MIAMI — Bienvenido a Miami, Javier Mascherano. Welcome to Miami.

The pressure is on. The skeptics are watching.

Inter Miami announced Tuesday that Mascherano, the 40-year-old former Argentina national team star, was hired as the club’s fourth coach in five years after the unexpected resignation of Tata Martino, the runner-up for 2024 MLS Coach of the Year. His contract runs through 2027.

It is hardly a surprise that Martino, a native of Argentina from Lionel Messi’s hometown, was replaced by another Argentine, this one Messi’s close friend and former teammate with club and country.

Mascherano is known for his leadership skills as well as his tackles and earned the nickname “El Jefecito” (The Little Boss) during his illustrious playing career, which included eight years at FC Barcelona as Messi’s teammate. But make no mistake: Messi is, and will continue to be, “El Jefecito” of this Inter Miami team.

Messi is a walking ATM. A human billboard. He packs stadiums wherever he goes. He drives ticket prices. His pink No. 10 Inter Miami jersey is the top-selling adidas shirt in the world. The Argentine icon is the driving force behind the massive spike in gambling on MLS games during the past year and a half.

In the 17 months since his arrival, the World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has shined an unprecedented global spotlight on this team and MLS, which unlike any other soccer league in the world, must compete for attention with the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, WNBA and college sports.

Messi is the face of the franchise and the most impactful player in MLS history. It behooves team owners and MLS executives to keep him happy. They desperately want him to stick around through 2026 for the opening of Miami Freedom Park stadium and the World Cup. Who can blame them?

So, Messi gets what Messi wants.

He wanted to reunite with his Barca buddies Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez? Wish granted.

He wants to be coached by Mascherano? Done.

Never mind that Mascherano has never coached a professional team and has no MLS experience. His entire managerial resume consists of 50 games with Argentina’s U20 and U23 teams, and even there, the results have been mixed.

Under his direction, the Argentina U-20 team, a six-time world champion, failed to qualify for the 2023 U-20 World Cup after three losses in four qualifying games.

The only reason Argentina wound up getting a spot is because FIFA stripped Indonesia of hosting rights due to off-field controversies and granted the host spot to Argentina as the defending World Cup champion. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Argentina’s Under-23 team lost a close match to France in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On the heels of those results, Mascherano just landed the most high-profile, high-pressure coaching job in MLS history.

He takes over a Miami team that broke the league’s all-time point record, won the Supporters’ Shield for best regular-season record, scored a league-high 79 goals, but fell short of expectations with a first-round exit from the MLS Playoffs at the hands of Atlanta United.

Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas consulted Messi about a replacement coach on Saturday Nov. 16, shortly after Martino revealed his plans to leave for personal reasons. “I asked Leo, 'What is important to you and what do you think is important to get the best out of our roster and how do we improve?’ Leo shared his thoughts with me.

“How can our young players and the veteran players get together, play as a team, and be successful? Without a doubt, a familiarity with Leo and the other stars is an advantage in every aspect. Obviously, I want Leo to feel comfortable with the new coach. Given those guidelines, me and my brother, Jose, David [Beckham] and [President of Football] Raul [Sanllehi] spearheaded the search.”

Within three days, they had three finalists, Mas said. By Wednesday, they had made their choice.

Inter Miami needs to bolster its defense. No question, Mascherano was a great defensive midfielder, an intelligent player who played on winning teams. In addition to playing alongside Messi, he is a former Barca teammate of Suarez, Busquets and Alba. They won trophies together. Spending a few years coaching Under 23s and Under 20s gives him insight to the younger generation.

He is familiar with some of Inter Miami’s young players, having worked with them with Argentina’s youth national teams. Mascherano called up Tomás Avilés, Benjamin Cremaschi, Facundo Farías and Federico Redondo at various points of his international coaching career.

Is that enough to make him the best candidate for this job at this critical juncture of the club’s history? Time will tell. But the Mas brothers and Beckham are taking a big gamble by handing over the league’s most high-profile team to someone with so little coaching experience.

And coaching in MLS is vastly different from coaching in other leagues, starting with the impossibly complex player categories, salary structure and ridiculously restrictive roster rules. You need an MBA degree to decipher designated players from U22 initiative players, not to be confused with young DPs.

There’s general allocation money (GAM) and targeted allocation money (TAM). Then there’s the playoff system, the coast-to-coast travel, different field surfaces and climates and playing styles.

It was a demanding and challenging job even for Martino, who led Atlanta United to the 2018 MLS Cup title, coached in two World Cups with Paraguay and Mexico, reached three Copa America finals, and coached Messi at Barcelona and with the Argentine national team.

Even with all those qualifications, and a star-stacked roster, Inter Miami fell short. But overall, Martino did an outstanding job and was runner-up for MLS Coach of the Year. Under his direction, the team remained atop the standings all season, even during the two and a half months when Messi didn’t play.

Through it all, Martino was the consummate professional. So much so that he even received an ovation from reporters at his farewell press conference last Friday.

Martino is an old-school coach, and word is some players thought his training sessions and meetings were too long. But nobody can argue that he, with his talented roster, turned this club from a perennial loser to the team with the best record in league history.

Mascherano doesn’t check nearly as many boxes as Martino did when he took over at Inter Miami. And he will be expected to exceed Martino’s accomplishments. He will be expected to win the MLS Cup and deliver a respectable showing in the 2025 Club World Cup, a tournament that includes heavyweights like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Chelsea.

Anything less will be considered a step backward.

Team owners said all the right things Tuesday.

“Throughout his career as one of the world’s best players and as an experienced coach, Javier has always demonstrated what makes him great — relentless determination with the knowledge, instincts and understanding to back it up. We’re very excited to welcome him to lead our team,” said co-owner David Beckham.

Jorge Mas added: “This job requires somebody with the experience to be able to maximize our unique collection of talent - from our global superstars, to our burgeoning Homegrown players, to our young international prospects, and everything in between.”

Mascherano also said the right things.

“To be able to lead a club like Inter Miami is an honor for me, and a privilege I will strive to make the most of,” he said. “I was drawn to the organization’s undeniable ambition, and the infrastructure it has to support it. I’m looking forward to working with the people at Inter Miami to help the club reach new heights, and to give the fans more unforgettable moments.”

Time will tell. The pressure is on. The clock is ticking. Starting now.

©2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.