Messi's Inter Miami teammate delivers scathing verdict after MLS playoff failure

10 October 2023 , 16:18

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Lionel Messi's Inter Miami fell short in MLS this season after failing to make the playoffs despite their cup success earlier in the campaign (Image: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Lionel Messi's teammate DeAndre Yedlin has insisted that the season has not been a success for the team after their MLS playoff hopes were crushed.

Miami's struggles in the first half of the campaign saw Phil Neville sacked and Gerardo Martino hired - while Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba were signed - and his new-look team faced a mountain to climb to reach the post-season. However, a 1-0 defeat against Cincinnati confirmed Messi and his teammates will have to wait another year for a shot at the MLS Cup.

Now, the Vice City captain's colleague Yedlin has admitted that Miami had fallen short of their own expectations during a mercurial season. In many ways, it was a campaign of two halves when it comes to fortunes on the pitch, with performances having improved in recent months.

Of course, the addition of Messi and fellow superstars Busquets and Alba inspired the team to their first trophy with the Leagues Cup this term. However, ex-Tottenham star Yedlin is still disappointed with how the Herons have fared over what has been a mixed campaign.

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He explained: "If you were to say in June that we’re going to end the season with a trophy, you’d probably deem it a success. But after July, if you’re to say you’re going to end with only one trophy, you probably wouldn’t deem it a success."

It is worth noting that Miami did have another opportunity to collect some silverware this season as they reached the US Open Cup final. Their run to a second showpiece of the campaign would end disappointingly, however, as they lost 2-1 against the Houston Dynamo.

Adding his own dismay at how the season has fizzled out for Miami, Yedlin said: "It’s how you look at it. As professionals, we want to win everything.

DeAndre Yedlin has not masked his disappointment after Inter Miami failed to make the playoffs during a mixed MLS campaign (Roy Miller/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

"So, for me, it’s not a success. We won the first trophy in club history, and that’s great, but we could have won Open Cup and wanted more from the play-offs."

The former Newcastle full back is not the only Miami player to express his woes after they came up short in the league this term. Goalkeeper Drake Callender also asserted: "If you look at 2023 as a whole, we won Leagues Cup, we made it to the final of Open Cup, and unfortunately, we won’t be going any further in the league.

But to make two finals and win one is a good sign we are headed the right direction. But not making the play-offs hurts. We want to win it all. For the next two games, we will be playing for pride and setting the stage for next year."

With just two games left of the regular season for the Herons, the Floridan outfit essentially have nothing left to play for this season. Mostly as a result of their poor form under Phil Neville, which saw him sacked in June, they currently sit second from bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Tom Beattie