It’s in the title, folks. Every week during the MLS season, Backheeled is here to dive into the biggest Winners and Losers from around the league. Let’s get right to it.
Winner: Inter Miami’s chaos level
Inter Miami have done it again. By ‘it’, of course, I mean ‘used creative means to work around the spirit of the MLS roster roles to sign yet another star player’.
Casemiro, who made his Miami debut in a 1-0 road win over CF Montreal on Saturday, isn’t a Designated Player. MLS also announced that Inter Miami is under investigation for tampering on the back of this signing. Neither of those things should come as a great surprise given Inter Miami’s penchant for smushing as many talented players into their team as possible.
Of course, it’s easier for Inter Miami than most to draw players like Casemiro, a five-time Champions League winner who spent years at Real Madrid and Manchester United and anchoring Brazil. But the truth remains that the more teams around MLS who find ways to push the roster rules envelope, the more entertaining the league will be. How that envelope gets pushed will look different in Seattle than it will in Miami, but it can be pushed either way.
In his debut, Casemiro immediately looked like the best in-possession defensive midfielder in MLS — and the best one since Sergio Busquets hung up his boots at the end of last season. The 34-year-old led Miami’s midfield and attacking units in progressive passes (five, according to Futi) despite being marked out of buildup by Montreal for most of the match. With one well-weighted ball after another, Casemiro brought an immediate lift to Inter Miami’s possession play.
