Lionel Messi's Dangerous Habit of Blending Business With Pleasure Is Finally Catching Up With Him

Is it possible to have "too much" Lionel Messi?

It may sound like a ridiculous question to pose about an eight-time Ballon d'Or recipient, yet it's one that Inter Miami may be quietly grappling with right now.

Since Messi's arrival, the South Florida franchise has increasingly structured itself around the people the soccer icon trusts, enjoys, and feels most at ease with, treating him as the guiding light for every decision made. Initially, that approach yielded silverware, but it's now producing diminishing returns and appears to have lost sight of what's truly at stake. If anything, personal preference has taken precedence over performance.

Messi is unquestionably Miami's finest player. He is the highest-paid athlete in MLS and reportedly holds a stake in the league's broadcasting agreement with Apple TV, along with the possibility of co-owning Inter Miami upon retirement. This gives him unmatched influence—and he's leveraged it to open the door for fellow global legends to join him in MLS. 

At the club level, however, the strategy has stopped delivering results and may actually be preventing the Herons from evolving into a true global powerhouse.

The Coaching Carousel

This week, amid a five-match winless run, Miami confirmed that Kily González would take charge, relieving interim boss Guillermo Hoyos once U.S. work visas are secured for González and his coaching staff. González has had a long-standing relationship with Messi, much like Hoyos, and shares the same hometown of Rosario, Argentina. The pair also represented La Albiceleste together. 

Yet he, like those who came before him, has minimal positive coaching credentials and appears to have secured the role primarily through his personal connection to Messi. 

González carries a win rate of just 32.5% across his three previous managerial stints and has yet to claim a single trophy. By comparison, Hoyos arrived in Miami with a 39% win rate and considerably more experience. And Javier Mascherano before him? He had never managed a senior squad. 

Another day on the training ground 🫡⚽️ pic.twitter.com/pSybA6sWMJ

All three—even Mascherano, who went on to guide Miami to the MLS Cup just nine months ago—would be unlikely to earn an interview at any other club in the league. 

Will González prove to be any different? Or will he simply become the latest installment in an Inter Miami story that appears to have lost its compass, too consumed by the Messi factor—or rather, Messi appeasement—rather than constructing a genuinely competitive team?

On Friday, Hoyos—suspended for Saturday's fixture against CF Montréal—acknowledged that he believes Messi should have input in the club's hiring decisions. It's hardly a surprise coming from a man who has consistently lavished praise on Messi and secured his own position largely due to his history as Messi's "football godfather." Still, it doesn't reflect a standard operational framework for a club chasing collective success.

González Will Need to Thread the Messi Needle

González now faces the enormous task of posting a winning record for the first time in his managerial career, all while working with a deeply flawed squad. With 14 goals and nine assists across 18 appearances, Messi has performed well this season—but it's no longer sufficient to rescue a Miami side that is missing far too many components.

And González must accomplish this without alienating Messi—the reported source of the rift between Mascherano and Messi, and the reason the MLS Cup-winning coach ultimately departed.

It's a delicate balancing act: keeping Messi content while also steering a roster with very little room to maneuver. Hoyos hinted at this fragile equilibrium, though he wrapped his comments in praise for his soccer godson.

"We have a great team, some wonderful young players and the best player in the history of soccer," Hoyos said on Friday, following the announcement of his dismissal. "He's the best player, and we have to support him in every way so he can express himself, because he does it in a way nobody else can. Nobody plays soccer the way he does."

González's Necessary Fixes

González is unlikely to have the chance to make moves in the summer transfer window, which closes on Wednesday, meaning he'll need to turn things around with the existing squad—hoping to hold onto a top-two spot in the Eastern Conference and mount a serious MLS Cup challenge. 

Central to that effort will be stabilizing Messi's mindset and approach. With the passing of Jorge Messi, Lionel's father, coming so shortly after Argentina's defeat in the 2026 World Cup final, it has been an extraordinarily difficult period for the iconic No. 10—but the priority must be keeping him sharp and elevating him as a leader within the squad.

González hasn't enjoyed great managerial success, but he will likely look to implement an aggressive, direct style of play, relying on Casemiro and Yannick Bright to drive the midfield. He'll need considerably more from Casemiro than the Brazilian has delivered across a quiet five MLS outings, and Bright will need to rediscover his 2025 form as well. 

Once the team's foundation is established, box-to-box midfielder Telasco Segovia can provide the spark. Meanwhile, Rodrigo De Paul, Luis Suárez, and German Berterame will need to raise their intensity to meet the demands of what could be a more rigorous system. 

Hoyos's departure feels justified given the team's recent form, yet the same obstacles that plagued him are likely to confront González. Unless the new manager can demonstrate that his appointment was a genuine footballing decision rather than a personal one, Messi may be heading toward only his second trophy-free year in over two decades.