Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami bad boys are good for MLS

Analysis

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Lionel Messi has been fined by Major League Soccer for slapping Philadelphia Union star Quinn Sullivan, continuing a trend of misbehaviour from Inter Miami's players.

The Herons played out a fiery 2-2 draw with the Philadelphia Union in midweek that saw Cavan Sullivan and Yannick Bright receive red cards following a mass altercation, instigated by Ian Fray and Cavan's older brother, Quinn.

Cavan subsequently had his red card rescinded, but this wasn't the only retroactive decision. Miami captain Messi was fined by MLS's Disciplinary Committee for a slap on the back of Quinn's head that was missed during the match.

It wasn't a forceful attack, but it was unsporting and, frankly, pathetic. Messi previously had a (mostly) squeaky-clean reputation, but since moving to MLS in 2023, he has shown that he does have quite a nasty streak about him.

His remonstrations and clashes with referees, opponents and even coaches have become increasingly pedantic, aggressive and, at times, downright disrespectful. But this isn't just exclusive to Messi; it pervades the entire club. Miami's players often act like whiny, entitled babies.

Miami's antagonists make MLS more exciting

But here's the thing about Messi and friends: as long as they don't cross the line - like Luis Suarez (who else?) during last year's Leagues Cup final - their antics are actually good for MLS.

Miami are great antagonists. They spend the most money, they have the best player to ever walk the planet and they previously committed some quite serious roster rule breaches. They're very easy to dislike.

The fact that they get under their opponents' skin only adds to the antipathy - and that's the great thing. You can't be indifferent towards Miami, you either love them or you absolutely hate them.

It makes games more exciting, also helped by Miami currently playing like a team without a tactical plan beyond giving the ball to Messi. Sh*thousery is fine and, to some extent, desirable as long as nobody gets hurt.

You need evocative and divisive personalities for engaging storytelling, and engaging storytelling is what MLS needs in order to grow and become more relevant.

You can try tinkering with the playoffs all you want, but at the end of the day, it's the players who make matches exciting. Having protagonists and antagonists is an easy way to make people care about games and the league as a whole.

MLS struggles with the fact that a lot of things - roster rules, regular-season games, rivalries - feel pointless, shallow, fake, arbitrary, whatever adjective you want to use.

But having personalities that actually evoke real feelings - be they positive or negative - and make people care can only be a good thing for MLS.