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Inter Miami winless and scoreless in preseason: What's wrong?

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) reacts during the second half against FC Dallas at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Inter Miami winless and scoreless in MLS preseason: What's going wrong?

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated 1/22/24

The 2024 MLS season kicks off in less than a month when Inter Miami take on Real Salt Lake at the DRV PNK stadium. The league's 29 teams are deep in the throes of preseason, with each squad lining up friendly matches to help kickstart their campaigns.

Inter Miami set up the most intense preseason schedule of anyone, with matches scheduled in San Salvador, Dallas, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

But with two games down against the El Salvador national team and FC Dallas, things aren't looking great for Inter Miami. The team has yet to win — and, more importantly, has yet to score.

El Salvador 0-0 Inter Miami
FC Dallas 1-0 Inter Miami

Not the start to the preseason Miami expected pic.twitter.com/NcydNYdcgr
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 23, 2024

What's behind Miami's sluggishness? Here are the key issues we're monitoring as preseason rolls on:

Player fitness

It's normal for players to struggle during preseason matches; MLS is a notoriously physical league and even the fittest athletes need time to build up to its demands.

But Inter Miami faces more fitness issues than most, given that its prime four players — Messi, Suarez, Alba and Busquets — are all in their mid-to-late 30s.

With Miami's 'Fab Four' unlikely to last all 90 minutes of all 34 regular-season games, Miami's substitute bench becomes vitally important--and that bench isn't looking great.

Sprightly Argentine attacker Facundo Farias, a natural substitute for Messi, injured his ACL against El Salvador and will miss the entire 2024 season. Ecuadorian striker Leo Campana, a natural substitute for Suarez, hasn't impressed in his preseason appearances, looking less fit and more sluggish than the 36-year-old he's intended to relieve.

As crazy as it sounds, Miami needs to think carefully about its attacking depth for 2024. The bench behind its superstar quartet doesn't appear to be up to par.

BREAKING: Facundo Farías suffered an injury to his left Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) on Friday, January 19 against the El Salvador national team at the Estadio Cuscatlán. He is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season. pic.twitter.com/68iDtZXZAT
— 90min_US (@90min_us) January 20, 2024

Defensive solidity

Take a look at FC Dallas's early goal against Inter Miami, architected by Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira:

WHAT. A. START.

Jesus Ferreira gives @FCDallas the early lead over Miami. pic.twitter.com/Pm2FjIBIZD
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) January 22, 2024

The move begins with a mislaid back pass from Jordi Alba and ends with Ferreira finding acres of space between Noah Allen and Serhiy Kryvtsov to seal the goal.

Frankly, it's a comedy of errors from Miami, and it's something that plenty of MLS teams will be eager to exploit once the season begins.

The 3-5-2 formation coach Tata Martino champions may help Miami hold the ball in midfield, but it's easy to see just how exposed it leaves Drake Callender in goal when mistakes like this one happen.

Miami will travel to Saudi Arabia this week for friendlies against Al-Hilal (home of the currently injured Neymar) and Al-Nassr (home of Cristiano Ronaldo).

From there, Miami will have just three games — against the Hong Kong XI, Japan's Vissel Kobe and Argentina's Newell's Old Boys — to iron out its woes before its season opener at home against Real Salt Lake.

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