The players who won often-Messi-less Miami a Supporters’ Shield

Standing on the grass at Lower.com Field, Jorge Mas couldn’t help but smile.

Inter Miami’s managing owner had just watched his team clinch the Supporters’ Shield with a win against the Columbus Crew. With a brace from Lionel Messi — the man Mas worked so hard to bring to Miami in the first place — and a goal from Messi’s pal Luis Suárez, Miami’s victory in Columbus was a fitting way to clinch the trophy.

And yet, it was goalkeeper Drake Callender — whose homegrown rights were acquired in a trade with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2019 — who made the biggest play of the game by stopping Cucho Hernández’s potential game-tying penalty kick in the 84th minute.

Miami’s Supporters’ Shield victory, and the win that made it official, wasn’t solely about the stars. It was about the whole team.

“It’s the sacrifice and the work of a whole team,” said Mas after witnessing his team win the Shield. “Obviously, you saw the magic of Messi and Suárez tonight, the superstars, but this is a team. For a multitude of reasons, we’ve gone through most of the season without some of our stars. We’re top of the table.”

For all of his goal contributions, Messi missed a ton of time between international duty with Argentina and an injury suffered in the Copa América final. He only started 15 regular season games and played just 1,489 minutes. Of course, this historic season for Inter Miami was still about Messi, who managed to lead the league in non-penalty goal contributions, with 30, and was rewarded (along with Luis Suárez) with a spot on the MVP shortlist, which was announced Thursday.

But it wasn’t just about Messi. It was also about the players who kept Miami at a record points-per-game pace even without the legendary Argentine. It’s high time we give the supporting cast some love.

The Barca boys

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of spotlight left for more unheralded names, but it would be wrong to start the recognition train anywhere outside of Messi’s former Barcelona teammates.

With 20 goals and nine assists, Luis Suárez was a truly elite striker for Miami in 2024. He finished tied for first in MLS in non-penalty goals and second in the league in non-penalty goal contributions. Suárez didn’t just produce on the back of Messi’s playmaking — he scored nine of his 20 regular-season goals when Messi wasn’t on the field at all. Managing 45% of your goals without the best chance creator this sport has ever seen playing next to you? That’s how you keep a Supporters’ Shield and single-season points record fire going.

And it’s not just about the goals for Suárez. Just ask head coach Gerardo Martino, also formerly of Barcelona.

“Luis Suárez has probably been the best player on the pitch, but I don’t want to focus on the goals, I focus more on the game and everything he gives us,” Martino said in August.

The 37-year-old ended the regular season among the top 10 strikers in expected assists and key passes, according to American Soccer Analysis. Suárez’s diverse attacking skillset made life so much easier for his teammates, even in games without Messi.

Moving into the midfield, Sergio Busquets shined on the ball for Inter Miami, just as we’ve all come to expect from his nearly two decades as a pro. According to American Soccer Analysis’ goals added metric, which measures the value of a player’s on-ball actions, Busquets added more value with his passing than all but 14 players in MLS this season.

More than just breaking defensive structures with his distribution from midfield or the center-back spot, Busquets thrived as an innings-eater for Inter Miami this year. No outfield player in South Florida played more than the Spaniard’s 2,484 minutes. Talk about reliable and productive.

Finally, Jordi Alba carved open his share of defenses from left-back this year. According to FBref, the 35-year-old landed in the 94th percentile in non-penalty expected goals plus expected assisted goals per 90 minutes among MLS full-backs in 2024.

With his silky left-footed playmaking and sharp off-ball movement, Alba delivered plenty of creation for teammates and was downright elite in his position. On Inter Miami’s roster, only Suárez and Messi ended the season with more goal contributions than Alba.

The clean-up crew

Playing for Inter Miami is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you’re signing up to play with a group of legends that includes the greatest player of all time. On the other, you’re signing up to do all the defensive dirty work those legends don’t want to do anymore.

Diego Gómez did a bunch of the hard running for this Miami team. It’s Gómez’s engine, mixed with his developing skill on the ball, that seems to have him heading across the Atlantic to play for Brighton & Hove Albion next year.

