Did Inter Miami Build Something That Can Actually Last?

0:00They're making signings to keep him happy. You think of Rodrigo de Paul. You think of Dremen Bertorame. You think of Casamera, which is brain dead, by the way. When you think of MLS, both domestically and internationally, Inter Miami is the club that comes to mind. The fact that he is retired from international football suggests that club retirement is not far behind. Welcome back to the Rondo, Lino Messi, the GOAT. Just announced his retirement from international football. And club retirement can't be that far behind. With Messi, Inter Miami has built itself up as one of the premier MLS clubs. We got to ask the question, will they struggle when he's gone? It's going to be really, really tough. Right now, the issue for the past few years, in fact, is that they put all of their eggs in the messy basket without really putting up any guardrails for what happens when he goes. For example, he's making $28 million a year, which is more than at least half of the league. They're making signings to keep him happy. You think of Rodrigo DePaul, you think of German Bertorame,

1:00you think of Casamero, which is brain dead, by the way. He's like... You don't even know how to continue him. Yeah, well, true. Yeah, that will make no sense. Casamero being like, I'm here to play with one of the greatest of all time after spending what, like, three years with Ronaldo. Yeah. What, my worry, or my worry would be, if I were a Miami fan, would be, Messi can just go when he wants. He's under contract till $28, right? And he's gonna make a lot of money until then. And Miami will still be all right, I guess, till then. But like, the fact that he is retired from international football suggests that club retirement is not far behind. He could just walk at the end of the season and then he gets scary for Miami because there are a mess at all levels, is the issue. Yeah. What were they like before Messi got there? But most people only think of inner Miami in the messy era, but there was a time... That was a time. Before him. Prehistoric. Yeah, the club did exist. Well, I think people overexaggerate how sh** they were because expansion franchises almost always struggle.

2:03Yeah, it's tough at the start. But so they played their first game, I believe, in 2020. They finished 10th as an expansion franchise that year. That's fine. That's not right, but it's fine. Then 11th... We'll take 11th in the conference and then league. In the conference. Okay, so that's pretty good. And then 6th. Film level is like, he's a fine manager, but they never had enough talent. Like, the Andre Jedlin's playing right back. Oh, hold on. Hold on. I'm sorry, bro. The Andre Jedlin has used a Premier League experience of one of the fastest players in the world. He run fast. That mean good. Like, they didn't have... Yeah, correct. They didn't have any like game-changing quality. Miami were always kind of targeting Messi. They sort of knew, in a sense, that there was going to be a post-barser, post-PSG world, and then they were going to get in. And they were almost kind of building the brand and keeping that powder dry for that exact moment. They just were willing to be crap until that moment came. What's their organization set up like? Because I'm pretty sure they just brought in all of Messi's boys. Exactly, carbon.

3:04So that's a really good question. And the funny thing is, is that no one quite knows the answer. They had this slide called Chris Henderson, first to ever say all the sporting stuff until about 2024. He got it more or less, right? He sort of kept the ship afloat, if you will. He was in the room when Messi was sorted. He gets kicked out in the end of 2024, John Zatlanti, United. And basically, you've had Guillermo Hoyos came in who Messi's referred to as his godfather. He was the sporting director, then an assistant coach, then a head coach. He was sort of fired as head coach recently, but sort of not. He's still in the organization doing something. And then you have basically like this revolving cast of people who either know Messi, worked with Messi, or are just from Argentina. So what you basically have is David Beckham and Jorge Masko owners, right at the top. You have Messi there. And then you just have a bunch of people in place to keep him happy. At the very least, that is a calculated risk.

