Lionel Messi can’t solve all of Inter Miami’s problems, and that was made evident by Monterrey having a field day in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-1 second leg scoreline, which could have easily been 5-1.
Martino and Inter Miami could find little answers for yet another flat and defensively comical performance against one of the region’s best sides. While Inter Miami may have played 70 of the greatest minutes in club history in leg 1, after David Ruiz’s red card it all fell apart.
While the newspapers and pundits focus on Lionel Messi’s now visible frustration, it’s time to look at Tata Martino, whose numbers indicate that without Messi in the lineup, the team is completely lost, with Messi in the lineup, Monterrey was able to show that Inter Miami are more than beatable.
The Messi effect
As of today, Tata Martino’s numbers with Inter Miami is 16-10-8, underwhelming when you consider who is on the team’s payroll, Sergio Busquets, Facundo Farías, Jordi Alba, Diego Gómez, Robert Taylor, and Benjamin Cremaschi all were on the roster or came in with Martino. This season you can add Luis Suarez, Federico Redondo, Marcelo Weigandt, Nicolás Freire and Julian Gressel.
Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami looks on during the first half against Monterrey during CONCACAF Champions Cup 2024 Round of Sixteen second leg at BBVA Stadium on April 10, 2024 in Monterrey, Mexico.
To say Tata Martino does not have a talented side is simply not looking at the truth, no MLS team has the talent on display like Inter Miami. The league has allowed Jorge Mas’ team to spend, supposedly within MLS salary cap space.
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Monterrey beat Inter Miami 5-2 on aggregate: Highlights and goals
With Messi on the field Inter Miami has won the Leagues Cup and won 14 out of the 16 wins Tata Martino has losing only 3 games when the World Cup winner participates in any matches.
Without Messi it’s another story, the team went winless for over a month to end last season and looked considerably worse against other opposition. Questions have surfaced as to why Tata Martino has not been able to get the most out of other players who on paper have a high level in their pedigree.
Formations and style of play
The best of Tata Martino’s side has usually come when playing in a 4-3-3 formation, with and without Messi. When Martino has turned to a 3-5-2 flat formation, the worst of his team has come out.
Tata Martino
Usually through amateurish defensive mishaps, the team has enormous problems playing out of the back, yet Martino insists on that, the end result have been give-a-ways, poor back passes, and a defensive shape that is often overwhelmed by an opponent’s pressing.
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Video: Monterrey fans chant for Ronaldo during 3-1 win over Messi"s Inter Miami
The entire backline including Drake Callender are not good with their feet, shocking when taking into account the defense of Inter Miami was all handpicked by Martino.
When it comes to style, Messi and his inter linking play with Diego Gomez and a small sample of Federico Redondo showcase that the team can get something going, sadly injuries has prevented the team from fielding a full starting XI, but even then, getting proper service for Luis Suarez has been an issue.
Poor game management
Against Monterrey, Martino tried to send a message to all of MLS by not using one single substitute. Instead, the coach opted to keep the aging legs of all his stars to go a full 90 when the game was virtually unwinnable early in the second half.
In a post-game conference Martino made a note of the difference of depth on each side, “I maintain that the teams with the best squads in Mexican football have reached this stage. As long as the MLS doesn’t loosen its rules to allow for better squads and easier replacement of absences and injuries, there will be an advantage.”
If Martino was Ben Olsen, or most of the teams in MLS in general, his response would hold a lot of weight, the problem is that Inter Miami has four world class players on their roster, that few in the region have, a backline that was handpicked by Martino, and one of South America’s best youth prospects in his starting XI, and the team didn’t look much better.
Past his prime coach
Tata Martino is at Inter Miami because of his success with Atlanta United and a healthy relationship with Lionel Messi. A lot has happened since the days of Atlanta United, Martino managed Mexico to two straight cup final defeats against the USMNT, one of which was a B squad in the Gold Cup final.
Tata Martino
Then Martino’s Mexican side at the World Cup was a massive disappointment, true it was not the best generation of Mexican players, but Martino has the stain of being the first Mexican national team manager to not get out of the first round of the FIFA World Cup when Mexico returned to the big stage in 1994.
Martino inherited a poorly put together side at Inter Miami, and has done his best to reconstruct it, the difference has been Inter Miami has the resources to truly field a competitive team. Under Martino’s watch nearly 10 players have come in, six of them on either high salaries or huge transfer fees, four of them are some of the biggest names in the sport in the last decade, at one point you can’t keep looking at the system, you have to start looking at the coach.
