‘I Am Convinced I Am Capable’ Of Coaching Inter Miami

Inter Miami CF are never strangers to headlines. After spending the 2024 MLS season in the limelight and a disastrous Round One playoff exit to Atlanta United, head coach Tata Martino announced he was departing the club to return home to Argentina.

With the Lionel Messi project still fully in swing, owners Jorge Mas and David Beckham moved quickly, announcing former Argentina Football and FC Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano as their new head coach just seven days later.

On Tuesday, Mascherano was officially introduced to the media, acknowledging the unique complexities his decades-long friendships with Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba bring to the job, as well as backing his individual qualifications for the most high-profile coaching role in the United States.

Mascherano Is An Unconventional Appointment

The 40-year-old former player has only three years of coaching experience, all at the youth international level

Mascherano only called it quits on his playing career in 2020, after a career that spanned 17 seasons, over 630 appearances, and 147 international caps. Two years after hanging up his boots, Mascherano took the Argentina U20 job in 2022, eventually taking over as head coach of the U23 team in in 2023. In 50 matches for the two sides, he posted a record of 28 wins, 10 draws and 12 losses with a +41 goal differential. An intriguing resume, for sure, but one that conspicuously lacks experience at any senior level.

“Obviously people can have their opinion and it is clearly valid, but I am convinced that I am capable of coaching the team,” said Mascherano in Spanish. “…Beyond the fact that I have been coaching for three years or I have coached the youth teams of the Argentine national team, which always entails pressure even though they are youth teams, I am also supported by almost 20 years of career and everything I have experienced. Whenever I make a decision, in this case the fact of having come to coach or having accepted the offer to coach Inter Miami, it is because I am clearly convinced that I can do it, I have no doubt.”

For Mascherano, as well as many coaches around the world, the Miami job was uniquely appealing. Not only does it come with the once-in-a-lifetime chance to coach Messi, widely regarded as the greatest player the game has ever seen, but the Herons are set to open a state-of-the-art 25,000 seat stadium for the start of the 2026 season. Miami Freedom Park is set to be the crown jewel of soccer in South Florida, and adds another layer to an incredibly attractive opening. But really, the main attraction for Mascherano was Messi.

“When Leo came, when such important players came to Inter Miami, as I think everyone else did, one started to follow it much more,” he admitted. “Beyond the fact that I think it is a league that is growing, it is a league that is obviously in the eyes of the world today, because of Leo Messi and many important players, but above all Leo Messi, he makes that happen.”

Reuniting With Lionel Messi

The old teammates will link up again in different roles

Mascherano and Messi are familiar with each other, to put it lightly. Teammates at Barcelona from 2010 to 2018, the pair shared the pitch for the Catalan giants for a total of 298 matches. Their trophy haul was incredible; five La Liga titles, five Copa Del Rey trophies, two UEFA Champions League wins, and two FIFA Club World Cup crowns. Additionally, they played together in 111 matches for Argentina, finishing as World Cup runners up once and Copa América runners up four times. Mascherano unfortunately retired from international duty before Argentina’s 2022 World Cup and 2021 and 2024 Copa America wins.

“The relationship I have with Leo is something I’ve never denied, and I won’t deny it. We have a friendship because of all the time we played together and because we’ve known each other for so long,” Mascherano concurred. “Clearly it’s not just my relationship with Leo that connects me to the team. There are three other players in the squad I’ve played with for a long time, and I have a very close relationship with them. That’s something I won’t deny. As I told them, I’m not going to walk into the locker room one day and pretend I don’t have friendships with them.”

Despite the tricky optics around coaching his former teammates, opening the door for criticism for favoritism or an inhibited ability to make objective decisions, Mascherano backed his ability to take full control of the team.

“I’ve experienced this before, like during the Olympics when I had to coach Nicolás Otamendi, who is a friend of mine, and it wasn’t an issue,” he said. “You separate things—work is one thing, and friendship is another. That said, I think it’s actually easier when you have that closeness with a player because there’s a level of understanding that I might not have yet with others where the relationship is just beginning.”

I’ve had to make tough decisions… That’s what I was hired to do—to make decisions.

Success

Miami have an automatic expectation for titles, largely due to the unprecedented ambition with which they built their roster. Expectations are high enough that their 2024 campaign, in which they won the Supporters’ Shield and set MLS’s single-season points record, felt like a major failure after their Round One playoff exit.

Despite those expectations, Mascherano was careful to avoid over-promising from the get-go.

“It would be hypocritical to come here and promise titles,” he admitted. “What one has to promise is to work towards building a competitive team. I believe the Club’s objective is to fight in every competition it participates in, and fighting means battling until the very end, reaching the final stages with title opportunities in all competitions.”

With the Herons set to take part in Concacaf Champions Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, as well as the usual slate of MLS and Leagues Cup matches (as well as the potential to play in the US Open Cup), 2025 will be the busiest and most complicated season yet in their six-year history.

“We know that this season we also have the Club World Cup, and it’s clear that we’ll be up against teams much stronger than us and with much more history,” Mascherano said. “… But I also believe that this type of competition helps you grow. We’ll see as we go, starting with what group we’re placed in and then trying to compete in the best way possible. But before that, we have a long journey ahead with the CONCACAF Champions League and the start of the MLS season, so the focus has to be on the beginning first.”

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