Tata Martino has hinted at Lionel Messi feeling tired already, saying that his star man used ‘too much energy’ in Inter Miami’s first two MLS games after preparing for the new season with a grueling tour of Asia.
On Friday, the Herons’ head coach clarified that Messi’s teammates need to provide better buildup service to the 36-year-old, Argentine, if they want to see the best of him this year.
Michelle Kaufman, of The Miami Herald, reported: ‘Tata Martino said Lionel Messi has expended too much energy first two games, aim is for the rest of the team to move ball better so he can focus on finalizing goals and preserving some energy for long season ahead.’
What’s more is that Messi is expected to heavily feature throughout the MLS regular season due to the league’s new $2.5billion, 10-year contract with Apple TV.
In order for Lionel Messi to avoid fatigue, the team needs ‘to move the ball better’ so he can focus on producing magic in the final third, according to Tata Martino – Miami’s head coach
Martino makes a valid point, with Miami involved in as many as five competitions this season
Unlike most of his preseasons spent with Barcelona and PSG, the 2022 World Cup winner wasn’t at his best physically during Inter Miami’s intense world tour, which included stops in the South, Central America, the Middle East, and Asia.
He sustained an adductors injury in the Herons’ 4-3 defeat to Al-Hillal, which forced him come off the bench in the team’s 6-0 loss to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, though the Portuguese superstar sat out of that fixture due to a calf issue.
Messi then caused a stir in the wake of Miami’s 4-1 win against Hong Kong XI, as fans demanded refunds following the the eight-time Ballon d’Or’s no-show due to injury. There was confusion as to whether he would come off the bench, but Messi claims he didn’t feel healthy enough to play during warmups, forcing the game’s organizers to miss out on a boatload of cash.
Fans in Hong Kong were further enraged by Messi’s actions, three days after he didn’t play in the former British colony, as he came in the second half of Miami’s defeat to Vissel Kobe, of the J1 League, in Japan.
Messi did manage to play in Inter Miami’s next and last preseason fixture, a 1-1 draw against Newell’s – the Argentine’s youth team – a positive sign for fans of the Herons, at the time.
He then played all 90 minutes in the club’s first MLS game of the season – a 2-0 win against Real Salt Lake – and even registered his first assist of the campaign for Robert Taylor’s goal.
Messi, 36, scored his first MLS goal of the season in a hard-fought 1-1 draw vs. the LA Galaxy
Messi played the entirety of Miami’s next fixture – a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy – and bagged his first MLS goal of the season in the dying minutes of that match.
The Herons’ face rivals, Orlando City, next on Saturday, with rumors that Messi is causing divisions in the team due to him spending a lot of away from the rest of the squad with old friends and ex-Barca teammates, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets.
However, teammate Julian Gressel claimed the clique hasn’t impacted the team’s chemistry on the pitch.
‘Of course they are good friends. We all know that. That’s why it’s completely normal that they are a little more connection,’ said the Germany-born, US fullback, per TyC Sports.
‘They have achieved a lot together and the families get along well too. That’s why naturally they work a lot in a group of four. But they are very integrated, they take the whole team with them and make a lot of jokes. We had barbecues together. This is a completely normal team structure, like in any other team of which I was a member.’
