Inter Miami Need to Wake Up, and Fast

There’s no other way around it: it has been an underwhelming start to the campaign for Inter Miami. Having won the U.S. Open Cup in 2023 and set a league record for the most points in an MLS season in 2024, expectations were higher than ever for the reigning Supporters’ Shield winners. But whilst they enjoyed an undefeated start to the campaign under new manager Javier Mascherano, the wheels started to come off in April as the Herons drew to Toronto FC and Chicago Fire in league play. They would close out the month of April with three straight defeats, losing to FC Dallas and exiting the Concacaf Champions Cup in humiliating fashion at the hands of Vancouver Whitecaps. Miami bounced back by defeating the New York Red Bulls 4-1, only to end up taking two points from their next four matches – a run that saw them concede a whopping 13 goals in four matches.

“Miami are victims of their own success,” argued ex-USMNT international Jimmy Conrad. “They’ve had success, of course, but they are kind of victims of their philosophy, because they’re trying to be the Galácticos of MLS in some ways. And there’s a sacrifice when you have a salary-capped league, there’s a sacrifice to that philosophy. You can go out and get the biggest names, you can get Messi who’s been tremendous, and you can get all of his buddies, too. But then, something’s gonna give. If this wasn’t a salary-capped league, then I think that that could probably work, and they could go out and get big names defensively. But right now there’s a distinction.”

Miami nevertheless responded by beating Montréal 4-2 before beating Columbus Crew 5-1. But whilst they boast an exhilarating arsenal of attacking options with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, question marks remain with regards to their defensive caliber. Going into the FIFA Club World Cup, Miami had failed to keep a clean sheet in their previous 11 fixtures.

“They have enough going forward where they know they’re going to score, but there’s a bit of imbalance defensively because of how much they’ve front-loaded their money on attacking players and how thin they’ve become in other areas,” added Conrad. “When you’re you’re expecting Noah Allen, who’s not even a center back, to play center back, that pretty much says all you need to know. I’m concerned for Inter Miami.”

Miami kicked off the Club World Cup on Saturday by facing off against Egyptian side Al Ahly, a match that, despite not producing any goals, was rife with excitement. Al-Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy produced five saves, whilst his counterpart Óscar Ustari made eight saves and was given the Man of the Match award for his trouble. With all four of the teams failing to find the back of the net, the group remains wide open going into the final two fixtures of the group stage.

Miami will travel to Atlanta and face off against a Porto side featuring the likes of Fábio Vieira, Rodrigo Mora and Samu Aghehowa. After taking on the Portuguese giants, Miami will then return to Hard Rock Stadium and meet a Palmeiras side that is rife with attacking talent. Boasting Felipe Anderson, Allan, and Vítor Roque, the Brazilian giants will likely be heavily favored against the hosts, but if Miami can find a way to start combining defensive solidity with the kind of free-flowing attacking football that we’ve grown accustomed to over the past few years, they may just have a fighting chance of advancing from Group A and booking their ticket for the knockout round.