The three men were last all together at Camp Nou in 2014, but will be linking up again to try and inspire a turnaround at the DRV PNK Stadium
It’s all change at Inter Miami right now. The MLS outfit are in the middle of a miserable season on the pitch, as they find themselves rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference after 18 matches.
But that hasn’t prevented them from attracting the greatest footballer in history to Florida. Lionel Messi has agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract at the DRV PNK Stadium, with his free transfer set to be completed after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain expires on June 30.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Andrea Pirlo have all graced MLS down the years, with Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham initially paving the way for an influx of megastars to the U.S. when joining the LA Galaxy back in 2007.
Messi’s move to Inter Miami will stand above them all, though, and MLS is already enjoying greater exposure than ever before, despite the fact their new poster boy is yet to touch down in America. But he won’t be able to transform the fortunes of a dismal Inter Miami team on his own.
That is why the club has also gone to great lengths to bring in two of Messi’s former Barcelona colleagues. Sergio Busquets brought the curtain down on his glittering 18-year career at Camp Nou in May, before agreeing to join Messi in Miami. And it has now been confirmed that they will be coached by Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, who worked with the pair at Barcelona in the 2013-14 season.
The Argentine has a huge job on his hands, but having Messi and Busquets on hand to lead the dressing room gives him more than a fighting chance of success.
Martino’s credentials
“Tata is a highly respected figure in our sport whose track record speaks for itself,” Beckham said after confirmation of Martino’s appointment. “We are confident that his achievements in the game and experience as a head coach will inspire our team and excite our fans and look forward to seeing the impact he will have on and off the field.”
The 60-year-old has earned that billing after a 25-year career in management that has seen him take in spells at 10 different clubs and three different national teams, including his native Argentina. Martino became La Albiceleste boss after leaving Barcelona in 2014, and spent two years in charge.
He guided Argentina to back-to-back Copa America finals, but they lost both times against Chile. Martino resigned after the second defeat, while Messi famously announced his retirement from international football, only to perform a U-turn a few months later.
Martino failed to deliver silverware, but his overall record of 19 wins from 29 games was impressive, and it could be argued that Argentina would have done far better than a last-16 exit at the 2018 World Cup had he remained at the helm.
He certainly did enough to pique the interest of Atlanta United, who appointed him as their inaugural head coach after joining MLS in 2016. Martino went on to guide the club to MLS Cup glory before leaving his post for personal reasons – but football in the United States left its mark on him.
“I was part of an extraordinary project with Atlanta United that had a clear direction, a lot of communication and similar objectives that were established very quickly and executed,” Martino said in a recent interview with The Athletic. “After coaching in MLS, I became attracted to it. I like the league.”
The Mexico national team brought Martino on board in 2019, and he made an instant impact by delivering the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also guided El Tri to the CONCACAF Nations League final and another Gold Cup showpiece in 2021, but they were beaten by the United States on both occasions.
Martino’s reign ended after Mexico’s poor showing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which saw them exit at the group stage for the first time in 28 years. But that didn’t put off Inter Miami from pursuing him.
There is no doubt that Martino is a huge upgrade on Phil Neville, who was sacked after a disastrous run of results at the start of June, and only ever got the job due to his friendship with Beckham. Inter Miami now have a manager in place that knows what it takes to be successful at the highest level, not least because of his short but memorable experience at Barcelona.
Disappointment at Barca
After the late Tito Vilanova resigned amid his battle with throat cancer in July 2013, it came as a huge surprise to supporters across Spain when Barca turned to Martino. The former Newell’s Old Boys boss had never previously worked in European football, and he was inheriting a star-studded squad led by Messi.
Martino’s arrival also coincided with the signing of Neymar from Santos, and his reign started well enough as Barca won the Supercopa de Espana before going unbeaten through their first 16 matches across all competitions. But they were unable to keep up that momentum.
Atletico Madrid pipped Barca to the finishing post in La Liga, and also knocked them out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals. The Blaugrana suffered a painful Copa del Rey final defeat against arch-rivals Real Madrid, too.
Martino resigned immediately after Barca’s 1-1 draw against Atletico at Camp Nou on the final day of the season, and issued a heartfelt apology. “I am sorry that we did not achieve the objectives that this club had been achieving year after year,” he said. “I would like to thank absolutely everyone. I want to thank the players. I would rather not talk about their qualities as footballers but as people; this club has great people here.”
The Barca dressing room never turned against Martino. Xavi leapt to his defence after a 3-1 loss at Real Sociedad in the second half of the season, telling reporters: “We’ve never doubted Martino, ever. He’s a winner and if he has surprised us it’s been for the best.”
Questions were constantly asked about Martino’s relationship with Messi, especially after he substituted the diminutive magician in the reverse La Liga fixture against La Real when Barca went 4-1 up. But Messi’s standards never slipped during his tenure.
The Argentina international recorded 41 goals and 14 assists in 46 appearances for Barca that season, and the squad was still in great shape by the time Martino left. After adding Luis Suarez to their ranks in the summer of 2014, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when the Blaugrana went on to win the treble in their first campaign under Martino’s successor, Luis Enrique.
Still, Martino acknowledged that he could have done better. “I made some monumental mistakes with Barcelona,” he said in an interview with Clarin shortly after leaving the club. “I’ll tell you in another life.”
However, he did also add: “All I learned in Barcelona was about being surrounded by stars, by the best in the world.” Martino now has the same opportunity again at Inter Miami, and he will surely hope to exorcise the demons from his ill-fated stint at Camp Nou once and for all. READ MORE
World of sports 
Leave a comment