4:08But it mildly, that is a calculated risk. That's worth it so far. Reigning a less cup, Javier. Well, it has. And the issue is that it's one of those things that see the zero or hundreds. That is the problem. Because when Messi walks whenever that may be, that means like, why is Hoyos staying? Why is Mates staying? Why is, you know, the whole gang from Rosario still hanging out, like Newer's old boys, like, former... Alarm's here. Yeah, what? Like, exactly. Why should they stick around? I feel like a lot of fans obviously know the top two or three heavy-hitting names on this inner Miami roster. What's the rest of the roster like? It's fine. I mean, objectively, there are some really good footballers. Like, Rodrigo DePaul could still be playing for UCL. Yeah, for sure. Like, the only reason he came to Miami was... To hang out with Messi. To hang out with Messi and basically stay fit for the World Cup. And then you've got a bunch of like, pretty good, Noah Allenopolis. Friend of goal. No one, a friend of goal Noah Allenopolis. Is a fine, like, left-back slash sense-back,

5:10Ian Freys, fine, Jermen Butter Rame, will probably, and any of the scenario score 15 to 20 goals for an MLS club. Yannick Bright is a good sentiment-fielder, Mikael at centerbacks, a smart signing, but even then he's on loan. You're looking about half of the squad or half of the starting 11 being good, like, above average to good. There is negative depth, though. Is the issue. Like, there is actually negative depth. They don't have a right-back. And with all of Tubertaire, Maxi Falcone is ass. When he retires, what happens to all of that? Well, two things. The first is that they will have loads of money to spend. Like, that is absolutely true. The cap space will be ridiculous. Maybe by that point, MLS has changed its roster rules anyway. And Miami has loads of money. The issue is that there will be some serious surgery that needs doing in such a small window. You will need a sporting director. You will, you might need a new manager. You might need a new assistant coach.

6:12And then Suarez goes. Yeah, I mean, he's on the way out of here. But he's starting for Miami. Yeah. He's going to hit double. If he hasn't already hit double-digit goals, he will. Yeah, yeah. He just goes 15 this season. He looks like he's in pain every time he runs. But he has been producing on the stat sheets. He's going to give him credit for that. I'm not just working for my firm. Teller Suarez still doing it. Teller Suarez still doing it. Grandma, I've been asleep for 20 years. Teller Suarez still got it. What is the pole sticking around for? Yeah, I mean, he could go back to Europe. Then you have Sergio Region, Casamero, David Ayala, today or I and day, all came to play with Messi in some way, shape or form, right? Like, Bertor Rame, does he stick around? Hmm. This reeks of an overhaul. An absolute overhaul in a very short window. At the Rondo, we're the kind of sockers that don't just argue about who's better. We got to get ambitious and take things to the next level. That's why we've been using chat GPT work. A new way of working in chat GPT. It can build apps, websites and stat trackers that built around the beautiful game that we're obsessed with.

7:12It can turn all of your what-if ideas into a reality. You can actually enjoy the game you love on a deeper level. Automate one-time work, repeat on schedules, monitor changes over time, and a lot more. You can even use it with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Drive, so the whole team can get in on the action. So whenever you want to take your fandom to the next level, put chat GPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chatgbt.com by selecting work mode, available on plus and pro plants. Welcome to the Pulse, our custom built tool with chat GPT work. It serves as training topics from goals, comment sections, football topics on X, and other social platforms to generate the five biggest football topics of the week. We got two to discuss today. And the first one is that MLS Cup favorites are taking shape. We're past World Cup, we're more than halfway through the MLS regular season. Right now, the favorites are inter-miami, LFC, Vancouver, or NNASH, Phil. Tom, who's your favorite for MLS Cup? Is it one of those clubs or is it somebody else who's sneaking in there? Well, it's funny because at the start of the season, when we did these predictions, I said, LFC, or winning MLS Cup, baby, and I'm like,

8:15yeah, son, stopping off to the best, not having the greatest season for him. So we need to ask serious questions about the future of young Minson, which does suck because, you know, he's a legendary modern game, isn't he really, even though Loltz buzzed through a last try? Miami, I don't think, I've got it like that. I think Nashville are the most complete team we've seen in Major League Soccer in a long time. The good barometer, right, is that they're doing two things. They're grinding out results against the teams that suck. Yeah. And they are battering their nearest rivals. The proud jersey you are currently wearing, FC Sincy. I think Nashville beat him four-neil this week. Yeah, Nashville's a very good team. You know, they're getting the decisive, like, goals they're doing everything that championship winners do. And this just feels like their year. The funny thing is, if Mauritio Pocchettino leaves the US, then Nashville's head coach, VJ Callahan. It's going to be a USA coach. Potentially becomes the USM and T coach. If Poccha done that this summer, Nashville leaves the coach.