“Surely Diego will leave us and we accompany this situation with gratitude,” Martino said. “In just a year and a half, he showed all the good things he had already shown at Libertad and pre-Olympic tournaments. He has improved and gotten the attention of Premier League teams.”

Often used as either a No. 8 or as a narrow winger, the 21-year-old Paraguayan landed in the 95th percentile in tackles per 90 minutes among MLS midfielders, according to FBref. He also landed in the 91st percentile in aerials won among that same group of players.

Toss in Gómez’s six goal contributions, sharp late-arrivals in the box and strong progressive carrying into the equation and you have a dynamic presence to help offset the static elder statesmen.

Still, if there’s one Miami player who’s felt the pressure to defend like his livelihood depended on it, it’s Julian Gressel. The former Atlanta United right-sider reunited with Martino in the offseason and has been used in a Rodrigo De Paul-esque role at times in 2024. For Argentina, De Paul often plays as a hybrid right midfielder/central midfielder, shifting between the two roles to accommodate Messi’s movement (or lack thereof).

Even while adjusting to a complex role, Gressel put up elite chance-creation numbers. According to American Soccer Analysis, he finished ninth among wingers in key passes and 11th in expected assists.

Gressel’s ability to build his game around Messi and to carry some of the playmaking burden in his absence was a major asset for Miami. Like Gómez and Gressel, Drake Callender was asked to clean up more than his fair share of messes in 2024.

Tasked with holding things down between the posts as opposing attackers ran through Miami’s ragged defensive shape, the 27-year-old goalkeeper put together the best shot-stopping season of his career. Callender saved 3.6 goals more than expected, according to FBref, good for eighth in all of MLS.

“He’s a goalkeeper that saves games like he did tonight and did a lot last season,” Martino said after Callender made a trio of saves in Miami’s narrow 1-0 win over D.C. United in May. “He left us in the game, and that’s how we were able to win it.”

Without his penalty save in Columbus, Miami would’ve had to wait to clinch the Shield. Without an entire season’s worth of excellence, Miami might never have clinched the Shield at all.

The unexpected additions

When Yannick Bright began his NCAA career at the University of New Hampshire, few would’ve predicted he’d be playing for a star-studded Inter Miami team just four years later. But for Bright, who was drafted by Miami in December, that’s exactly what happened.

The rookie began 2024 without any real expectations — he didn’t even sign a first-team contract until after the season had begun. Eventually, though, Bright’s ball winning became too hard to overlook. Since June 19, the 23-year-old from Italy has started 12 of a possible 15 regular-season games for Miami and appeared off the bench in the other three. He’s been a defensive monster.

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According to American Soccer Analysis, Bright has added more value with his interrupting — think tackles, interceptions and blocks — on a per-90-minute basis than all but eight players with at least 1,000 minutes this year.

Although Federico Redondo had a much higher profile than Bright before arriving in Miami, he wouldn’t have expected to be suiting up in pink, either. Redondo signed in late February as a season-ending-injury replacement for Facundo Farías. Since then, the Argentina youth international has shown real potential. With his big frame, Redondo can glide across midfield to cover ground, progress the ball and arrive in the box at just the right moment to fire off a shot.

According to FBref, he’s in the 80th percentile or higher among MLS midfielders in non-penalty goals per 90, successful take-ons per 90, carries per 90, through balls per 90, tackles per 90 and aerial win percentage. One of the most well-rounded young No. 8s in MLS, Redondo has put his minutes to good use.

While Matías Rojas has played the fewest minutes of any player on this list — just 802 in the regular season — his midseason arrival from Brazil’s Corinthians gave Miami another attacking weapon to cover for Messi’s various absences. Rojas started five of Miami’s Messi-less games this year and has been effective off the bench, too.

Based on FBref’s data, the Paraguayan sits in the 83rd percentile in non-penalty expected goals plus expected assisted goals per 90 minutes, among MLS midfielders.

With his first touch and vision, Rojas would be an every-game starter for half of the league. That he’s been a role player for Miami illustrates their depth.

Between the other Barca boys, the clean-up crew and the unexpected arrivals, Inter Miami’s 2024 season really has been about more than Messi. Mas said it best: “This is a team.”