It was already known, but now it's official. Gerardo Tata Martino will return to direct Lionel Andrés Messi, after Inter Miami confirmed the hiring of the Argentine as coach, amid a deep sports crisis in the MLS League of the United States, from which he will try to leave with the arrival of the Rosario star and other figures, such as the Spanish Sergio Busquets. Be careful, you will only be able to debut when you receive the work documentation.
"I am very excited to join a great club like Inter Miami and I know that together we can achieve important things. The club has the necessary infrastructure to compete in the region and I think that with the work and commitment of all, we can achieve it, "said the Tata, 60, in statements published by the institution.
Inter Miami's official welcome to Tata Martino. Photo: Inter Miami Press.
"I thought it was an interesting project to lead," Martino added, in his first words as coach of a young franchise, but that has great ambition since the landing of the world champion with Argentina in Qatar 2022.
Tata toured the club's facilities and then wished: "To be able to put together a competitive team, that knows what it plays, with which people feel identified. It is clear that we take mid-season and finish forming a squad of this nature is going to take us a while. "
But he clarified that knowledge of the MLS League can make his adaptation and the preparation of his team faster than imagined. The Rosario native was at the helm of Atlanta United for the organization's first two years in the league, enjoying a successful run in helping the club win the MLS Cup in 2018. There he coached Colombian striker Josef Martinez, with whom he will now meet again at Inter Miami.
Martino will be accompanied by the coaching staff that includes assistant Jorge Theiler, physical trainers Rodolfo Paladini and José Manuel Alfaro, and video analyst Damián Silvero. All of them, like Martino, will only be able to make themselves available upon receiving their work documentation.
What did Beckham, one of the club's co-owners, say?
"Tata is a highly respected figure in our sport whose track record speaks for itself. We are confident that his achievements and experience as a coach will serve as an inspiration for our team and excite the fans, and we are excited to see the impact he will have on and off the field," said the Englishman, who holds the reins of the institution along with brothers Jorge and José Mas.
"We are very pleased to be able to welcome Tata to Inter Miami. We feel he is a manager who lives up to the club's aspirations and we are optimistic about what we can achieve together," said managing owner Jorge Mas. "Tata has managed at the highest level and we believe that experience will be of great benefit to us as we compete to win titles."
"Tata has a successful track record in this league and many other top-level competitions in football. He knows what it takes to win in MLS and we're confident he'll bring that to Inter Miami," said CSO and sporting director Chris Henderson.
The reasons for the rush of the announcement were in the delicate football present of the 'pink' team, which sows doubts about what the future will hold for Messi. Last Saturday it suffered its seventh consecutive loss in MLS, where it is in last place in the Eastern Conference, far from the Playoffs for the title.
"Today is a team that is very complicated in the standings, that is very decimated by injuries and by those who are in the National Team, but that has the expectation for the players who are going to come who are very important. Surely added to the place of privilege where it was reached in the Cup, this allows us to grow in the emotional part of the players to have a closing year more in line with this club, "said Martino about the present of the team.
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