For Inter Miami the Lionel Messi boom has come at a price, fatigue, as the Leagues Cup and now US Open Cup semifinal went on, one thing became very apparent, some of the starting players need to rest.

That time is coming according to head coach Tata Martino who has already given warning signs that some of his top players need to take a seat. “Leo like many other players is reaching a physical limit” was the statement following his teams dramatic 4-3 victory over FC Cincinnati in the US Open Cup semifinal.

The final of that tournament is scheduled for September 27th, but Inter Miami are back in action on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls in MLS. Who might sit in the next batch of games remains to be seen.

Inter Miami players in need of rest

Tata Martino before the game against FC Cincinnati had hinted that with the coming international window as many as 10 players from his squad will receive international call ups. It is expected that Drake Callender and Benjamin Cremaschi will get call ups to the USMNT, although reports also indicate that Cremaschi may get a call from Argentina to play for the youth national team as well.

Lionel Messi is set to go to World Cup qualifying matches with Argentina which will include a trip to altitude in La Paz, Bolivia. Dixon Arroyo, Josef Martínez, and David Ruiz are also expected to get international call ups.

If one thing was apparent was that Messi, Sergio Busquets, DeAndre Yedlin, Robert Taylor, and Serhiy Kryvtsov have all looked winded in the last two games for the club with Busquets having two very poor matches by his standards in the Leagues Cup final and in the US Open Cup semifinals.

What’s next for Inter Miami?

Inter Miami, who are last in the MLS East, will take on the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena in a must win match on Saturday, but now Tata Martino may have to shuffle his line up, “From this point forward, we will evaluate how we approach these next three games.”

It’s possible for Inter Miami, who are very far off a playoff spot in MLS, to rotate players and have Tata Martino at least to start a game rely on new signings Tomás Avilés, Facundo Farías, and Diego Gómez to carry the load for Messi and company.