Can InterMiami Find Its Stride Soon?

It has been just over two years since a game-changing summer transfer window for Inter Miami, which saw promising young talents like Diego Gómez, Tomás Avilés and Facundo Farías join the club. It also saw Gerardo Martino replace Phil Neville as manager, in addition to eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi arriving on a free transfer alongside his former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Together, these changes would conspire for Miami to go from one of the worst teams in the league to winning the first-ever edition of the expanded Leagues Cup, as well as reaching the U.S. Open Cup Final. The following year, meanwhile, would see Miami finish with the best regular season record in MLS history, winning the Supporters’ Shield with a whopping 74 points.

Today, however, Miami find themselves at risk of suffering their first trophyless season since 2022. Miami lost to Seattle Sounders in the Leagues Cup Final as well as eventual runners-up Vancouver Whitecaps in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals. And whilst they found themselves on pace to win their second-straight Supporters’ Shield, these hopes evaporated following a 1-1 draw at Toronto and a 5-3 home defeat to Chicago. Whilst Miami would bounce back with a 4-1 win vs. New England, it was too little too late as Philadelphia claimed their second Shield in club history. It means, that if they are to avoid a trophyless campaign, they’ll need to win their first-ever MLS Cup.

Although Miami have gone deep in multiple competitions this season, it’s fair to say that Javier Mascherano hasn’t quite managed to build up credit in the bank in his first-ever season of senior management. The Herons currently sit third in the Eastern Conference (fifth overall), three points above Charlotte and New York City FC, and three behind second-placed Cincinnati, with a game in hand on all of those sides. Miami will be looking to make it 10 home wins in 11 matches on Saturday, having beaten D.C. United and Seattle last month, and face off against Atlanta United.

Last season, Miami finished with the best regular season record in MLS history only to come undone against Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs, and they’ll be looking to achieve vengeance against an Atlanta side that is well out of playoff range, having taken one point from their last four. Next up, it’s a regular season finale at Nashville, who are playoff-bound and are fresh off winning their first-ever trophy after beating Austin FC in the U.S. Open Cup Final.

This isn’t an unfamiliar situation for Miami. Just four months ago, Miami went into the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as one of the least fancied teams in the tournament alongside Auckland City and Urawa Red Diamonds. But despite these low expectations, Miami would end up beating the odds by drawing to Al Ahly and Palmeiras and beating Porto, before losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16. Unless they can rekindle a similar turnaround in the playoffs, hen Mascherano could very well be entering his final weeks as Miami manager.