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<\/p>\nRegardless of whether Javier Mascherano heard the widespread criticism that came along with his hiring as Inter Miami head coach, he is not naive.<\/p>\n
Mascherano knew the pressure of the club and, given his personal relationship with Lionel Messi, probably figured the news of his hire was widely panned. He was denounced as only getting the job because he used to play with Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Su\u00e1rez at Barcelona.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople in the world can have their opinion \u2026 but I am convinced that I am capable of coaching the team,\u201d Mascherano told the media at his introductory press conference. \u201cI can do it. I have no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
That press conference was December 3, 2024.<\/p>\n
On December 6, 2025, almost exactly a year to the day, Mascherano will be roaming the Chase Stadium touchline, leading Inter Miami in MLS Cup against the Vancouver Whitecaps.<\/p>\n
For all the star power in the team, and Messi\u2019s supernatural run of form down the stretch and in the playoffs, Miami is in position to hoist its first MLS title because of a number of key changes Mascherano made.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi went from teammates to a coach\/player relationship. (Jose Breton \/ Pics Action \/ NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Not bad for a 41-year-old manager in his first job as a senior team\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Masche\u2019s first high-profile job as a coach, I think he\u2019s done an amazing job,\u201d managing owner Jorge Mas said after the conference semifinal win over FC Cincinnati.<\/p>\n
Mas was later asked if Mascherano is under-appreciated as a coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s appreciated by me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mascherano has put his stamp on this team, as his Inter Miami plays differently than last year\u2019s group under Tata Martino.<\/p>\n
That team was wide open in defensive transition, an Achilles heel that was covered just barely enough in the regular season en route to a league-record point total, but was exposed in round one of the playoffs by eight-seed Atlanta United. The 34-point gap between the clubs made for the biggest playoff upset in MLS history and served as baggage following the club throughout the season and into the 2025 playoffs.<\/p>\n
Even more than the year-over-year change, this team has undergone a transformation since the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n
This team has evolved and grown, as Mascherano has as a coach. Prior to Miami, he was the U-20 and U-23 Argentina national team coach. Coaching youth ranks, even at the most elite level as he was, is vastly different than the first-team level. The same can be said for club coaching vs. coaching a national team.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Miami\u2019s season nadir came in May against this weekend\u2019s MLS Cup opponent.<\/p>\n
Vancouver met Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal and thoroughly outplayed Mascherano\u2019s side, winning both legs and reaching the final on a 5-1 aggregate.<\/p>\n
![\"Tadeo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2249097833-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Tadeo Allende (left) has hit a sparkling run of form during the playoffs. (Rich Storry \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
There were calls for a coaching change in Miami by some fans, and the question was asked in media settings. Mas stayed the course with his manager, though, backing the words he said at that introductory press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an immense and enormous trust in Javier leading us to the heights we want,\u201d Mas said back then. He knew the risks involved in going with an inexperienced coach \u2013 though Mascherano could not have had more experience as a player \u2013 and wasn\u2019t about to consider cutting ties after a couple bad results.<\/p>\n
From there, Mascherano started tweaking things. There were highs (the Club World Cup run to the knockout stage) and lows (Mascherano\u2019s own red card \u2013 and subsequent coaching via phone<\/a> \u2013 in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals; losing in disgrace to Seattle in the Leagues Cup final<\/a>; conceding five goals to Chicago in September). But by the playoffs, and particularly over the last three matches, Miami has played its best soccer of this season \u2013 and possibly the best in club history.<\/p>\n The bold choice to bench Su\u00e1rez was the most difficult of Mascherano\u2019s decisions. Su\u00e1rez was suspended for Game 3 of the club\u2019s first-round series against Nashville SC, and with Tadeo Allende and Mateo Silvetti flanking Messi in a false nine role, the team was better both in and out of possession as Miami advanced with ease.<\/p>\n When Su\u00e1rez was eligible to return against Cincinnati in the conference semifinals, Mascherano left him on the bench, and he\u2019s been there since \u2013 not at all to Miami\u2019s detriment. In the three games without Su\u00e1rez starting, Miami has scored 13 goals.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t the most impactful decision Mascherano made. Attack was never the question \u2014 it never will be with Messi on the field \u2014 but that Achilles heel in defense has been completely fortified.<\/p>\n Three defensive personnel choices, plus optimizing the inclusion of Rodrigo De Paul, is why Miami has cruised through the playoffs.<\/p>\n Mascherano benched goalkeeper Oscar Ustari (for Rocco Rios Novo) and made similar calls for center back Tom\u00e1s Avil\u00e9s (for Noah Allen) and right back Marcelo Weigandt (for Ian Fray). All three were responsible for crucial defensive errors last season and this.<\/p>\n De Paul\u2019s role in the midfield has been ironed out, with Busquets allowing De Paul more freedom and Baltasar Rodr\u00edguez becoming a constant starter in the midfield by the fall. He covers Jordi Alba when the left back gets forward.<\/p>\n For the first time, Miami has balance.<\/p>\n Vancouver will provide a much stiffer test than anyone Miami has played in the East, but Miami has restricted opponents to less than 1.00 expected goals in each of the last three games.<\/p>\n \n Thomas M\u00fcller\u2019s arrival has boosted Vancouver. (Kevork Djansezian \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Like Miami, the Whitecaps have changed since that Champions Cup series in April, as Thomas M\u00fcller arrived in the summer and Ryan Gauld, the team star who was out injured, is at least now available off the bench. The club\u2019s engine room is in central midfield, with Andr\u00e9s Cubas and Sebastian Berhalter dictating the game.<\/p>\n Vancouver wants the ball and often sets the tempo of any game it plays that way. Miami\u2019s last three opponents were content to swap possession to Miami for a deeper and more structured defensive unit. The Whitecaps will do no such thing.<\/p>\n The Whitecaps also look to win the ball back immediately rather than recede into a defensive shell. They are top five both in possession and passes per defensive action.<\/p>\n Mascherano and Miami will have their work cut out preparing for the Whitecaps and hoping to exact revenge, but Miami is a better team than it was then.<\/p>\n And Mascherano deserves a lot of credit for that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Regardless of whether Javier Mascherano heard the widespread criticism that came along with his hiring as Inter Miami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4101,5008,5429,123,125,124,5692,2062],"class_list":{"0":"post-69470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-barcelona","10":"tag-inter-miami-cf","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-headlines","13":"tag-miami-news","14":"tag-mls","15":"tag-soccer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Muller-scaled.jpg\")
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