9:18You know what I've even got, yeah. Right, sure. I think I've got Nashville, but I'm guessing Corbin, you're going to slander Miami this whole episode and being like, the Winhamers Cup. Oh, they're going to win him most of the time. Yeah, we got 100%. It's not even because, like, Nashville or better team is tough to bottom, Nashville, if he and Miami, of course. I don't think that any of that matters because they have Messi. And 10 guys around Messi who have double magic who will die for him, etc., etc. I think we saw this all throughout last year, especially last year's playoffs, where we're like, your Miami defense is not that good. They don't really have any depth outside of Messi and Suarez and Roger go to Paul. Like, okay, these names in the roster aren't moving me. And then they just like buzz out through everybody in one against arguably a more complete Vancouver team. That is the Messi effect. That's the Messi aura. Yeah, I mean, you just, the greatest to ever do, it always has a shot. And I'm not going to be the guy who picks against him. The next topic that the Pulitzer surface, talking about global stars who are rumored to go to in Miami very on theme of this episode. Who's possible and who's just engagement bait right now, the three names that are being surfaced? Name R, Christian Policic and Paul Pogba.

10:19Name R has been the kind of quote and quote obvious one for a while. South American, big brand. Everyone knows who he is. Yada, yada, yada. Whether that will actually work, I don't know, but it does, it does seem like a genuine possibility. Yeah, yeah. Santos, it's kind of coming to the end of that cycle for him. He hasn't really made them better. No. No, that's an nostalgia signing for them. Policic would be possible, but MICFC just looks like a more likely destination based on geography based on what we know about the club's intent and based on kind of also what we know about him. Now, Paul Pogba, he is a free agent at the time of recording on September 1st at 11.55 am. Yeah. Why an MLS club hasn't thrown either a minimum or like one of those like weird gamma or tam like two million deals at him, I will never understand. Yeah.

11:19You can sign a 19 year old from Argentina that nobody has ever heard of before. Or you could get a middling Paul Pogba, but that might not be that good. Yeah. But he would get a cool haircut. He's past that doping stuff. He's figured it out with the witch doctor that his family tried to curse him with. He is fantastic for getting people to follow you on Instagram. Think about it. The Boba Tababa midfielders back. That was still the funniest slander name. He's Boba Tababa not Vox Tabas. Seattle Sounders. Come on, man. Paul Pogba, please someone pick up this man. Someone do it. Please. You know what'd be sexy. St. Louis City, I see. Whatever, man. Just lost a couple of midfielders. Sure. Why not? It's Paul Pogba grew up as a little boy dreaming about moving to Missouri. So I think it's interesting how inner Miami has with Messi basically alone become, I would say, the premier franchise at all of MLS. Respect to the LA clubs and Laney United had a couple really great years.

12:22When you think of MLS, both domestically and internationally, inner Miami is the club that comes to mind. It's because of Messi. Let's not get it twisted. Like, the fan base is great. I'm not sure how they will be able to recruit big, huge star talent once Messi leaves. Because, like, look, they have clearly shown their intention to be the premier of club at MLS. They're not afraid to spend money. There are no other Messi's in the world. But what do you think? Will the club still be able to recruit big name talent once he leaves? Like, will they find their Messi replacement that gets people to go to the games? Well, one thing that Miami have done is built that brand around Argentina. That home kit is literally a rip off of the Argentina kit but pink. Is that an Argentinian star that will be readily available that fills that void? Julian Alvarez is probably the most obvious, but, bro, like, Athleti are keeping him hostage from going to Barcelona at the time of recording. Like, why? They're in Miami, bro. They don't got to play Miami in La Liga. That's fun. Yeah. What is Miami's brand post-messy? Who do they go after?

