'Just can't bet against him' - Apple TV studio analyst Kaylyn Kyle on Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, the 'chaotic' nature of MLS, why NWSL player exodus could 'hurt the league'

GOAL: What have you made of the MLS season so far? Has it been better than you expected?

KYLE: I've covered every league under the sun, and since coming to MLS, I think it's, for me, it's one of the most exciting, because you genuinely don't know who's going to win every single weekend. Whereas when you're you're looking at the Prem, you're looking at La Liga, you have those top, top, top teams that seem to get the job done. Yes, there's the one-offs, like Nottingham Forest, that catch you by surprise. But I feel like with Major League Soccer, they make us do these preseason predictions, and the fans go crazy and they're so upset, and they're like, "You don't know what you're talking about. You're an idiot. You shouldn't have your job.' "

But it is so hard because there is so much movement in the offseason. Now there's the new rule in Major League Soccer, which I absolutely love, where teams can buy players from other teams, which, for me, was a game-changer this year. I mean, you saw [Dejan] Joveljic from LA Galaxy going to Sporting KC. You saw Evander move. It's a very cool rule, and I love it, and I think it's added so much. But, yeah, it's chaotic, I gotta be honest, because you go into the season thinking, "OK, yeah, I'm set. I know exactly what I'm talking about." And then the transfer deadline, 24th hour, there's 17 different changes, player movements, in and out, and you're like, "Oh, Jesus, where's this player from?" Then you throw in the homegrown players... so it's chaotic, it's a lot of fun, and it's a league that I feel like just keeps you on your toes at all times.

GOAL: You got that sense from the playoffs last year, that literally anything can happen.

KYLE: Everyone's like, "What's the playoffs? Like, the team who just won the Supporters' Shield should win the league. It's the biggest trophy." But I'm like, "Americans, we love the playoffs." You tune into the NHL for the playoffs. You tune into the NFL for the playoffs. It's fun, it's entertaining. Those underdog teams can sneak in now, with that play-in-game. It's fun.

GOAL: We have to talk Inter Miami. How would you summarize Lionel Messi's impact on MLS?

KYLE: The thing is, is everyone's like, "Oh, he's changed Major League Soccer" - and he hasn't. He has in a way, for sure, he's gotten more eyes on it from maybe other leagues from around the world or other countries that didn't rate Major League Soccer - and now they tune in because of him and are like, "Oh, this is actually a really good league." But every league that Messi has gone to people tune in. I mean, you look at Ligue 1 for example, there's four really top teams. I'm going to get killed by by French supporters, but like Marseille, Lyon, and PSG. And when he went to PSG, I didn't know a lot about the league. I didn't watch the league. And then obviously, we started covering it with BEIN sports. So he does that at every league that he goes to. I mean, people tune in to watch Lionel Messi. So I think what he's done for Major League Soccer is incredible, because I think he's gotten eyes on it in a way where now people look at the league differently.

He had multiple clubs in Europe that he could have gone to, and he chose Major League Soccer, and he chose Inter Miami, which I think people are like, "He's at the tail end of his career." He was fresh coming off a World Cup in 2022 winning with Argentina, and arguably was one of the best players in the tournament. So I hate that narrative of like people saying "It's a retirement league" because it's not, and now it's also a development league of young, up-and-coming South Americans that then gets sold for $15 or $20 million over to Europe, like we saw with Miguel Almiron. So I just think the league has done such a great job in the short amount of time. It's not the EPL where, you know, it's hundreds of years of people being born into supporting Everton or Liverpool or Man City.

But you can already see the impact of what Messi has done with the league, where these stadiums that weren't filled, and now they are filled, and they're having to change venues so they can accommodate ticket sales of people wanting to see Lionel Messi. So I think it's incredible what he's done. I think it won't stop when he does retire, because now you're starting to see more and more players tuning in because of Messi and being like, "Oh, actually, this looks like a little bit of me." I mean, Emmanuel Latte Lath for Atlanta United, or Kevin Denkey at Cincinnati. It's been really cool what he's done, not only on the pitch, but the awareness that he's bringing off the pitch as well.

GOAL: What do you make of Javier Mascherano as a manager?

KYLE: He's done an extremely good job, and I think there was a lot of pressure on him when he went in, because you have a manager like Tata Martino, in 18 months, they lifted the Leagues Cup. They set the points record and they lifted a Supporters' Shield. Yes, he does have Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Messi, I understand that. But the pressure on Miami is to win everything, whether it's the CONCACAF Champions Cup, whether it's the Club World Cup, whether it's the league, the Supporter's Shield... they have the players to do so, so and one of the deepest benches here in Major League Soccer, and then obviously the pressure because he played with Messi. So the narrative of "You got the job because of Messi" is there, but I think he's done an extremely, extremely good job.

They lost a lot of key pieces last year, like Diego Gomez, Matias Rojas, and they've had to fill it. They went out, they found Tadeo Allende. They found Telasco Segovia, two players that have played massive roles. People are talking about disciplinary stuff, you know - three red cards already early on in the season - but it's not really any different of a story than what we saw last year from Inter Miami. But he's done a great job having to rest Messi for a few games and manage his load and bringing in players to get the job done. And they're second in the Supporters' Shield under Vancouver Whitecaps right now top in the Eastern Conference.

GOAL: Four matchdays in, who's your way-too-early favorite to win it all?

