Inter Miami manager Tata Martino has said he will be making ‘serious’ decisions on resting his key players, including Lionel Messi.
The Argentine international has started Inter Miami’s first two games of the new MLS season, with Messi playing the entire match against the LA Galaxy as the attacker scored a late equalizer.
Inter Miami are no strangers to burning out Messi as the forward spent most of last season out injured having played too much in League Cups, a competition the Herons won largely due to the Argentine.
Inter Miami to soon make decision on resting Lionel Messi
And speaking to the press via Goal, manager Martino has revealed that serious discussions will soon take place over rotating key players, with Messi included in this category.
Inter Miami saw both Luis Suarez and Diego Gomez limp off against the Galaxy due to fitness problems, and the Herons need to be careful with their talent if they’re to last the entire 2024 season.
Martino said when asked when he will start looking to rotate players for MLS fixtures: “We will have to evaluate the players all this week.
“But I think the real serious evaluation will be the following week. We have to see how they are recovering from these games, but I think our team looked fit, as they fought until the final moment.”
Herons have to be fearless when it comes to rotating
Inter Miami have already feared the wrath of an entire nation in Hong Kong after Messi was rested for a pre-season game earlier this month, a scandal that’s still ongoing to this day.
Yet the Herons made the right call on the day to rest their star attacker, and Inter Miami will have to make similar, though granted less dramatic, decisions in the upcoming games.
And 36-years-old, Messi is no spring chicken and needs as much rest and recovery as needed if he’s going to be at the top of his game, and Inter Miami have to be careful with how much soccer the forward is playing.