When Inter Miami signed Lionel Messi back in 2023, the ultimate goal was to bring trophies to the club. After only a few seasons as an official MLS franchise, things simply weren’t going Miami’s way. Messi completely changed the club’s fortunes, culminating in Inter Miami being crowned MLS Cup champions on Saturday.
While this wasn’t Messi’s first trophy with Inter Miami, it marked yet another milestone for the player and club. Making it all the more sweet was Messi sharing the victory with his longtime friends: Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez. Yet it was another compatriot and friend, Javier Mascherano, who arguably benefited the most from Messi’s impact.
Javier Mascherano admits “it wasn’t working out for me” before joining Inter Miami
In his first season as manager of Inter Miami, Mascherano was able to lift the all-important trophy. Mascherano came into the club with a lot of doubts about his coaching abilities. He put a lot of them to rest, but in his postgame media session on Saturday, he admitted that he was well-aware he wasn’t doing a good job as a manager before getting to Miami.
“I understand that since I arrived, there were always doubts. It was my first season as a senior team manager. I always told the truth, I never hid it: I hadn’t had very good results with the national youth team. It wasn’t working out for me.“
Mascherano then continued, giving praise to his players for understanding what the manager wanted from them. Together, they were able to accomplish what they set out to do from the get-go.
“I found a group of players that understood the manner in which we work. I tried to help them in this process, and I’m happy. To finish the season this way, it’s incredible.“
Mascherano’s struggles as manager of the Argentina Under-20 squad were well-documented. He took over a team that had had plenty of success before him, but his players simply didn’t respond well on the pitch. Ultimately, it led to his departure for Miami following the 2024 Summer Olympics, where Argentina were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
At 41 years old, Mascherano’s coaching career is just getting started. Already having hardware under his belt will only motivate him to keep improving his own ways. He certainly pulled the right moves in his debut season, but things will get more difficult without Busquets and Alba in 2026.
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