Declining Inter Miami, rising Colorado Rapids meet as equals to show off MLS' ever-changing power structure

Miami coach Javier Mascherano shocked the league by announcing his mid-season departure from the club. No one knows what drove his decision — there are reports of a bust-up with Messi, but they are not definitive — but his departure leaves Miami in a difficult place.

All the investment but no stability to speak of: That's been Miami's unfortunate path in 2026.

Colorado's risk-forward rise 

While Miami was busy winning the 2025 MLS Cup, Colorado was at home, licking its wounds after missing out on the Western Conference playoffs on a tiebreaker. The Commerce City side, one of MLS' Original 10 franchises, had done well to even get itself that close to the postseason. It kicked off 2025 with a piecemeal roster of largely domestic players, and it couldn't compete with most of MLS on a man-to-man basis. Talent matters in the end, and Colorado simply didn't have enough of it.

The club rebuilt, staking its future on former Tottenham Hotspur assistant Matt Wells. It was Wells' first time coaching a senior men's team, but the Colorado staff believed he had the guts to get things done. 

"From literally the very first meeting we had with Matt, we finished up, and when Matt logged off, the five of us looked at each other like, ‘Woah, we’ve got a guy here,’” said Colorado president Padraig Smith. “With each passing meeting, it became crystal clear he was the right guy for us.”

Wells was a risky appointment, and he compounded that by bringing a risky style to the table, one biased toward aggression and excitement despite Colorado's clear talent deficit. 

"The word I use a lot with the players is ‘Dominate,’” Wells said. “Every game starts with the mindset that we are the big team on the pitch."

It's worked. Colorado has struggled against big MLS teams this season — it was always expected to do so — but it has hammered its peers using Wells's philosophy. 4-1 over the LA Galaxy. 6-2 over Houston. This Colorado team is closing its talent gap through pure, unbridled mental strength.

It's closing it on the field, too, but it's doing so in an unorthodox way. Colorado signed USMNT fringe candidate Paxten Aaronson on a Designated Player contract, then brought in ex-Seattle winger Georgi Minoungou to service him. Both players are young and relatively untested — Aaronson is 22 and Minoungou is 23 — but they've got the speed and athleticism to mold perfectly into Well's desired system.

Building the team around them was a gamble, but it was a gamble that paid off almost immediately, and one that highlights just how poor Miami's big-money recruitment wound up being.

Inter Miami will visit the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.