The simple reason for Inter Miami's struggles is not so simple to fix | OneFootball

Inter Miami lost after conceding 5 goals to the Chicago Fire and can now be easily said to be out of the Supporters’ Shield race. It was the first time they conceded 5 goals with Lionel Messi on the pitch since the Argentine’s arrival.

Now that the Herons are out of the running for a major silverware, it is only fair to analyse how and why that happened. And it is shocking to me that the reason is not so widely discussed, even though it is so apparent and out there in the open.

We all know Inter Miami are a strong team. But the parallel truth is that they are heavily reliant on one man and one man only - Lionel Messi. That is not an ideal situation for a football team, no matter how great the player is. You cannot make a team revolve around one personality and expect him to deliver every single time.

Messi is undoubtedly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, to ever play the game. But making that the highlight of a team’s entire capability is foolish, and that is exactly what Javier Mascherano’s side has been reduced to.

The simple reason for Inter Miami’s struggles is not so simple to fix

Miami have world-class players at their disposal, many of them Messi’s former teammates from his peak days, with whom he achieved everything under the sky. But the situation was not this bad back then.

Those teams had character, including but also beyond Messi. Against Chicago, Messi was not good. He had little impact in terms of conversion but still anchored the team nonetheless.

And that is where the problem lies. When you make a struggling player your anchor, the team’s overall performance dips.

This is not to blame Messi, you cannot expect him to deliver every single time. When you trust him with abundance beyond control, it is not his responsibility to spearhead the team every game, especially not when he is off form.

Messi had zero successful dribbles and no direct contribution in the three goals Miami miraculously managed to score. His underperformance was visible from the first half itself, but the team continued to rely on him to produce magic out of nowhere. That is not humanly possible.

Mascherano and Co. must understand that Messi may be the best player, but he is not the only player. There are other brilliant names like Luis Suarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Sergio Busquets, and youngsters who can do so much more if the vision is not so myopic and Messi-centred.

There needs to be more creativity and liberty given to these names, along with methods that allow the team to sustain with and without Messi.

This team must learn to function without him. As adverse as it sounds, it will only be better for Inter Miami to start preparing for football without Messi. He will not be here for long, and his departure will otherwise shatter this team in ways indescribable.