Javier Mascherano addresses Inter Miami slump heading into home game vs. Red Bulls
Gray clouds hung over the Inter Miami training facility during practice Friday morning, which seemed appropriate, considering the slump Lionel Messi and his teammates find themselves in heading into Saturday’s home game against New York Red Bulls.
Miami hopes to rebound after losing to Vancouver in the Champions Cup semifinals by a 5-1 aggregate score, including a 3-1 loss in the deciding leg Wednesday night. Sandwiched between the two losses to Vancouver was a debacle against FC Dallas, as Miami, resting many of its starters, squandered a 3-1 second-half lead and lost 4-3.
Luis Suarez, who was a contender in the Golden Boot race last season with 20 goals, has not scored in nine consecutive matches. His last goal was Mar. 13 against Jamaican club Cavalier in the Champions Cup Round of 16.
Messi, who scored eight goals in the first 12 games this year, has gone scoreless through the past four and has no assists over that stretch.
The Javier Mascherano era as coach began with a 14-game unbeaten streak. Friday morning, he was peppered with tough questions from the media about the team’s recent struggles.
Are Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba playing well enough to win? Does the team have enough speed and physicality to keep up with the top MLS opponents? Is the team too Messi-dependent? Have Telasco Segovia and Tadeo Allende slipped since their debuts early in the season? Why didn’t he play Fafa Picault in Wednesday’s game against Vancouver?
Mascherano patiently answered each question.
“Obviously, this club is built around those four names, and has been since they arrived, so that’s nothing new,” Mascherano said. “In my estimation, Busi has had a very good season and is one of our best players, without a doubt. Speaking with him, he feels good, happy, and said he wants to keep playing longer, which last year was not clear.
“Jordi has always been a back who is more of an attacker than a defender. He is one of our offensive weapons, but he is always committed to defense. As far as Luis, obviously, we know that center forwards must score. He hasn’t had that possibility in the recent games.”
Mascherano went on to say that he evaluates players privately and does not share those thoughts in public. He said he accepts that there will be public criticism, but it doesn’t change his managerial decisions.
“I understand that after a loss like the one on Wednesday, everyone sees only the bad; two weeks ago, this was Disney, all happy, everything was good,” he said. “I don’t get too high or too low. When two weeks ago we were undefeated in MLS and had lost only one of 18 games and everyone was praising us, I always said, you can check the archive, I said we have to be prepared for the bad moments. So, now, I’m not going to go crazy.
“We faced an opponent that was better than us in this series and in between, we had a game that, honestly, hurt us a lot, a game against Dallas that we had in our hands. It was a great chance for players who had not played many minutes, and they did a great job for 70 minutes. The last 20 minutes, I admitted that I did not read the game correctly, I made a mistake, and we lost.”
Critics have suggested that Inter Miami does not have the speed to keep up with the top MLS opponents, such as Vancouver, and other teams which play a more direct style with long balls and long sprints, as opposed to Miami’s possession style.
Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said his team relied on its speed, and, knowing the field would be wide open with most Miami players playing up high, his players were instructed to keep running.
“We are not a team that plays a direct style, like many teams in MLS, but that is not only this season,” Mascherano said. “Inter Miami the past few years has been known as a team that plays a shorter passing style, attacking in blocks. Last year this team attacked with fullbacks, and didn’t really have wingers. We brought in Tadeo and Fafa, players who give us more of a direct attack without sacrificing our passing style.”
Asked why Picault did not play against Vancouver, his former team, in Wednesday’s decisive game, Mascherano replied: “That was a coach’s decision. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes not. We felt we needed to have more control of the game and not go up the flanks so much. With Tadeo on one side and Jordi on the other, which is how we got our goal, that is what we needed. When things went well, nobody complained. But I understand that I am responsible.”
Finally, he dismissed the notion that his team is too Messi-dependent.
“It’s been 20 years since teams have been dependent on Messi,” Mascherano said. “Barcelona under [Pep] Guardiola, under Luis Enrique, under [Ernesto] Valverde, the Argentinian national team for 15 or 20 years, when you’ve got a player like Messi, of course you’re going to depend on him,” Mascherano said, smiling. “It’s impossible not to. Clearly, there are days when the team helps him more, and other times less.”
Inter Miami (5-1-3, 18 points) is in fifth place in the MLS Eastern Conference, while the Red Bulls (4-4-3, 15) are in eighth place.
The Red Bulls and Miami split results last season. Miami lost the first game 4-0 on the road, without Messi, but won the home match 6-2 with a Suarez hat trick, a goal by Messi and two goals from Matias Rojas, who is no longer with the team.
Miami will be desperate to score on Saturday against a Red Bulls team that has allowed just nine goals through 10 games. New York is coming off a 1-0 home win against Montreal. The Red Bulls’ Swedish star Emil Forsberg hasn’t scored since March 22, when he scored both goals 2-1 win against Toronto FC.
“I understand now people want to see blood everywhere,” Mascherano said. “There are things in my internal analysis [of the team and players] I’m not going to say here publicly. I’m not going to say everything was fine. We’re out of a final we had a huge desire to play. We lost three games in six days. That’s something this team had not experienced. And clearly, there are a lot of things to improve.
“But I’m not going to go crazy or start seeing everything negative. Now, it’s about swallowing poison, putting our heads down, working hard, being strong as a group, knowing we have to get out of this stretch.
“[Saturday] will be an opportunity for us to win and to reset our story. It’s not that complicated. We must keep going on the path we were on and correct our mistakes. We believe in what we’re doing.”
The only Miami players unavailable for the game Saturday are Drake Callender (adductor) and David Ruiz (hamstring).
How to Watch: Inter Miami vs. New York Red Bulls kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. Fans can watch on Apple TV MLS Season Pass. Tickets are available on TicketMaster.
This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 2:59 PM.