Miami, FL
Dave Hyde: The party starts again as Messi returns home to Inter Miami
FORT LAUDERDALE — The craziest part still to fathom, even after a season of it, as Inter Miami returns to view?
It’s the gap between them and him.
Between their world and his world.
Between where they can go and where he can take them.
“It was a trip I couldn’t have gone on except on this team,’’ Inter Miami forward Robert Taylor was saying Wednesday about the recently completed four-continent, five-exhibition junket where they proselytized in pink.
Or he proselytized to the soccer world, really. Messi.
Taylor grew up in Finland and, at 29, was trending to a good, if unremarkable, career until he landed at Inter Miami last season just before Messi signed. Now he plays alongside him. So much changed for him and his teammates.
Now they’re on the doorstep of the next Major League Soccer season with a simple friendly Thursday night in Fort Lauderdale against a small opponent. Except there’s nothing simple or small when Messi is involved, as he obviously is in this exhibition against his boyhood team from Rosario, Argentina.
He’s the reason this game happened. He’s why the Argentine media descended for this final tune-up to Inter Miami’s season opener next week. Just the comment that he’ll play Thursday night became an international headline.
Several dozen fans waited to get a drive-by glimpse of him leaving the team’s Fort Lauderdale facility, pleading with outstretched paraphernalia to sign, “Leo! Leo!”
The coach of the Newell’s Old Boys, Mauricio Larriera, said his team’s fans, “will want Newell’s to win and Messi to be the best player.”
The pregame news conference involved questions like: “I was just talking to a used car salesman from China who follows Messi around the world and …”
Messi, being Messi, wasn’t on hand to talk so Taylor did by proxy.
“You don’t get used to that, people traveling all over the world to watch,’’ Taylor said.
The soccer world doesn’t need Messi to talk in subtitles to his game. His public words are as rare and bland as the two he uttered (“Michelob Ultra”) in a Super Bowl commercial with Dan Marino and Jason Sudeikis.
So, what does he have to do this second year at Inter Miami — besides just show up to play?
That’s not a joke, either. Not at all. Inter Miami’s round-the-world trip showed as much when Messi sat out a game in Hong Kong. More than 40,000 people watched Inter Miami do a simple workout the day before.
But team co-owner David Beckham was booed while he tried to explain to Messi’s small injury to the crowd. Promoters returned half the $7.5 million gate to ticket holders. The Chinese state-run newspaper wrote an editorial questioning the, “integrity of Inter Miami and Messi himself,” when he played 30 minutes in Tokyo later that week and two games involving the Argentine national team in China were canceled.
That’s the price tag of Messi-sized fame.
“Leo had an inflamed adductor from the first game in Saudi Arabia, but it was not a serious injury, so we went day to day,’’ Inter Miami coach Tata Martinez said. “That is why he played 10 minutes in the second game. That’s why he did not play in Hong Kong.
“That’s why he played a little more in the game in Japan. (Thursday) he will likely play more minutes and if all goes at this rate, he will arrive in good form for the season opener.”
That opener next week against Real Salt Lake in Fort Lauderdale is the debut of the Four Amigos. Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and newly signed Luis Suarez once formed the heart of a powerhouse Barcelona team. Can they run the table on the MLS deep into their 30s?
“All our opponents will probably have added incentive because of the players we have,’’ Martino said. “But we also have high expectations because of the team we can put out there against every opponent.”
First, there’s this exhibition. It isn’t just Messi who first played there. Martino did, too.
“I never could have imagined as a young player with Newell’s that one day I would be here coaching this game,’’ he said.
The coach, too, is here because Messi wanted him here. It’s so many players who are just part of the ride. On Tuesday, dozens of fans stood waiting for Messi to drive by as Taylor walked by them after his news conference back to the facilities.
When our Miami Dolphins are struggling, the attendance of their games at home naturally dips quite a bit. This, of course, comes with the territory, especially for the fans that reside in South Florida, where there’s always plenty of other things you can be doing with your time and money almost any day of the year. Now, though, we are facing a new season, and we do not expect the team to be great, but due to the new regime and the massive overhaul of the roster, there is, at the very least, a ton of curiosity among many of us fans. We all want to see what theis new coaching staff and new players will give us even if the final product is still at least another season or a couple of seasons away.
So this evenings Phinsider Question Of The Day is:
Which of you will, or will try to either go to a home and/or away Miami Dolphins game in person for this upcoming season?
Please share your thoughts and answers in the comments section below-
Few would disagree that the Miami Dolphins’ best overall player, pound-for-pound, is running back De’Von Achane. There’ll be no argument from me on that front. A player who could get some votes from defensive-minded fans might be linebacker Jordyn Brooks — another fantastic contributor who’s been the heart and soul of the defense for the past two seasons.
