[|Zach|]

Really feels like Miami\MLS is running Messi into the ground with this preseason tour. The injuries are a problem but even aside from that I feel like other MLS teams are going to go at them a little bit more and not just stand around holding them in such high esteem.

But the season is long an obviously this group can go on idle for a very long time and then put it in high gear and dominate. Will be interesting to see how this season progresses.

https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/int...8f7769de98a3e7

Inter Miami's preseason tour from hell! Not even Lionel Messi can disguise the MLS favorites' shambolic offseason

Just about everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for the Herons during their time under the global microscope

When Inter Miami announced their globetrotting preseason plans, the outside world knew exactly what was going on. This was an exercise in brand-building, a moment for the club to remind the rest of the world that they have signed Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest to ever play the game. It was also a chance to show that they weren't content to just be the talk of North America; they wanted to be the talk of the entire world.

With that in mind, Miami scheduled out a preseason that would see them play teams from four different continents over several weeks, taking them from El Salvador to Dallas to Saudi Arabia to East Asia and back to Miami.

As that tour nears its close, Inter Miami is very much a talking point of the global game. The problem is, though, that most of the talk isn't good.

From poor results on the field to some reputation hits off of it, this hasn't gone as anyone at the club would have planned. Nearly everything that could have gone wrong has, from injuries to catastrophic losses to angry fans going so far as to take aim at one of the most beloved figures this sport has, Messi himself.

It's been a preseason tour from hell for Miami, and it's hard to see how anyone involved has benefitted. Some promoters have probably made some good money and several players in the squad have been given a heck of an experience, but with the ew MLS season approaching, it doesn't feel like Inter Miami is in a better position as a club or as a team than they were just a few weeks ago.

Poor start claims two starlets
Miami kicked-off their run of friendlies with a clash against the El Salvador national team, and though they were playing pretty poorly in what finished as a 0-0 draw, there was little reason for concern this early in their campaign.

That was until Facundo Farias went down clutching his knee in the second half of Miami's preseason opener. The Argentinian starlet, who shined so brightly as Messi's understudy in 2023, saw his season end before it could begin. A torn ACL, the club confirmed. Season over.

It was a catastrophic loss, one that robbed the club of a key attacking player. Farias was going to be key this season, with Messi's international commitments and Luis Suarez's fitness issues set to leave gaps in the attack for Tata Martino to fill with players such as the 21-year-old playmaker. Not this year, though.

A 1-0 loss to FC Dallas continued Miami's inauspicious start, but it was the bad news that came shortly after that hurt most. Benjamin Cremaschi, last season's breakout homegrown star, will miss several months with a sports hernia.

After two games, Miami had lost two young players that were poised to play key roles this season. And that all happened before the club even really got going on the travel portion of this world tour.