Gerardo Martino Q&A: Managing Lionel Messi, the rise of Inter Miami and the art of suffering

You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone outside of Inter Miami’s training facility who sympathizes with the challenges the club has overcome since 2020. A team that now relies on Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba is not to be pitied. Their talent alone, and the multitude of trophies those four players have won over the last decade, outshines the collective ambition of an entire league.

Inter Miami’s own lofty ambitions have been derailed numerous times since their stuttered launch in 2020. After hiring and firing Uruguayan head coach Diego Alonso after one year, and then doing the same with Phil Neville after two mediocre seasons, Inter Miami was a club with big dreams but no plan.

And in what was more of a public relations bruise than a crisis, in 2021 the club was dealt a multi-million-dollar sanction by the league for violating MLS’ salary budget and roster guidelines. Still, Messi’s arrival felt imminent. If the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was ever going to play in the United States, Inter Miami and South Florida made the most sense.

Messi alone has turned Inter Miami into a commercial behemoth with room to grow. But up until this season, the football portion of the equation had proven more difficult to solve. Head coach Gerardo Martino, now in his second season with Inter Miami, has put the pieces together. Sure, having Messi and three other former Barcelona stars helps, but Miami has not coasted to the top of the table.

With eight games remaining in the 2024 MLS season, Inter Miami is firmly atop the Eastern Conference standings. Their eight-point lead over FC Cincinnati isn’t uncontestable, but the gap widened following Miami’s 2-0 win over the reigning Supporters’ Shield champion. And on that front, Miami now leads the Los Angeles Galaxy by four points, as they look to end the regular season as the best team in the league.

Martino wasn’t a risky hire. The 61-year-old had already won an MLS Cup with Atlanta United in 2018. Before that, he coached Messi at Barcelona and with the Argentina national team. Messi and Martino have had little success together, but the Argentine manager’s appointment by Inter Miami in 2023 was the least surprising move that summer.

Now Inter Miami leads MLS in goals scored with 58 (Martino’s Atlanta United led MLS with 70 goals scored in 2018). They’ve become difficult to play at home, despite Messi’s absence in a majority of those matches. And away from Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Miami has developed a thick skin unseen in previous seasons. This year, Inter Miami has recorded a 10-match unbeaten streak as the visiting side.

It’s almost unbelievable to say, but this season, Inter Miami has grown without Messi in the side. They’ve done so out of necessity, but attacking midfielders like Diego Gomez, 21, and Matias Rojas, 28, both from Paraguay, have contributed extensively.

The Athletic spoke to Martino about the secret to Inter Miami’s form in 2024 and how the rest of the squad has dealt with the pressure of playing with Messi, Busquets, Alba and Suarez.

Note: Questions and answers have been edited.

What have been some of the challenges coaching this team?

We had to build the team from July of last year up until today, taking advantage of each transfer window and understanding that we weren’t simply going to win because of Leo, Busi, Jordi and later Luis.

Of course, it’s extraordinary to have them here, but we had to create a squad of players who could support the structure that those four players would represent. Despite their careers and experience, they had to get to know the league, which is different from most leagues.

It took us one year to build the team because of different circumstances. We needed more than just one transfer window, we didn’t always have a full squad due to injuries or Copa America and the Olympics.

It’s a lot to ask a young player, or any player in MLS, to play at the level that four former Barcelona stars are accustomed to. What has that process been like?

The majority of the players are inexperienced, but we also have Drake Callender, Julian Gressel, Matias Rojas, Nico Freire and now center back David Martinez. It’s also been a challenge for them to train and to prepare for a match alongside these players. In that sense they’ve all accepted that responsibility and that’s what I believe has been the secret to all of this.

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What have you done to ensure those players perform with confidence?

We had a team meeting at the start of the year and we told the players that everyone had to be ready to play because we’d face a moment when we’d be missing seven or eight players. Since that moment, we’ve been telling the players, “Be ready, because when that moment comes, it’s on you.”

Now, we understand that it’s unfair to say that when you haven’t played for the first four to five months, but that’s how it goes. The message remains the same. We’ve done well in that sense. It’s been embraced by the team and that has helped us to not only build a squad but to build a competitive team.

How have Messi, Busquets, Alba and Suarez contributed to building that confidence within the squad?

The four of them are very different. One of them may send a (verbal) message during a specific moment. The other does it from a footballing perspective. Another one of them will use his personality to do so. But when you see how they compete in a small-sided drill, that has a lasting impact on the rest of the group, especially the younger players who didn’t know that level of competition until they’re living it first hand. Those players have to gain confidence to express themselves.

