John Morrissey
Where we left off last year
2024 season: 11 points, 12th in the Eastern Conference
Miami certainly played some soccer last season. After a few years of playoff bubble mediocrity, the club elected to hit the reset button, slashing the budget to bits and leaning into a roster mostly composed of USL Championship journeymen, USL League One signees, and youth prospects. Rookie manager Antonio Nocerino tried his best to make it coalesce, but he was both inflexible and rudderless from the sideline: inflexible in his commitment to short build out of the goalkeeper spot and rudderless in the lack of a pressing concept or front-to-back offensive scheme.
Thus, Miami picked up just three wins all season long, ultimately recording one of the worst records in the history of American pro soccer.
The highlight of the year? When their home stadium got renamed to honor Pitbull, Mr. Worldwide himself. Naming right shenanigans and youth promotions – think Fernando Rodriguez in goal or Sebastian Joseph up top – notwithstanding, there's vanishingly little to take away from 2024 in a positive sense.
