Messi's Teammate Explains Why His First Season is a 'Failure' After Missing MLS Playoff Spot

• Lionel Messi helped Inter Miami to the inaugural Leagues Cup trophy in his first season
• Miami lost the US Open Cup final in Messi's absence and missed out on the playoff spot
• DeAndre Yedlin has given a verdict of the Argentine superstar's first season at the club

Inter Miami teammate and former captain, DeAndre Yedlin has assessed Lionel Messi's first season at the club and delivered a verdict.

Messi ended his two-year association with Paris Saint-Germain and chose Major League Soccer as his next destination, turning down offers from Saudi Arabia and a chance to return to Barcelona.

In his first month at Miami, he helped the club founded in 2018 win its first-ever trophy, the inaugural Leagues Cup, beating Nashville SC in the final.

Injury ruled him out of a second shot at a trophy as Inter Miami were beaten by Houston Dynamo in the US Open Cup final.

Lionel Messi: Houston Dynamo manager refuses to open up on plan to stop Argentine

Football

As reported by CBS Sports, the Herons missed out on the MLS playoff after a run of five games without a win, including four without their captain.

Was Messi's first season a failure?

American star, Yedlin was captain before Messi's arrival and relinquished it for the World Cup winner. He has now assessed the Argentine's first season at the club, as quoted by Goal.

"If you were to say in June that we’re going to end the season with a trophy, you’d probably deem it a success. But after July, if you’re to say you’re going to end with only one trophy, you probably wouldn’t deem it a success. It’s how you look at it."

The former captain of the Herons said that as professionals, players wanted to win everything.

"So, for me, it’s not a success. We won the first trophy in club history, and that’s great, but we could have won the Open Cup and wanted more from the play-offs," he added.

Lionel Messi Will Not Play in US Open Cup Final vs Houston Dynamo, Alba Also Out for Inter Miami

Football

Yedlin may have come off as too harsh and could be a victim of ridiculously high standards. The team lost only one game with Messi on the pitch and won twice without him.

Messi's classy gesture to Yedlin

Sports Brief previously reported on Messi displaying a classy gesture towards Yedlin during Inter Miami's lifting of the 2023 Leagues Cup trophy earlier this year.

The 2022 World Cup winner immediately replaced the American defender as captain when he joined the club but passed him the armband after the Herons' win.