The Herons might miss the Uruguayan when they take on Nashville Saturday night, yet his absence could offer some answers as to how they function going forwardLuis Suarez just had to do it again. In fairness, this is what Luis Suarez does: mayhem, chaos, rule-breaking - and often in rather nasty ways.His latest act? Kicking Nashville’s Andy Najar in the groin during the second half of Inter Miami’s playoff clash. It was the kind of thing Suarez has probably gotten away with countless times - a ball about to enter the box, Najar holding him, Suarez pushing off and flicking his leg with a quick, snapping motion.Whether he intended to plant his studs in the defender’s groin isn’t clear - that would require a frightening degree of accuracy, a no-look shot for the ages. But the broader point holds: Suarez made a deliberate act to injure an opponent. Few caught it in real time, and there was no punishment on the pitch, but MLS reviewed the play afterward and handed him a one-match suspension. He’ll now miss Saturday’s elimination game against Nashville - if Miami lose, their season ends, and Suarez won’t be on the pitch to help them.Perhaps more importantly, though, this is a test for the Herons. They have survived without Suarez in the past. They have, arguably, looked better without him at times. And so, it becomes a strange balancing act. Suarez is a key player, to be sure. But they have shown previously that his absence isn't necessarily damning. And this game - win or lose - might just offer an idea of how a post-Suarez Inter Miami could function, not just in the next few weeks, but also for years to come. Of course, this was bound to happen. Every few months, Suarez reminds the footballing world why he’s one of the game’s great villains - an immense talent, but a truly unlikeable one. This is the Suarez brand: brilliance wrapped in chaos. The contradiction is that what makes him great - the tenacity and relentlessness - also fuels the misdemeanors. In a twisted way, good and evil Suarez must coexist for elite Suarez to thrive.At his best, Suarez remains an unrelenting pest of a forward, even in his twilight years. He keeps running, shouting, and scrapping long after his body tells him not to. Everything about his 38-year-old frame - the worn knees, the heavy legs - suggests his career should be over. Yet somehow, he’s still fighting on. That persistence doesn’t justify the occasional kick or outburst; it’s simply part of who he is (and still shouldn’t be condoned).These incidents are forgivable when Suarez is fit and firing. But when he's off color? Then they start to seem a real issue. He has already been suspended once this season, that time for spitting at a Seattle Sounders staff member after losing the Leagues Cup final. He was banned for three games and should have been out for longer. And now, Suarez is out again.The immediate issue here - beyond that, of course, of having an aging superstar with serious anger issues - is how Miami approach Game 3. Suarez is having a poor season by his standards, with 10 goals and 10 assists in MLS. He is not the goalscoring threat he once was, but remains an influential part of the Miami attack. It's a footballing cliche of sorts, but Suarez makes all of the intelligent runs and occupies all of the right spaces. Strikers of his age are supposed to conserve energy and only move when they absolutely have to. Suarez is hardly ever static. Even when he is less effective in front of goal or slower getting to his spots on the pitch, he remains a nightmare for defenders. Miami don't have the personnel to replace him or his impact. What they will have to do, then, is some tactical tweaking. The silver lining to having a player who gets suspended a lot is that you tend to learn how to operate without him when needed. And Miami have done so on a couple of occasions this season. The most obvious solution is a tried and tested formula that has worked for 15 years: play Lionel Messi as a false nine. It worked wonders for Barcelona, and Argentina have done a similar thing for years.That might, in fact, be the only option for the Herons. Young striker Allen Obando has hardly played all season. Tadeo Allende is a peripheral option. Messi, who is the team's best attacking player and playmaker, appears to be the most logical choice. But there will undoubtedly be a bit of a knock-on effect - at both ends of the pitch. Although they started the season in a 4-3-3, recently, Miami have played in a more recognizable 4-4-2. Suarez operates as a central striker of sorts, with Messi able to roam around in a free role just behind him. That makes perfect sense from an attacking point of view. It allows the outside players to get forward and scamper into good crossing positions, which then opens some space for Messi in the middle. This isn't tactically revolutionary as much as basic soccer.When you don't have a central striker, though, things change. The concept of the false nine is inherently reliant on having two attacking outside players who pour forward and sacrifice a little bit defensively. It's almost counterintuitive, but playing without a natural forward tends to be far more offensive of a setup - mostly because it can leave teams frighteningly exposed when they don't have the ball.Anyone who has watched Miami at any point this season would tell you that is not a very good idea. They're a pretty simple team to cut through, offering far too much space in the middle of the pitch, and limited pressure on the ball when they don't have it. The appeal of a 4-4-2, rather than a 4-3-3, is that it offers a more reliable defensive structure that is harder to play against. Effectively, then, in losing Suarez, Miami will be forced to leave themselves a little more open going the other way. Suarez is a real pain, but his presence alone makes Miami better - at least in theory. Without him in August, they were mixed: narrow wins over Seattle and D.C. United, but a 3-0 thrashing by Charlotte that exposed their flaws.That game was perhaps more indicative of how Miami can be attacked than the two wins. Charlotte had far less of the ball, and were comfortable in their defensive shape. They kept Messi quiet, and were incredibly direct and opportunistic when they had the ball. They managed four shots on target, and three ended up in the back of the net. That is, perhaps, a bit of a statistical anomaly. But it is indicative of how Miami can be hit when they're without Suarez. That could easily happen against Nashville Saturday night. More broadly, it could offer some indications about Miami's future. Messi’s under contract for multiple years, but Suarez’s deal ends after this season. Despite Jorge Mas’ hints that the Uruguayan could stay, there’s been no public indication of renewal. There is every chance that he has played his last game for Miami. Now, the Herons have to figure out how to move forward without him.