Messi, Inter Miami are on a roll, but can defense stand up through MLS playoffs?
Don’t get too excited just yet, Inter Miami fans.
Yes, there is a lot to celebrate. Lionel Messi won the MLS Golden Boot trophy. The seemingly ageless Argentine just signed a contract for another three years and is on fire with seven goals during the past three games, including a pair in the 3-1 playoff opening win against Nashville SC on Friday.
There is no question Inter Miami is peaking at the right time with just one loss in the past nine games and 30 goals scored (3.3 goals per game) during that stretch. The team is on a four-game winning streak and outscored opponents 16-4 during that run.
But last year at this time, Inter Miami had just secured the Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best record and won its first playoff game at home to Atlanta United only to fall flat and exit in the first round after losing the next two matches in the best-of-3 series.
Dax McCarty was a defender on that Atlanta team that shut down Messi and his teammates when it mattered most. He is now retired, an Apple TV analyst, and he warns that Inter Miami should be very careful heading into Game 2 on the road at Nashville Saturday night.
Even though Miami beat Nashville 5-2 in the regular-season finale and again last weekend in the playoff opener, this game is do-or-die for Nashville just as it was for Atlanta in Game 2 last season.
“I think this is going to be the most difficult game Miami plays in the last couple of weeks, I think Nashville at Geodis Park will have learned their lesson from the last couple of weeks,” McCarty said Monday on Miami Herald’s Inside Inter Miami podcast.
“Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge need to play a little bit better. They’ve been a little bit disjointed. They haven’t really put pressure on this Inter Miami backline, which, in my opinion, is extremely vulnerable.”
Despite scoring 81 goals, which was more than any team in MLS this season, Miami’s defense was leaky, particularly in transition, with 55 goals allowed through 34 games.
Coach Javier Mascherano has experimented with backline combinations all season long and even made a surprise change at goalkeeper a few weeks ago, replacing 39-year-old veteran Oscar Ustari with emergent 23-year-old Rocco Rios Novo, who was in net for Miami’s past four victories.
Miami is undefeated in the 11 games Rios Novo played this season with eight wins and three ties.
“Full credit to Javier Mascherano; I love the fact that he put Noah Allen back in the lineup and is allowing him to be that center back next to Maxi Falcon,” McCarty said. “I think his pace and his ability to read the game gives them the most stability in the back.
“And then the other choice is, Marcelo Weigandt versus Ian Fray at right fullback, and Ian Fray for a kid who’s gone through so much turmoil, so many injuries, he’s really coming into his own. He’s really comfortable going into the attack. He defends well. He’s got pace to defend 1 v 1, and so I think this is inter Miami’s best back line with Ian Fray, Maxi Falcon, Noah Allen and Jordi Alba.”
Benching Ustari for inexperienced Rios Novo was bold, but so far, proving to be a good choice.
“That kind of surprised us, to be able to put a player like that with less experience over Ustari, and he’s repaid that faith,” McCarty said. “He’s made big saves when he’s had to. But I would expect Nashville to give Miami a lot of problems. In Nashville, I think we’re going to see a very competitive game. I can see the game being a draw, going to penalties, and then whatever. Inter Miami is very good in penalty shootouts with all that experience.”
If Miami advances to the later rounds of the playoffs, its defense will be put to even tougher tests against potential opponents such as Philadelphia Union, Vancouver Whitecaps, LAFC, San Diego and Seattle Sounders.
Even with Messi and a loaded roster, Miami has struggled to close out knockout tournaments “and a lot of it has to do with that Achilles heel, which is that back line,” McCarty said.
“So, I think it’s absolutely in the realm of possibility that they make a deep run and can lift the cup. But I will say when they run into one of these better teams, Inter Miami’s margin for error is very thin. They are going to have to be almost perfect if they want to win. And Javier Mascherano is going to have to find the right balance between how many numbers do I send forward and how many players do I have behind the ball to make sure that our defense isn’t exposed. It’s going to be a big task.”
All that said, Inter Miami has Messi. And he is a game changer.
“With the form that Messi’s in right now, he can just make magic happen at any given moment,” McCarty said. “It’s really a pleasure to have him in MLS, and I’m excited to see how it all shakes out.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 3:58 PM.