Tata Martino was clear in his ambition. Asked about his aims for the season ahead, the Inter Miami head coach outlined the significance of the CONCACAF Champions Cup for his team. “It is a great challenge and possibly the most important tournament we will play in,” he said. Indeed, the Herons were expected to be among the frontrunners to win the continental crown.
With the competition at only the quarter-final stage, though, Inter Miami is facing an early exit. Lionel Messi and co. have a deficit to overturn away to Monterrey on Wednesday night following a disappointing 2-1 first leg defeat at home to the Liga MX side. Inter Miami will have to pull off an historic result to make the CONCACAF Champions Cup final four.
Defeat to Monterrey would change the narrative around Messi and Inter Miami. Until now, the story has been about a club that has assembled the strongest squad in American soccer history. Messi has drawn new eyes to Major League Soccer and has heralded the start of a new era for the division. With every damaging defeat, though, more questions mount.
Messi was signed to turn Inter Miami into a force that could win trophies. Of course, he has already lifted Leagues Cup in pink, but that was a minor honour compared to the silverware Inter Miami is targeting this year. The Herons want the Supporters’ Shield. They want MLS Cup. And they want the CONCACAF Champions Cup – which comes with entry into the Club World Cup.
At this point, the evidence is clear – Inter Miami is incapable of winning big matches without Messi. The World Cup winner missed six of Inter Miami’s final 10 matches to close out last season and this ended up costing the Herons their place in the play-offs. This season, the South Florida outfit have similarly struggled for consistent form when Messi isn’t on the pitch.
It was always likely that Martino would have to manage Messi’s minutes. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain might still be among the best players in the world, but he is now 36 and well into the twilight of his career. Even when Messi is on the pitch, his movement is limited. He walks for the majority of most matches.
However, the number of injuries Messi has suffered since joining Inter Miami has raised doubts over the level of influence he can truly have over a full season – particularly one with a Copa America in the middle. At what point will Messi start holding himself back as an Inter Miami player to preserve his place in Argentina’s squad for this summer?
“It’s one match at a time,” said Martino after the first leg defeat to Monterrey in which Messi played no part. “We understood that this was not the match for him to be in, he was not ready.” Messi returned against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, but only as a second half substitute. He scored, yet his contribution still wasn’t enough for Inter Miami to win as they drew 2-2.
Luis Suarez has stepped up in Messi’s absence this season. The Uruguayan striker has scored an impressive five goals in his first seven MLS appearances and looks like the finisher Inter Miami hoped he would be. It’s true that Suarez lacks the pace he had earlier in his career, but his instincts in and around the opposition box remain as sharp as ever.
Structurally, though, Inter Miami is flawed as a team. Opponents have found it easy to counter against them this season – see how the Colorado Rapids scored their equaliser on Saturday. Inter Miami is top-heavy and lack the physicality required to truly make a high defensive line work. This is a clear weakness.
A bigger weakness, though, is Messi’s patchy injury record. The 36-year-old is good enough to mask Inter Miami’s problems, but only when he is fit and firing. Wednesday’s match in Mexico will be a defining moment for Messi as an Inter Miami player. He could turn the tie around. Alternatively, his inability to do so could highlight why the Herons were up against it from the start.
