Will Inter Miami rest its stars against Houston?
Coach Javier Mascherano must carefully juggle Lionel Messi and company’s minutes during a congested early match schedule.
From left, Inter Miami and former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets look on during a 2024 preseason match. The veterans’ still form the core of the Herons’ trophy hopes./Photo by Fred Lee, Getty Images
El Jefecito’s challenge
I get it. “Players only love you when they’re playing.”
But Inter Miami didn’t bring first-year coach Javier Mascherano to South Florida to be loved; he’s here to win trophies. And to do that, Mascherano — nicknamed El Jeficito, “the Little Boss,” — may have to separate his leadership role from his longtime friendship with his four best players.
Mascherano, 40, played with Luis Suarez, 38, Lionel Messi, 37, Sergio Busquets, 36, and Jordi Alba, 35, on the great Barcelona teams of the 20-teens. Now, he’s the boss.
With a World Cup and eight Balon d’Or awards among his many accolades, Messi has cemented his reputation as the greatest soccer player of all time, and the other four — including Mascherano — are among the best of their generation.
And, while the Barcelona alums’ combined star power has rocketed the Herons to global prominence and filled the club’s coffers, Inter Miami’s ambitious owners want more; they want hardware. David Beckham and the billionaire Mas brothers want Inter Miami to take a place among the world’s most prestigious clubs and they need trophies to support that cause.
To deliver, Mascherano must manage his players’ minutes to keep them performing at their peak. That may be easier said than done when it comes to sitting his former teammates.
After Inter Miami beat Sporting KC 3-1 Tuesday at home, Mascherano addressed the issue with reporters.
“We want them to be available for all the games,” he said, according to Michele Kaufman’s report in the Miami Herald “If later there are some games we don’t need them, even better. Or, like in this game, take them out and let them rest. It is a long season. The start of the season we had three games in seven days, with travel and some injuries we didn’t expect. So, we have to manage all that and the players need to understand that rest is for their own good and we will be a stronger team for it.”
So far, the core four — except Suarez, who has looked a little out of shape — seem fit. In three matches that matter, two Champions Cup meetings with Sporting KC and the MLS season opener against New York City FC, Suarez is averaging the fewest minutes per match (76.3). Alba, who was unavailable for the match in Kansas City because of a red card in last year’s competition, went the distance in the last two matches. Busquets (87 minutes per match) and Messi (83) are among the team’s leaders in minutes played.
Opportunities in 2025
Messi helped the Herons earn their first important title, the inaugural Leagues Cup, in 2023. Last year, Inter Miami set an MLS record for points in a season with 74, winning the Supporters’ Shield presented to the year’s best regular-season side, but the club failed to play for a single trophy. The year was a disappointment, but the new season offers redemption.
Inter Miami is competing in five competitions in 2025, five chances to add to its trophy case. In addition to the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield, the Herons will vie for the FIFA World Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup, and MLS/Liga MX Leagues Cup.
The Herons begin a stretch of five matches in 15 days Sunday at 7 p.m. EST in Houston:
• at Houston, 7 p.m. Sunday (MLS)
• Cavalier FC, noon Thursday, March 6 (CCC)
• Charlotte, 4 p.m. Sunday, March 9 (MLS)
• at Cavalier, 4 p.m. Thursday, March 13 (CCC)
• at Atlanta United, 7 p.m. Sunday, March 16 (MLS)
Fortunately, Inter Miami will have almost two weeks to recover before hosting the Philadelphia Union on March 29.
Mascherano must find a way to navigate this stretch while ensuring his best players are fresh for the Concacaf Champions Cup matches. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football’s club championship is the most prestigious title the Herons can realistically win in 2025 (FIFA’s Club World Cup is the ultimate prize, but Inter Miami needs to crawl before it begins leaping for the stars.)
It will be interesting to see how Mascherano manages his players’ time over the next three weeks. So far, he seems content to trust his players’ instincts, but can he sit them if their performance starts to lag? How he handles this challenge will tell us a lot about this season’s expectations.