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News, Blog and GuidesAhead of the opening fixture of the new MLS season, we take a look at what players, coaches and experts had to say about the Herons’ chances.
William GittinsWillGittUpdate: Feb 21st, 2024 15:04 EST0
CHANDAN KHANNAAFP
Finally, it is here. The 2024 MLS season gets started on Wednesday evening when Inter Miami host Real Salt Lake at the recently renamed Chase Stadium.
Inter Miami open the new campaign and all eyes will be on Tata Martino’s side for every step of their 2024 journey. The Leagues Cup triumph last summer highlighted the incredible talent in this Miami roster but their September drop-off and preseason struggles have shown some fairly integral issues with this team.
Whatever happens this year, Inter Miami will be box office. They boast some of the most celebrated players of their generation and, perhaps, the Greatest Of All Time. Everyone’s got an opinion on the Herons as they prepare to kick-start the new season. We take a look at what a few experts had to say.
How many trophies can Inter Miami win this season?
The influx of elite talent that has arrived in the past seven months has completely changed the game for Inter Miami. This season they rank among the favourites to win all four trophies available to them: MLS Cup, Leagues Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup and the US Open Cup (assuming that MLS teams decide to enter).
Can they really do it, win all four competitions? Miami full-back Jordi Alba certainly thinks so.
“All of them,” he said, when asked which competitions the team will target this season. “All of them. It’s clear we haven’t won anything yet. We want to win every trophy we’re playing for. It’s going to be very complicated because there are some very well-prepared teams with the same dreams as us, but I think we have a very good team.”
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They won it all with Barcelona. Now the illustrious quartet want to do it all over again.AHMED YOSRIREUTERS
He is not the only member of the Herons’ squad with big ambitions. Luis Suarez was the team’s big off-season signing, joining from Brazilian side Gremio. Suarez reunites with Lionel Messi and the rest of his former-Barcelona teammates and is focused on making history in MLS.
Suarez said: “I think the best word that we have as players is ‘dream’. To dream big. Why not dream about winning all four titles? Obviously that will depend on us. We can talk all we want but we have to produce on the pitch, we have to sacrifice. Not just talk, but work. So the phrase I’d use again, is to “dream big.” Because why not?”
How good is the Inter Miami roster?
In places – certain, very obvious places – this Miami roster is as strong as any team in MLS history. Messi’s mid-season arrival in 2023 sparked a historic turnaround for a team bottom of the Eastern Conference and he should be better able to maintain those levels this year, having benefitted from a full preseason.
However the league’s roster rules mean that Miami have not been able to build out the rest of the squad to the same degree. As head coach Tata Martino admits, there are gaps in the team.
“We can’t bring in all the players we want,” Tata explained recently. “The thing is that we don’t have freedom of recruitment. We must have a few players that will allow us to have some attacking alternatives when [Messi] is not playing.”
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Inter Miami lost form at a crucial moment when Lionel Messi picked up an injury last year.MEGAN BRIGGSAFP
He’s not the only one to urge caution. Apple TV+ analyst Taylor Twellman starred in MLS as a player and knows how difficult it is to turn a few exceptional players into a dominant team.
Twellman said: “I can’t believe everyone and their mother has them as title contenders for four trophies. I don’t see it. I look at MLS history and the way the league is built on parity and I get it – Alba, Busquets, Suarez and Messi, but those are older players without a ton of tread left on those tyres.”
Can Inter Miami last the distance in MLS?
The Leagues Cup triumph was a key moment in the history of Inter Miami CF and one that captured the attention of the world. But that victory has also handed the Herons an additional responsibility, competing in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Their pan-continental exploits will bring Inter Miami to yet more new markets and gives them another chance at glory. But for a team with aging stars, it could provoke more selection headaches for Tata Martino.
“The biggest job that Tata has and that this club has in general is player management, the minute management,” said Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald soccer reporter. “They need to manage with all of the games that they have to play, with the league games and the Concacaf Champions Cup and Leagues Cup … then several of these guys are going to play Copa América, too.”
What makes the 2024 season so difficult to predict is that there are so many unknowns. Can a 36-year-old Lionel Messi play 40 games? Will the new-look Inter Miami backline gel? Is Luis Suarez a good fit for MLS?
