Lionel Messi's arrival at Inter Miami brought waves of fans flocking to the MLS club, eager to catch a glimpse of the Argentine's greatness before he calls time on his illustrious career.
Hoping to capitalize on the astronomical spike in interest, Major League Soccer went all-in on Messi's arrival, allowing Inter Miami to push the limits on the league's roster rules to acquire his old pals Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and Rodrigo De Paul. The squad became a true Messi & Friends, going so far as to hire Javier Mascherano, another old teammate, as manager.
Even as it was obvious the inmates were running the South Florida asylum, MLS hoped the stockpiling of superstars would help create a must-watch aura about Inter Miami.
MORE: All the latest fallout from the Inter Miami brawl after the Leagues Cup final defeat
For a while, they were right. When fit, Messi torched opponents weekly and his supporting cast of legends were a force to be reckoned with. The Argentine legend led Inter Miami on a triumphant Leagues Cup run in his first competition with the Herons, winning the club's first-ever trophy and setting the bar high for his time in the U.S.
As the months dragged on, however, the team did more complaining than winning. When Inter Miami was dominant, many could overlook the increasingly common behavioral antics, as they did when the Herons romped to the 2024 MLS Supporters' Shield. But after Messi's side were upset in the playoffs, and the calendar turned to 2025, those outbursts have compounded while victories has waned.
Now, in the aftermath of Inter Miami's embarrassing and pathetic behavior following defeat in the 2025 Leagues Cup final, the excitement and thrill of Messi's motley gang has completely boiled away, leaving nothing more than an unlikeable husk rotting in the Miami sun.
Suarez spit on a Seattle staffer. Busquets punched the 20-year-old kid who outplayed him in midfield. Maxi Falcon put an unused Sounders substitute in a vicious chokehold. Young Argentine defender Tomas Aviles swung haymakers wildly. Almost the entire Inter Miami squad acted like clowns, all while Messi stood and watched from afar.
❌😳 Luis Suarez grabbed Obed Vargas from the neck after the final whistle in the Leagues Cup.
— All Fútbol MX 🇲🇽 (@AllFutbolMX) September 1, 2025
Then Sergio Busquets appeared to PUNCH the 20-year-old Mexican in the face. 🇺🇾🇪🇸
pic.twitter.com/bPaT8gVHYM
This hasn't come from nowhere. In fact, it's been simmering for a while. Busquets, now wearing the captain's armband, sledges referees on a weekly basis. Suarez is arguably worse, flopping constantly while throwing his palms to the sky. Even Messi has been caught going nose-to-nose with referees or giving the passive-aggressive sarcastic clap-and-laugh routine. He was fined earlier this year for putting his hand around the neck of an NYCFC assistant.
Club leadership has fallen in line as well. Mascherano crashed out in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal, sent off at halftime for screaming at the officiating crew over something as silly as first-half added time. After being shown a red card, he infamously sat in the stands where he berated his assistant coaches for nearly all of the second half, spittle flying as he screamed into his cell phone.
This Inter Miami squad does not resemble the heroes MLS hoped they would be. Instead, they've completed a total about-face, a true heel turn. They're now the villains.
Even Inter Miami reporters have been forced to acknowledge the situation at hand. Franco Panizo of Miami Total Football called Inter Miami's efforts to skirt the media after the Leagues Cup final "embarrassing and bush league." "There's a behavioral problem in South Florida," he proclaimed on social media the following morning.
Inter Miami sit sixth in the Eastern Conference standings and could potentially be missing one or more of their top stars if they are held accountable for their actions in Seattle on Sunday evening. Even should Suarez, Busquets, and others escape suspension — which would be the latest hint of a long-held belief amongst fans that Inter Miami get special treatment from the league — they remain on the fringes of the playoff picture and not considered serious title contenders.
As Inter Miami players, helmed by the "leaders" in the squad, act like goons, their results have diminished. All that's left is a bunch of whiny crybabies that win with growing infrequency while losing with more tears than grace.
Luis Suarez is 38 years old. A grown man, spitting on a coach. Grow up.
It's embarrassing for all-time greats to bow out like this. We all remember Busquets in his prime, effortlessly providing the glue that held Barcelona together; Suarez, dazzling at Anfield and the Camp Nou; Alba lifting European trophies again and again.
David Beckham, for all he's done to help grow Major League Soccer throughout his time in the United States, has stood by and allowed this all to fester. And for what? Busquets, between stints admonishing the referee, is a sieve in midfield. Messi and Alba remain consistently strong performers, but continue to struggle with fitness as they age. Suarez, incredibly, has been the only truly reliable star of the group, even as he battles a chronic knee issue.
Ultimately, the club will point to the two trophies as evidence the project has worked as planned, and it's easy to argue that Messi's arrival has elevated Inter Miami to international notoriety. The pink Messi shirt is indeed everywhere. But the cast of characters Messi brought with him are beginning to prove a bigger burden than the performances are worth. After the Leagues Cup final, their deplorable antics have boiled over into a real problem.
As each of their glittering careers fade, fewer and fewer fans want to be dragged down along with Messi's buddies kicking and screaming in Ft. Lauderdale.