say it’s not Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona would be an understatement.

Next month, Messi will enter the league for the first time, already halfway through what could be his first of four MLS seasons.

He’ll join a side that has the worst anticipated goal differential in the league and has only 15 points after 16 games.

Not including Messi’s probable arrival, FiveThirtyEight’s SPI model predicts that 25 of 29 MLS teams still have playoff odds of 35% or better this season; nevertheless, the model gives Inter Miami a 5% chance.

Naturally, he will enter the league and instantly become the best player in its history. He’s a behemoth in size yet remarkably still performing at a high level.

He will force his opponents to focus solely on him. His presence will elevate the performance of his teammates. With the ball at his feet, he will, of course, confound observers.

In addition, he will have more freedom and privacy than he did in France or Spain. The Major League Soccer (MLS) is, at best, ranked towards the bottom end of the top 10 leagues in the world, below La Liga (Spain), Ligue 1 (France), and the English Premier League (EPL).

According to data-driven indices of worldwide soccer clubs, LAFC is about on level with the worst of La Liga. Its rosters are stacked with A-listers. The GOAT will make amateurs out of its legion of seasoned players and eager-eyed rookies.

Most importantly, the playoff system is ridiculously lenient. Inter Miami has been absolutely terrible for almost four months, and now it’s only six points away from ninth place in the conference, the minimum it needs to reach to make the playoffs.

Since winning the league title now requires only finishing in the top 18 of the league, Miami’s odds have dropped from +2800 to +1800, making them the eighth best.

Which seems like a breeze. At least, that’s how Agüero’s joke plan sounded to Messi earlier this week. Agüero claims that Messi responded with a laugh and the phrase “Tenemos que entrar.” The door must be entered.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll easily make or advance in the playoffs. In this fantastically odd league (and this fantastically social sport), superstars hardly ever fail to shine. The Galaxy didn’t immediately soar after David Beckham came in.

MLS – Is The Future of Messi Here?

Henry never advanced to the MLS Cup final. Lorenzo Insigne left Napoli for Toronto, where he signed a $14 million contract and brought several teammates from the Italian national team. Last year, they placed 27th out of a total of 28.

While the Major League Soccer (MLS) is certainly not a Sunday rec league that Messi can win on his own, it will be a step down for him nonetheless. Since that time, it has gotten younger and more nimble. The league’s finest teams have surpassed those of Ligue 1’s second-worst.

In spite of Barcelona’s brash admission that it is “a league with fewer demands” than La Liga, the league still has its own set of requirements. More flight travel than any other domestic circuit is involved, as is a healthy dose of tolerance for the bizarre.

When questioned about Messi on Wednesday, Nashville defender Walker Zimmerman responded, “I think we’ve seen it’s a difficult league.” You’ve got a lot of close, hard-fought matches on your hands.

It won’t be out of the ordinary for him, but I guarantee you that every time he touches the ball, a bunch of people will be eager to prove that they can win it off of him or intercept a pass so that they can tell their kids about it.

Time, however, will be Messi’s greatest challenge in the near future.

The second half of Inter Miami’s season has been better than the first. It purposefully made its squad weak in areas where Messi and his pals (Sergio Busquets?

Others? could fill, but while waiting for them, the team’s roster was destroyed by injuries. When Messi joins the team, it will immediately become better.

However, there will be more holding out and probably more defeats before that happens. Before Messi can make his debut, the MLS will take a break for the Leagues Cup, a collaboration with Liga MX of Mexico.

Since Messi probably won’t make his MLS debut until August 20, that leaves him with only 12 games, or a third of the season, to clean up Miami’s mess.

Messi, of course, is the best hope we have of undoing it. Even as recently as November and December, he was still rousing teams from their slumber. Eventually, he’ll be able to do it across the country and on muggy October nights in Fort Lauderdale.

What we don’t know, but will find out in the next weeks, is if he can do it in the face of inferiority.

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