13:24I mean, there is an argument to be made that they maybe go after some USM and T stars, but... I think Christian policy. What? It's probably the most obvious person for them to go after. But Christian Policic, NYCFC, want Policic? Inter Miami is so much closer to Mar-a-Lago. That's where Policic is going to want to be. If you're giving them the choice between New York or Miami, just think about how much closer one is to Fort Lauderdale. He's going to go to Inter Miami. That is very true. So, yeah, like, I don't see then by 2028, for example, if you're a free agent, a big name, why should you go to Miami over New York? Look, maybe a geriatric name, all, does it? The problem that they'll run into as they try to recruit post-messy is that there's a short list of guys who I would consider global megastars. So maybe it's like seven dudes. Ronaldo, Namer, Messi, Embafe, Holland, Vinnie, Jr. Jude Ballam. Yeah, Jude, Chor, Seven. Did you say Lamy? No, Lamy is eight. Of course, he should be in there.

14:25People will go to a game specifically to watch that person play. Yeah. There's like those seven or eight guys on that list. Yeah. Well, means too young he's not going to come to MLS. Embafe isn't his prime. He's not going to come to MLS. Holland's too young. He's not going to come to MLS. Ronaldo is too old. I don't think they would make a move for him after Messi. Regardless, the only one that could be somewhat realistic is Namer. The problem is Messi has been great for Miami because of the brand. Yes, but also because he's producing on the field to the level that no other player in the league is MVP's MLS Cup MVP, Golden Boot. I mean, he's been fantastic. He's still got it physically and I would worry for them that if they go after Namer, Namer just doesn't have it like that. I mean, he's playing in the Brazilian Serie A. You could argue that that's maybe a teeny bit higher level than MLS, but I would put them relatively similar at this point, right? And he's not really producing there. So I don't know if you would have that much of an on field impact in MLS. Yeah, and I think it's kind of interesting. I think would pass the point in MLS why you could be bad.

15:26I think that if Miami were to have brought Messi in and then Messi started being bad on the pitch once he joined MLS, there would be so much more criticism and the move would not be looked on as high as it is now. The fact that Messi joined and is playing at such a high level best player in the league still obviously helps a ton. And what's funny is that the Messi brand is remained intact globally because of that. No, I think Ronaldo since going to Saudi and this is the most obvious comparison. It is also a massive straight, Cristiano Ronaldo. My parents were back in their hometown this summer and they were like, what are Miami fans in Warrington? I think if there's 10 kids wearing either a Messi or Ronaldo, Miami on the Ashrick, nine of them are going to be in open kids. That brand is very strong and there certainly is not that level of affection for the Saudi league when all those. Right. I mean, that different personalities and whatever and blah, blah, blah, blah.

16:26But it's like, and this really ton gentle, but like Messi is kept that live by being good. Like we're recording this two days after Messi scored four goals in a single game. Four goals won assist and six chances created two, three kick goals and he got a 9.9 on football. Look, I know, I'm on for it. I'm on for it. I know Montreal sucks, but like, come on. Yeah, Montreal and they were and they were bad at game watching that game. Montreal, obviously, one of the worst teams in MLS, third, whole number of reasons, but they also played probably that worst game that I'd seen them play this season and watched them a fair few times. Only in their terrible. Yeah, it's interesting. We'll see if they're able to recruit somebody else, but I don't know if that player exists for them right now. No, but then again, like we could be here in two years almost and maybe Miami have changed strategy. Maybe the like MLS spending rules mean that they can get a number of very good players. Maybe they could get five or six Rodrigo to pole level players and then win MLS on the

17:27back of that. That's what Nashville, a sea of done. Right. Sam Sorge, Honey Mookta, Christian Espinoza, Andy Nahat. Like you're talking about really good footballers there. So you're right. Here's my point about that. Nobody cares about those guys. I'm sure. I'm not even trying to be funny. Look, they're a great team and they're, they're arguable MLS cup favorites and maybe they, you know, they play Miami in the playoffs and beat them. But if we're talking about brand and recognition both domestically and internationally, revenue that comes from sponsorships and social followers and kidspons or whatever, whatever like nobody gives us about Sam Sorge. Question that's related to that. Will people give us about Inter Miami once Messi leaves? Well, I think one thing that Miami have done well to their credit is that the stadium's huge. Yeah. Like new stadium. New, the new, the new stadium. New stadium. That's the look stunning. I have been. It looks stunning. They have created a really compelling part like it is a destination. There was a reason to go to that stadium. So if you're a local and I sincerely hope that local Miami people continue to go because

