“Messi and Martino, a more sentimental than practical relationship”: what the duo can really produce now at Inter Miami | ANALYSIS

the departure of Lionel Messi Inter Miami is, in football terms, a golden retirement. It is difficult to understand from a business point of view, when economic flows are concentrated in Arab countries -even more so taking into account that the Argentine star has had good business with Qatar-, but the choice seems justified in the medium term : The United States continues to be the center of global capital, the next World Cup is in North America and by then Messi will be an established and presumably retired figure in that market, which will allow him to benefit from representation and image contracts. The move is not new: Pelé’s role with the Cosmos is the great precedent for this move. The question is whether it has a purpose other than monetary. I mean, football, where is it?

Honestly, it’s hard to find in Miami. The Inter of said city is a club with 5 years of creation and belongs to David Beckham. So far this season, he is last in the Eastern Conference with just 15 points in 18 games. His squad is very poor, except perhaps for the good Venezuelan striker Joseph Martinez. What chance will Messi and Busquets have of turning this situation around under the command of Tata Martino? The truth is that the impact may be more limited than you can imagine.

Messi’s relationship with Martino is more sentimental than practical. The 10 did not have their best performances under the direction of the Rosario coach, while seeing their famous offensive 4-3-3 applied to a team like the American requires a lot of imagination. The game of possession and pressure demands very dynamic and versatile executors; transitions, tactical intelligence and great physical shape. Beyond the limits of the current squad, neither Messi nor Busquets have the work rate required to lead strategies as risky as that. If anyone needs more proof of this scenario, just look at the first DT press conference: Messi has come to “compete”, he said. Why is it necessary to highlight it?

The MLS you are wrong. Importing figures into semiretirement It has never managed to raise the level of a national tournament, only to attract temporary attention that is hardly profitable, as the Chinese and Saudi leagues have proven endlessly in recent decades, or the North Americans themselves with the North American Soccer experiment. League (1970-1985). Normally, the only beneficiaries of these initiatives are the foreign players who find a space to extend their careers in unbeatable conditions, but not the clubs or the national teams. LA Galaxy is a great example: after a bombastic period in which they signed Beckham, Keane and ibrahimovicwhat remains is a team that marches thirteenth in its conference, without pain or glory, unable to win a title for 9 years.

But the only way to improve and be attractive, it goes without saying, is another and it is hard: bet on training, strengthen clubs and find economic promotion mechanisms that allow the benefits that are distributed among all the actors of the same system. football. This path is slow, but it is the only one that guarantees results.