SP. Tata Martino out as Inter Miami head coach

Martino led Miami to a league-record 74 points in the regular season but shockingly fell in round one of the playoffs to No. 9 seed Atlanta United, his former club.

Martino had been with Miami since the summer of 2023, when Lionel Messi arrived. He won the 2023 Leagues Cup and 2024 Supporters’ Shield. The club scored an MLS-best 79 goals this season. The club was led by star veterans Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba, but also had a strong balance of youth, including Diego Gomez, Federico Redondo, Tomas Aviles and more.

The Argentine was one of the most respected managers in MLS with the most accomplished resume, having previously managed FC Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Even with that familiarity to the club’s big stars, managing this team was no easy task.

Martino led Atlanta to great success as their inaugural manager, winning MLS Cup 2018. Between his time with Atlanta and Miami, he was the manager of the Mexican national team.

What Went Wrong in Miami?

Miami dominated the MLS regular season standings in 2024, but the underlying numbers tell the real story behind a somewhat dysfunctional superteam.

Messi and Co. were ruthless going forward, but were fragile on defense, allowing 49 goals. While that figure placed them in the top of the table in that category, it is virtually unheard of for a Supporters’ Shield winning team — and the points record-breaking team at that — to allow so many goals.

Miami also operated out of deficits far too often, earning 31 points from losing positions this season, winning nine games in which they were trailing at some point.

The team was consistently left exposed at the back, and while the Argentinian genius and his fellow stars could paper over many of those cracks, they eventually got too big and too deep to save.