Ahead of the 2025 season, linebacker Willie Gay Jr. was consistently drawing rave reviews from reporters covering practice sessions. He made good on that billing by excelling in the team’s exhibition games. While fans lamented his lack of playing time, the reality was he was buried behind Brooks and the rock-solid Tyrel Dodson on the depth chart. The situation was painfully similar for second-year running back Ollie Gordon II.
Despite showing some flashes early in the season in short-yardage situations, Gordon’s usage was sporadic. He only reached double-digit carries once, in the Week 8 demolition of the Atlanta Falcons. On one hand, it’s a fantastic thing that De’Von Achane was healthy for 16 of 17 games — on the other, Gordon represents a perfect complement to the diminutive and speedy Achane, and increased usage could make good on that potential.
The Dolphins’ new offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, used evocative language that forecasts a bigger role for Gordon in 2026, should he seize the opportunity.
“The biggest thing with Ollie is not only is he big — he runs big. When we have pads on, you’re going to hear him run. It’s not one where he’s just going to silently kind of sneak through the line of scrimmage. Everyone’s going to feel — it’s going to sound like trash cans are banging back there. There’s something to that. The O-Line gets energy from that when they feel the physicality from a runner.”
The Achane–Gordon pairing at running back is oozing with potential — as long as the Miami Dolphins are willing to commit to it
De’Von Achane is listed officially at 5’9″ and 191 pounds, while Gordon II clocks in at 6’2″ and 225 pounds. The pairing is a perfect recipe to keep a defense as off-balance as possible. Achane is quick enough to dodge raindrops — for a defense to go from trying to catch a rabbit to bracing for a runaway train from one play to the next is the kind of offensive strategy that could pay huge dividends.
Gordon’s body of work in the NFL doesn’t jump off the page. His 70 carries for 199 yards (2.8 per-carry-average) with three TDs don’t necessarily scream superstar in the making. It’s important to note, though, that he often got the call in short-yardage situations.
Gordon had 25 rushes on downs where the line to gain was one, two, or three yards. After converting on eight of his first 10 attempts (80%), he only converted eight of the final 15 (53.3%). For the season, he converted on 64% of his short-yardage attempts. Among 68 running backs who had at least 10 attempts in short-yardage last season, Gordon’s 64% ranked 29th.
While hardly a comparison to these backs’ overall body of work, respected and proven stars such as Bijan Robinson (60.87%, 43rd), Saquon Barkley (59.38%, 47th), and Derrick Henry (55%, 55th) are prime examples that it’s not all on the RB. Anyone out there who chooses to label Derrick Henry a liability in short yardage should do so at their own risk. Once again, not a comparison. Just an observation.
The hope is that with first-round pick Kadyn Proctor joining the team, the Dolphins may see a surge from their interior offensive line. At 6’7″ and 352 pounds, Proctor will never fail due to a lack of size or athletic ability. This is truly a rare athlete with a unique build — he’ll go as far as his work ethic takes him. If you’ve started to notice a “largeness” theme emanating from South Florida, it’s intentional.
Jon-Eric Sullivan discussed the concept in one of his introductory press conferences, stating: “There’s a saying in our business, fast gets slow but big doesn’t get small.” Well, sir, we heard you, but after the draft and free agency, now we see you. We’ll have to wait to see how it translates, but no one can say Sullivan wasn’t about what he said.
Ollie Gordon II — Dolphins fans hope you’re listening. The marriage between Gordon’s playstyle and the new coaching staff’s tenets is a match made in heaven. If he makes good on his own athletic gifts and untapped potential, the Dolphins may well have their next Ricky Williams in the building.
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In one of Kdog’s (Kevin Dolney, for the newer folks) recent editions of the Splash Zone, he pointed to an article by A to Z Sports. In the article, A to Z Sports points to Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane and how he could be the first player for the team and only the fourth player in NFL history to reach a thousand yards in both rushing and receiving. The only other players to ever accomplish this rare feat were the San Francisco 49ers’ Roger Craig in 1985, the St Louis Rams’ Marshall Faulk in 1999, and the Carolina Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey in 2019.
Achane, if you believe the reports or maybe just in the fact that he’s easily the most talented player on offense, will be, or at least should be, much of the focus on offense this coming season. Achane, if nothing else, has proven dependable and downright electric at times. What he lacks in size, he seems to make up for in durability and pure speed. Besides being clearly the best all-around running back on the team, he has also shown that he is one of the most dependable receivers on the roster. With the loss of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, he might be at this point the best receiver on the team, although I hope that title eventually goes to rookie Chris Bell once he returns from the injury that he suffered in his SR year at Louisville.
So this evening’s Phinsider Question Of The Day is:
Do you believe that Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane will enter the very exclusive club of players who have hit both 1,000 yards in both receiving and rushing for the 2026-2027 NFL season?
Please share your thoughts and answers in the comments section below-
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