After revolutionizing the Major Soccer League (MLS) with the signing of Argentine Lionel Messi and incorporating Catalan Sergi Busquets last week, Inter Miami announced this Wednesday the arrival of Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, also from Argentina, as a new coach, to form a new stellar connection and repeat a trio seen in Barcelona in the 2013-2014 academic year.
The Inter Miami of Jorge Mas and the British David Beckham does not set limits. Messi’s signing shook world football and, even in the absence of the Argentine star’s debut in MLS, he has already taken the image of ‘soccer’ to another level.
We will still have to wait a few weeks before the debut of this trio. Martino will join in the next few days, as soon as his visa is approved, and, on the field, Busquets and Messi will not meet until at least July 21. The Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul, whose tickets are sold for more than 1,000 dollars, is what the club imagines for the possible debut of the Argentine star.
With Messi at the center, a brain like Busquets and the experience of ‘Tata’ Martino on the bench, the club intends to take its football to another galaxy and leave behind a forgotten start to the season, which sees it bottom in the East of the MLS, with seven consecutive defeats, a tremendous defensive fragility and a forward that averages less than one goal per game.
“Today, Inter Miami is a team that is very difficult in the standings, very decimated by injuries, decimated by players who are in the national team, but that has the expectation of the new players who are going to come who are really very , but very important”, said Martino in his first interview, published by the club.
“Surely this, added to the privileged place where it was reached in the Cup (Inter Miami is a semifinalist), will allow us to make the soccer players grow in the emotional part,” he added.
In South Florida they want to put Messi in the best conditions to take the reins on the field and guide the club towards a league comeback that, due to the MLS format, is still possible. It would be enough for Inter Miami to finish ninth in their conference to access the postseason and give themselves the opportunity to fight for the title.
To do so, the club bet on the experience of Martino, who already worked with Messi and Busquets at Barcelona in the 2013-2014 season, when they won a Spanish Super Cup.
The Argentine lost the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid at the Mestalla, when the Welshman Gareth Bale signed one of the best goals of his Madrid period, and finished second in the League, won by Atlético Madrid.
In addition, the Argentine coach directed Messi from 2014 to 2016 in the Albiceleste team. He reached two consecutive Copa América finals, both lost against Chile.
His record with Argentina ended with twenty wins, five losses and four draws.
Martino also has a long club career and is already familiar with MLS, having managed Atlanta United in its first two years in the US league and winning the title in 2018.
Under his management, Venezuelan striker Josef Martínez won the Golden Boot with 31 goals. The striker is now part of Inter Miami and will meet again with his coach.
“I want to put together a competitive team, that knows what it’s playing, with which people feel identified. We took it in the middle of the season and finishing forming a squad of this nature is going to take us a while,” Martino stressed.
“I want to see a team that plays how it trains and plays what it trains to,” he concluded.
