Inter Miami hired Argentine manager, Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, to lead the club to glory and lift MLS Cup with players like Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez in his star-studded squad.
After all, he did just that in his first stint in MLS back in 2018 with expansion side Atlanta United. However, Martino failed to reach those same heights he did six years ago in 2024 with Miami, falling in Round One of the MLS Cup playoffs against his former team.
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Many expected Miami to go all the way and win MLS Cup based on the Messi factor. Add in players like Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Federico Redondo and Diego Gómez and you can begin to see why many had Miami pegged as the favorite.
Miami having the most talented squad in MLS by far whilst simultaneously coming up extremely short in the postseason begs the question: Should the Miami front office make a bold decision to part ways with Martino?
On the surface, Martino did an outstanding job during the regular season. The 61-year-old led Miami to the greatest regular season in MLS history with 74 points while also claiming the Supporters' Shield title and his second trophy overall as Miami boss. If MLS operated like nearly every other league in the world, then the Supporters' Shield title would likely be seen as the league title and the possibility of Martino being sacked wouldn't even exist.
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Martino also excelled in man management throughout the campaign. It helps that he had worked with the former Barcelona quartet in the past when he was on the touchline at Camp Nou a decade ago. Despite his team's most important players all past 35-years-old, they all want to play every single minute—and it takes a great manager to realize that can't happen if the team is to achieve success.
Martino orchestrated an attack that scored a league-leading 79 goals in 34 matches. Most of that comes down to the brilliance of Messi, Suárez and Alba in the final third, but he still had to pick younger players like Leo Campana and Diego Gómez from time to time to help out with the pressing in the final third.
However, one of Martino's downfalls is his defensive set up. Martino typically deploys a 4-3-3 system but isn't afraid to shake things up to a 3-4-3 shape, especially away from home—he utilized the back three shape most recently in Miami's 2–1 loss at Atlanta in Game Two of the playoffs.
It appears to be a case of Martino getting it wrong with his formations while also sometimes not having the right personnel available. Miami dealt with injuries to just about all of its center backs and defensive errors were present in the regular season, but Messi and Co. managed to outscore teams to nullify what was happening on the other end of the pitch.
MLS is a league built on parity and Miami might not get certain results to fall its way in 2025 like it was able to in 2024. Martino admitted himself that the season ended as a "failure," and he should be replaced after Miami were bounced in the first round of postseason action. While Miami didn't have the best injury luck, any proven manager would still find a way to improve the defense one way or another—Martino was unable to do so.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Should Inter Miami Head Coach Tata Martino be Fired After Playoffs Exit?.
