By James Nalton
Stars sometimes not enough
Inter Miami are capable of winning any game in which they play, thanks to the star players in their team who can win games by themselves.
However, when Messi or Luis Suárez are not scoring or creating goals out of nothing, the team can struggle.
The significant player turnover outside of those familiar names might have disrupted the team, and the 2025 version of misfiring Miami hasn’t been as robust as the 2024 version, despite a few promising results earlier in the season.
This has led to a disjointed-looking team and a poor run of form in which they have lost five of their last seven in all competitions, conceding 20 goals in that time.
The pressure on head coach Javier Mascherano will surely increase if they fail to win again on Saturday night.
Who can step up for Miami in Philly?
We’ve already mentioned Fafà Picault, Tadeo Allende, and Telasco Segovia as potentially important players for Inter Miami this season.
These players are an important part of the team depth beneath the Suárez and Messi axis, and Mascherano could turn to them to try to turn things around.
A bigger issue lies in defence and, at the moment, that looks more difficult to solve through personnel alone — a constant problem for this Miami team.
It falls on Mascherno to find a way to shore things up at the back while also releasing those attacking players in support of Messi and Suárez.
The heat is on
Past a certain point, when a team is not challenging for the Supporters’ Shield or is prioritising other things, it can feel like there is not much to play for in the MLS regular season.
In Inter Miami’s case, they will be targeting a postseason MLS Cup win and will be confident of a place in the MLS Cup playoffs regardless of current form.
They only have five fewer points than they did after this many games (13) in 2024, so there is time to turn things around and begin climbing up the table, but their Concacaf Champions Cup exit, coupled with poor league form, cannot be ignored.
Union action
If Inter Miami could pick a next opponent to help get themselves back on track, Philadelphia Union away would probably be at the bottom of the list.
Union are six games unbeaten at home, and have won five of their last six games in MLS.
Bradley Carnell’s team top both the Eastern Conference and the overall Supporters’ Shield standings.
Union are also coming into the game on the back of a US Open Cup win against Pittsburgh Riverhounds, which spread the feel-good factor throughout the squad.
Their in-form forward Tai Baribo tops the scoring charts in MLS, while Quinn Sullivan, who started alongside his 15-year-old Man City-bound brother Cavan in the cup, is joint-top of the assists charts with six.
Prediction
Another Inter Miami defeat could put pressure on Mascherano, and all the signs suggest this will be another Inter Miami defeat.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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