Was Inter Miami’s first season with Lionel Messi a success? By most measures, yes.

Lionel Messi stepped off a private jet in Fort Lauderdale in early July to join Inter Miami, followed shortly thereafter by his former FC Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, and thus began the most hyped and remarkable four months in Major League Soccer history.

Hundreds of media members and a helicopter showed up for Messi’s first practice. His first goal, in the waning moments of his first game, was out of a movie script. Ticket prices soared and stadiums filled whenever and wherever he played. Apple TV viewers worldwide tuned in for MLS games, many for the first time. The pink No. 10 Inter Miami jersey became the must-have shirt of the season.

The Argentine star delivered plenty of summer drama, scoring 11 goals over a 12-game unbeaten streak to help lead Miami to the Leagues Cup title and a U.S. Open semifinal victory. Inter Miami, under new coach Tata Martino, looked invincible at that point. Winning a treble – Leagues Cup, U.S. Open Cup, MLS Cup – did not seem far-fetched.

But Messi proved mortal, aggravating an upper leg injury that kept him out of six of the final eight games. Alba injured a hamstring and sat out critical games. Depleted and seemingly running out of gas, Inter Miami ended the season on a seven-game winless streak and failed to make the MLS playoffs.

Miami finished in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, second from last with a 9-18-7 record and 34 points. Last year, the team advanced to the playoffs with a sixth-place finish, 14 wins and 48 points.

The MLS post-season will go on without the league’s most famous player, and fans are left to wonder: Was the Inter Miami 2023 season a success?

By most measures, the answer is yes.

The team won its first trophy, gained a global audience, and, at its peak, looked like the best team in the league with 22 goals over seven Leagues Cup games. Through the first 22 MLS games before the summer overhaul, Miami had just five wins and 22 goals. In the 12 MLS games since, Miami had four wins and 19 goals.

“You can look at it from different perspectives,” said defender DeAndre Yedlin. “In May if you had said we would have a Leagues Cup trophy, go to the final of the US Open Cup, but not made the playoffs, but you’d take the trophy. From that standpoint, it was a success.

“But with the players we have, when we were making the playoff push, I think we could have done more. I think everyone would agree on that. A win here, a win there could have kept us in that race. From that standpoint, we’re disappointed.”

Goalkeeper Drake Callender agreed:

“Looking at the numbers, we did not win as many games as we did last year, and did not qualify for the playoffs, like we did last year. The standard for our team is to be a playoff team and be in contention to lift trophies, so solely from the league perspective, it’s not as good as we want.

“In terms of the bigger picture, what we’re capable of with this group and what we went through this year, that will make us a lot stronger and more experienced to spearhead what we want next year. Next year we’ll have a full preseason, a full year together to help us achieve our goals.”

Martino and sporting director Chris Henderson will use two November exhibition games in China to continue planning for 2024. Martino already announced that forward Josef Martinez will not return next season and will not travel to China. Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez, Messi’s former FC Barcelona teammate, is in talks with Inter Miami and could be the next big signing.

Yedlin said Martino, Messi, Busquets and Alba injected the team with confidence and an attacking style that will carry over to 2024.

“The more time we have together, the more dangerous we’ll be,” Yedlin said. “Tata’s very possession heavy. He wants to dominate games with the ball. If that means taking certain risks, putting numbers forward, then that’s what we’re going to do. He’s very stubborn on that. We’ve been learning on the fly, but with a full preseason, we’ll be able to show how good we can be.”