Atlanta United’s upset win over Inter Miami, eliminating the top seed from the MLS Cup Playoffs, was not “the Mother of All Upsets,” but it is “right behind with any other upset you consider,” according to Dave Hyde of the South Florida SUN-SENTINEL. Inter Miami was the winningest regular-season team in MLS history and the team with the most goals and biggest-goal differential. This was not “the case of an anointed team not winning The Big One.” Inter Miami “didn’t even make it to The Big One.” Hyde: “Who’s supposed to beat them? … Nobody in the MLS.” That was the idea in bringing F Lionel Messi, D Jordi Alba, F Luis Suarez and MF Sergio Busquets to the club and “forming this Superteam, getting Apple TV’s mega-millions,” and “giving Messi more money than 22 MLS team payrolls.” Hyde: “You don’t even need to know soccer to understand the nature of this night. Just understand Inter Miami’s roster payroll is $41.7 million and Atlanta’s is $15.2 million.” It was not just Inter Miami “that needed another dose of Messi magic;” it was “the full league.” MLS was “looking at a string of national games with soccer’s biggest star,” and watched him go out in the first round (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 11/10).
FILLING A VOID: In London, Graham Ruthven wrote these were the “Messi playoffs.” The league’s “entire postseason marketing focused on” Messi, “pre-empting a predicted march to MLS Cup glory” after Miami had set a regular-season points record. Messi was “everywhere: on billboards, in social media promos and TV ads.” MLS had been “building to this moment ever since Messi arrived in Florida.” Those “best-laid” plans, however, “didn’t account for Atlanta United causing the biggest upset in league history.” Ruthven wrote Messi’s absence for the rest of the playoffs will “undeniably hurt MLS.” Ruthven: “This is a preview of the problem MLS could face when Messi leaves, which could be at the end of next season when his contract expires.” The estimated $50M-$60M investment in Messi will “only pay off if the league uses it as a catalyst to build something more permanent.” The Messi era in MLS will be a “failure if new supporters scatter now that Inter Miami are out of the playoffs.” In “some sense,” this could be a “positive inflexion point.” It could “crystallise what must be done to build on the platform Messi has given the league.” That could “involve some big decisions on format, scheduling, roster rules and more” (London GUARDIAN, 11/10).
WHAT’S NEXT? YAHOO SPORTS’ Henry Bushnell asks, “Where do Messi and Inter Miami go from here?” The answer, “in one sense, didn’t change Saturday night.” They will “still be the faces of the league in 2025” and “thanks to FIFA, headline the Club World Cup.” Messi will be back next season and the “core of the superteam should remain intact.” But the club “can’t, by rule, add too many meaningful pieces under current MLS spending restrictions.” With salaries and foreign players subject to certain caps, it is “very difficult for any star-powered MLS club to also build a deep, well-rounded team.” The “hope” — in Miami and “elsewhere, though certainly not everywhere — is that rules could change.” Messi’s arrival “empowered” Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas and others at the head of the league to “push for a loosening of restrictions.” The MLS sporting and competition committee is scheduled to meet Nov. 20 in L.A. A source said the “salary cap and player investment model” is a “big-ticket item on the committee’s agenda.” Any proposed changes could then be approved by the MLS BOG at their final meeting of the year on Dec. 12 (YAHOO SPORTS, 11/11).