18:33they, they should. That's, that's a local fan base. That's cultivating something quite much. It's very much a lot. Yeah, it's up for them. Right. What you'll see is certainly a local fan base continue, but whether you'll see, you know, when I'm in England next summer, if Messi does a retire, I don't think I'm going to see into Miami kits on the train from Heathrow. On the train. You're not seeing anybody on the train. I think that's my barometer. Is your barometer is like parents, so like does your mom know if your parents know who they are or if kids wear the kits recreationally in a different geographic. I think mine is if I'm on the Avante West coast from London up to the Lake District where you just see people in football. Yeah. Yeah. If you don't see any there, it's. And if I don't see any of that, it's cooked. It's, yeah. All people care about my mom and my say leaves. I think that they will regress to just being one of the premier Amelisk clubs. And I think that they will be the same as like do people care about LA Galaxy? People care about LAFC. LA Galaxy are an interesting one because they obviously they are the biggest remove Miami.

19:38They are the legacy franchise and they are the last day are the one you know. They for a long time had the coolest jerseys. They are David Beckham. They had sustained success. I think the point is with the LA Galaxy is that they have lost relevance number one because that just not as good you know Ricky Pooiesh, that is knee and that is knee again. We have been here for three years. Yeah. And Marco Roy says that they are on the outside looking in when it comes to playoffs. They don't have a mega star. They have tried to build the smart way. It's not quite worked out for them. But when they are good people definitely tap in more. Yeah. I mean like how do I put this? The ceiling is higher for LA Galaxy. Like the interest will be like oh like the Galaxy good that's worth. They are due for a big splash signing. I know they picked up Marco Roy's but like they are due for somebody big right? Like you know who I can really see in a Galaxy kick if yours is killing Boppa. Dude that being said. I can see in Boppa rocking this this ass. When it comes to continuing it's it's position as like the leading club in MLS with Miami

20:39right. So any lasting infrastructure or is it all just kind of going to go away when Messi leaves? That's the real worry is the infrastructure around him. Because I don't I don't know if there is like if you look at for example like so they need a sporting director they need a backroom staff. Why should the new head coach stick around? Why should any of this happen? So they're going to be a massive trouble. If you look at other clubs and this is the way to achieve sustainable success in any sport specifically soccer though in MLS when you have smaller budgets it's to build a good infrastructure. San Diego FC have done this really well. Like they do have like a sporting infrastructure like that they're all set up for the place to come in, place to go out whatever. Miami doesn't have that. So when it crumbles and then your thing is just throw money at it you do worry. It kind of reminds me of the Lakers. Other Kobe left they after Kobe retired they went through some tough years. Right. Yeah they were still a Premier brand but they were not very good.

21:41Now I think it's a little bit different because Premier brand and MLS is very different than a Premier brand in the NBA or the NFL or obviously any of the other big American sports or even just big club football in general. Look at Manchester United they've been terrible for a long time and they've still remained the club that people talk about regardless of whether it's good or bad. Yeah I don't know man. And Miami's going to need to find a big replacement name for Messi and they're going to need to do it within the next two years. I honestly think that the longer that Messi is able to hold on the better the outcome is for the club because you need some of these other guys who are big stars right now to age a little more to maybe make that a more realistic choice for them. Can I give you my closing prediction? Messi goes at the end of the year. They have two just years of being shot. They throw money at the wrong people. They try to make it happen. They probably still make the playoffs because everyone makes playoffs and I'm a lousy. But it takes them a little bit of time to turn it around. Realize that they rebuild five years fine but it's going to be a really rough interim bit.

22:45And then they sign a guy like killing them up or yeah they're going to do it. There you go. Easy. Easy. We should be sporting directs. Come back here for all of your sporting director advice needs. Our solution. Sign and boppe in five years. That's it. This is this is a really intellectual job. Yeah, we should be honestly we should consult the Premier League club or for MLS for you. Have you guys considered signing a boppe? You have. It's not going to work. That would be $10,000. Yeah, give it a few years. Thank you very much. You're welcome for the advice. Thanks for watching this episode of the Roundup. Make sure you like, subscribe and comment down below what you think will happen in your Miami when messy retires.