Messi, Alba, Busquets and Suarez in training earlier this year (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

It’s a massive weight to carry when you see these players play but you’re still at a certain point in your life. But these guys are approachable. They’ll talk to you and give you advice. They’ll correct you tactically during a game. That’s how a young player learns. They begin to lose that fear, they loosen up, gain confidence and everything begins to work and flow much differently.

Which version of Luis Suarez are we witnessing?

I can’t compare the previous versions to this one because the leagues were different. The opponents were different. Luis hasn’t surprised me considering that he has been able to train regularly and normally.

That’s why there’s no reason to believe that he wouldn’t be performing the way he is now, which over the last two months has been among his best since he arrived. Luis continues to feel better and his innate talent has quieted concerns about his knee.

When you see him control the ball with his chest and finish a play at the near post like he did against Cincinnati, well, those are things that made him among the best center forwards of the last 15 years.

You’ve coached Messi before. How does he deal with injuries today and the sense of responsibility he must feel?

Leo was with his national team and then he had the injury, so there’s been a gap between the last time that he played with Inter Miami. But he has remained committed to the club, to the team and to competing at the highest level possible. That part is obvious. We all see it. And because of who he is, I can’t imagine him being at a club that doesn’t align with his idiosyncrasy.

He’ll offer his very best until the last day that he competes and he’ll decide when that time will come, whether it’s with Inter Miami or not. Then of course we have to accept that time passes. Even though we all want to continue to watch him play, the ending that makes us all sad is getting closer. But everyone should know that, until that day comes, his commitment and what he contributes will be his best.

Messi and Martino at Barcelona in 2014 (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Julian Gressel is second in assists behind Messi. You know him well from your Atlanta United years. What’s been his impact on the team?

I’ll tell you what one of the staff members says about Julian, this is someone who was part of my staff in Atlanta: “We’re a better team when Julian is on the pitch.” That’s how much he means to us. He’s a player who provides solutions in different parts of the field. It’s always positive to have him. He started on the bench in our last match versus Cincinnati but he gives us peace of mind because he’s always available.

We had that image of Julian from Atlanta in our heads but we never lost sight of him during those five years that I wasn’t in MLS. It was very satisfying to reunite with exactly the same player. Someone who still has influence on the team and who is fully committed to the team and the club. You learn something from Julian during every conversation that you have with him.

How has your tactical philosophy changed at Inter Miami? 

We haven’t discarded our way of playing, but having these four players meant that I had to commit to playing a certain way. Now, we have accepted that we cannot impose our style in every game we play nor can we do that against every opponent. We know when we have to sit back and defend a bit deeper because of the players that we have on the pitch. We may not press as high because of our personnel.

That’s how we’ve managed it and it has led to an elasticity within the team when we play matches.

Martino on the training pitch (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

How has your approach to man management evolved? 

I’ve always believed that you don’t have to be the villain. The player must understand that a manager will be serious sometimes, not so serious at times, approachable or not so approachable. But there are limits and conditions that we’re going to adhere to. There are lanes that we’re both going to stay in. That has to be established. When (Tomas) Aviles was sent off recently, I didn’t storm into the locker room. Maybe I have in the past but young players have to learn from their own mistakes. Perhaps an error will have some sort of punishment, for lack of a better word.

But how am I going to condemn a 21-, 22-year-old player who has his entire career ahead of him to grow, learn and develop? We all make mistakes. There are things that occur outside of football that have more to do with life and coexisting among others that I’m probably more strict about. I take those situations much more seriously than what happens on the field of play. Respect is one of those things.

What does suffering in football mean to you? It’s a common thing to say in South America but not here in the U.S., yet it’s become a characteristic of your teams.

It doesn’t have to be characterized as suffering per say, but if you don’t learn to suffer you’ll put yourself at risk when you’re unable to impose your ideas on an opponent. There isn’t a team in the world who imposes their will on an opponent for 90 minutes. You may have to suffer for 10 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes. Because it’s about moments. To suffer applies to those moments in a game when the match sways away from the plan you’ve devised. When the opponent is managing the game and the game is dictated by them.

There’s order in suffering. There’s range. There’s a plan and there’s intelligence. It doesn’t mean I’m going to wrap myself in a wet blanket and see if I can escape a fire without burning myself. We tend to associate suffering in football with parking the bus. No. Suffering is about adapting when a player is sent off and you still have 45 minutes to play. When you know that your opponent is probably going to take over the game because they have an extra player. In that case, you can suffer less or suffer more. We suffered more during those final 15 minutes against Columbus (in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal).

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(Top photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)