KYLE: I gotta go Inter Miami. They've come back, to win down to 10 men in two matches. And then you have Messi. And you just can't bet against him. I feel like they will go back-to-back years winning Supporters' Shields. Anything can happen in the playoffs, but I don't see them having an early exit like we saw last year against Atlanta United.

GOAL: USL is getting a Division One league with promotion and relegation. Should MLS be worried?

KYLE: It's always great when you have competition. When I grew up as a player, if you don't have competition, it doesn't make you better. And I think you know, with what the USL is doing, I think it's a fantastic platform for players to improve and get better and get professional games, because we have seen a lot of USL players make the jump to Major League Soccer, and we have seen a lot of Major League Soccer players make the jump to USL. Competition is always good, and I think it only will improve the sport here, and it's also showing the growth of the sport here in North America, which is incredible to see.

What I will say with Major League Soccer, though, in just 25 years, and since Don Garber has taken over as commissioner, he took it from 10 teams to 30 teams. We now have soccer specific stadiums that sell out. We now have soccer specific training grounds that are multi million dollar training grounds that are quite honestly, better than a lot of European training grounds. So I will say what Major League Soccer has done in a short amount of time, and the infrastructure that they've created, for me, is some of the best in the world. Again, not I'm not talking about the Barcelonas, the PSGs, but I am talking about those, maybe teams 20 to 13, when you look at some of their training grounds, and then you look at a Columbus Crew training ground, even an Inter Miami training ground... It is amazing to see the growth in Major League Soccer and the growth here with the USL, and, you know, just getting more and more competitive.

GOAL: And promotion-relegation, which was recently announced by the USL. Is it necessary?

KYLE: For USL, I think, the more you can innovate, and the more that you can add growth, the more the game gets better. So if that's the way they thought they could get better and add maybe a few more eyes on the USL, get more fans in the stands, make it more competitive. I don't know the ins and outs of the USL as well as I do with Major League Soccer, but I will say I love seeing change, and I love seeing growth. My husband played in the USL, I love the USL. Competition is great.

GOAL: I wanted to touch on the NWSL a little bit. You played in the league, you had quite an influence in the women's soccer sphere. There have been some significant departures, though, to Europe this offseason. What do you think this means? Should the league be worried?

KYLE: It's continuing to grow. There's expansion clubs that are slowly starting to come in. I was there at the beginning where places didn't have training grounds, we didn't have breakfast. So where the NWSL has gone from to where it is today has been night and day. So well done to the NWSL. But what I will say is, when you are a player, you want to play in the Champions League. We don't have that here in North America, obviously. And I do think it's almost a similar situation as Major League Soccer. When you do make that jump to Europe, I feel like when you make the jump to England, I don't think it's isn't competitive for team one to 10. I think they have team one to 5, where it's very competitive, they pay good money, they have proper training grounds, and they're in the Champions League. Ultimately, every player would love to play in the Champions League. I wish I would have!

So I do feel like when you are losing a player, because I got both sides of it. When the girls are talking about it, they're like, "It won't hurt the league." But it will hurt the league, because you want your biggest and best stars in the league. But what I will say, a lot of players that have played in Europe come to the NWSL and they realize this is a very difficult league. It's very transitional, it's very athletic, it's very competitive from team one to team 10. But yeah, obviously, when I look at it, you never want big stars to leave a league, because ultimately that hurts.

GOAL: Really quickly, on Canada, could the men's team become the best team in CONCACAF?
KYLE: They could become the best team in CONCACAF. I feel like John Herdman did a very good job going out and finding players who have dual citizenship or grandparents that played in Canada. So I think he did a very good job of identifying talent that could potentially play for Canada. And then Jesse Marsch, I feel like, will be the tactician that we needed to give these players confidence in big games and big matches. It's a difficult question, because you have Mexico that, historically, have had the best players. They've been the best country in North America.

And I feel like that narrative starting to switch, like we're starting to see it in the Leagues Cup with Major League Soccer, Vancouver just went down in Monterrey and knocked them out of the Champions Cup. So I hope so. But I have two American baby boys. So when we're watching games, they're cheering for America. I'm cheering for Canada. They're telling me Canada sucks. And I'm like, "What the hell? I created two monsters!" So we're, like, divided in the house. We have, like an England flag, an American flag and a Canadian flag.

GOAL: And to round this off, what has the transition been like from playing to broadcasting?
KYLE: I'm from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where I grew up in everything. It's hard work. Like, hard work gets you far in life. I had a dad that played professional hockey. I grew up at ice hockey rinks with men. So it was like, I just got that almost mentality of "Tell me no, and we'll find another way to get it done." So I feel like the transition for me has been very easy. Obviously, there's days where I'm jumping from host to analyst. I think I'm one of the only women in North America that's a host and analyst on the same day. I can be a pitch side reporter. I mean, MLS Cup final, I was a pitchside reporter. I was a host and I was an analyst in an hour and a half pre game show.

I love the challenge, I love learning from people. I love the different people that I get to work with every single day. Because, you know, as my mindset, I'm like, "yeah, I know everything, I can get this done." But it's very much similar to soccer. You're nothing without your team, which I think people do forget in this industry, because they want to be the best, they want to be the best host, they want to be the best analyst, they want to be the best at everything they do. But at the end of the day, you're only as good as the person sitting next to you and the people that are behind the screen. One thing I always try to do is treat everyone the exact same - whether it's a runner, whether it's someone getting us a tea, whether it's someone printing off stats, because you need them as much as they need you in order to be successful.

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