The MLS season begins on the 21st of February and the first game will give spectators a preview into what this season will hold. During the offseason, there were many changes made to rosters around the league and some teams are looking very strong. Here is my breakdown of what the first game ( Inter Miami vs Real Salt Lake) will show us.
An early showcase of what Inter Miami can produce in the MLS
Inter Miami made one of the biggest moves in MLS history when they signed Lionel Messi to a contract, bringing one of the greatest players of all time to a growing league to get more attention. Following the Signing of Messi, Inter Miami signed some of his former Barcelona teammates, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets, to complete a powerhouse team that everyone is expecting to dominate the MLS. Other than friendlies, Inter Miami haven't played any MLS teams with their new roster, so it is still a guess to how the team will perform. Last season Real Salt Lake were a strong team who finished 5th in their conference so this game will be a good opportunity to judge the talent of the Inter Miami team who finished 14th in their conference last year.
How will MLS teams cope with Messi and his teammates
Everyone is wondering how MLS teams will defend Messi, as even the greatest teams in the world struggled to do so, as he always found away to change a game, which leaves the question, will the MLS be too easy for Messi. This game will likely show what MLS defenses will be able to produce to stop Messi and if it will be enough to keep him at bay. Messi Isn't the only Inter Miami player teams must worry about, Luis Suarez is a lethal finisher and the defense must pay attention to him too, meaning that no matter how they play, most likely one of the 2 will be able to influence the match considerably. If teams choose to focus the 2 of them, then there will be gaps left in their team for other players to slip through, which is why Messi is so influential, because even if he doesn't directly influence the game he is leading defenders away from other threats which gives teams a lose-lose situation when playing against him. There will likely be interesting tactics introduced by coaches to prevent Messi from scoring, but this game will show if he is too much of a problem for defenses.
Will Inter Miami change the league
Inter Miami have already started to influence the league, but will their talent influence other teams and will the other teams start to sign players from Europe's biggest teams to compete with them. If the games become too one-sided I would assume teams will start to spend more money on roster changes and improve the quality of players in the league, so Messi could drive the league to become better. This means Inter Miami will change the league to be able to compete, which will make games more interesting and will increase viewership of games, which produces more revenue which further allows the league to improve. Messi joining the MLS will have a knock-on effect and will lead the MLS to become one of the top leagues in soccer.
These are the 3 things that I would look out for in tonight's opening game to see how this season will be and to see the impact of Inter Miami.
-Colin Kirk
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