MLS Takeaways: Messi Edition
Photo from Getty Images
Look, y’all.
I’ve done quite a lot of these so far this year.
I go through each game. Mention the scores. The results. The problems and the good things of this wonderful league.
But with the league’s biggest signing being confirmed this weekend, I felt it was good to switch things up and talk about Lionel Messi (and Sergio Busquets) joining Inter Miami.
The good, the bad, and the overall impact of what will happen not just for Inter Miami, but for the league itself.
Let’s start with Inter Miami.
The Good
Messi may not be in his prime at 36, but don’t think this is a retirement move for Inter Miami.
Messi is coming off a World Cup where he scored 7 goals, including 2 in the final, while adding 3 assists. m
His level of play not only hasn’t slipped, it hasn’t even shown signs of slipping, and considering he is far and away the most talented player to step foot in this league, he will hit the ground running and immediately reform Miami’s attack.
As for Sergio Busquets, having a midfielder who is able to hold it down defensively and lead a breakout with excellent passing will be a much needed help to kickstart the attack.
Miami should be looking to get some goals, and they desperately need some.
The Bad
The expectations.
Bringing in Champions League winners who will slide right in to the starting lineup is going to make people who don’t usually watch MLS assume that Messi and Busquets will dominate the league and turn Miami into a powerhouse.
Luckily, you have someone like myself here to help you out.
That is not going to happen.
Don’t get me wrong, Messi is excellent.
As I said above, he is going to revitalize that attack and continue the streak of dominance he has continued to show even at this age.
But this team needs more than Messi.
They are smack dead last not just in the East, but in all of MLS.
They are worse than the Colorado Rapids who have more 0-0 games this season alone than all of MLS the past 3 seasons.
But hey, that’s where Busquets comes in, right?
And hey, Busquets is incredibly smart and a great passer. And if Tata Martino uses him as a ball moving centerback, it could really, really work.
But if he uses Busquets in the midfield, it could be problems.
This isn’t MLS 2.0. These midfielders and attackers can move, and they can move quick.
We’ve already seen Steven Gerard, Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard struggle in this league at their age, and that was a decade ago.
They’ve only gotten better since then.
Speaking of MLS 2.0, what does this move do for the league?
The Good
When David Beckham came to MLS, it was a groundbreaking move.
The League was still young and not very popular, and then out of nowhere gained loads of fans due to Beckham’s arrival.
But this, and I say it with all due respect to the legend that David Beckham is, is 10 times that move for MLS.
Messi is a global name. Fans from all of the world will tune in simply to watch him play, and they won’t care who it’s against.
That helps TV ratings, which helps future TV deals, which helps the league’s clubs get more money to get better players and continue to grow.
And with the Saudi Super League making huge splashes with transfers to try and draw eyes to their league, having Messi is huge for MLS.
Because I have said this a lot. MLS is the most fun league in the world.
You will see phenomenal skills followed up by the worst first touch imaginable.
You will see players score from midfield and goals that pinball off defenders in the same game.
In an era where all sports fans want is fun, there is no more fun league than MLS.
New fans will come for Messi, but they will stay for the glorious mess that is this league.
The Bad
To explain the bad, I have to be a little bit boring.
MLS is unlike most leagues, because it has a league wide salary cap (I won’t dive into GAM and TAM. Don’t worry).
When David Beckham came over, he obviously was going to get paid significantly more than the salary cap set by MLS, so MLS implemented designated players or “The Beckham Rule.”
The Beckham Rule states that each team is allowed 3 players that don’t count towards the salary cap, so each team can make big name signings.
You may be wondering why this is under the bad section.
Ever since that rule was implemented, the Galaxy have tried their hardest to scoot around the designated player system and continue to sign more than 3 big name players, and MLS would sometimes look the other way or make some rule changes to let that happen.
As I said before, this signing is 10 times the Beckham one.
Miami already has 3 designated player spots used with Busquets and Messi joining, and there are strong rumors that Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and Jesse Lingard could be joining as well.
Miami and MLS trying to make that work within the rules could be extremely difficult, and could lead to lots of blowback from teams and fans outside of Miami who feel like the new golden boy is getting preferential treatment.
There’s a lot of eyes on MLS with this move. They need to be careful about how they handle the upcoming roster questions.
Inter Miami Prediction
I watch this league a lot.
I have seen many, many players join this league from overseas. Huge names.
I have watched Zlatan make an impact with the Galaxy instantly.
I have seen Wayne Rooney show up in DC and make magic happen.
I have also seen Steven Gerrard struggle, and Lorenzo Insigne be completely insignificant for Toronto FC.
These European stars are more talented than every other MLS player, but if that talent doesn’t take this league seriously, the results would not let a casual fan believe that at all.
Thankfully for Miami, you don’t need to worry about effort with Lionel Messi.
He will give it everything no matter what league he’s in, and even if he didn’t, he is so much more talented that even 70% of his effort will make him succeed in this league.
But then there’s Busquets. And the possibility of Suarez, Lingard or Iniesta.
It feels very much so like Messi’s buddies coming to America to hang out and play with their friend.
And if that’s the case, they’re in for a rude awakening.
Throw in the fact that they’re joining a dead last team, and nobody should be surprised that Miami is still not going to make the playoffs this season.
