Tata Martino praises current Inter Miami squad ahead of Messi, Busquets and Alba arrivals

Newly appointed Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino ran his first training session today after his visa paperwork was approved. The 60-year-old later spoke to reporters and gave his assessment of a team still languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“This is a very competitive team and one that is doing what they can on the pitch to solve the problems we’re having off of it,” Martino told reporters on Monday. “They battle in each game. Regardless of what this team may look like in a month, the players who are here now are stepping up and competing very well.”

Inter Miami drew 2-2 on Saturday at DC United. It was the club’s second draw of the season. Martino was in DC with his entire staff but watched the match from his suite, along with members of Inter Miami’s front office. Inter Miami has suffered a rash of injuries to key players this season. That was evidenced on Saturday when interim manager Javier Morales started four former academy players, three of them teenagers.

Ian Fray, 20, and Noah Allen, 19, were part of Miami’s starting backline, while David Ruiz, 19 and Benjamin Cremaschi, 18, started in the middle of the park. Cremaschi, an Argentine-American with a very bright future, scored Miami’s first goal of the night. It was his first professional goal.

“I’ve watched several games,” Martino told reporters. “This is only our first training session and we’re still evaluating the team. What’s been great to see is the emergence of our young players and the commitment they’ve shown. It’s a responsibility that has perhaps come sooner than expected, and that’s been positive. You all have seen that there are many young players on the bench too, due to national team commitments and injuries. The team is competing with who they have.”

Martino said he will not look to change the starting XI after just five training sessions. United States international defender DeAandre Yedlin is expected back next week, while Canadian international defender Kamal Miller will rejoin the team this week. On Sunday, the U.S. defeated Canada in penalties in the Gold Cup quarterfinals.

The Gold Cup final will be played on July 16, the same night that Lionel Messi is set to be unveiled by Inter Miami at DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, the team’s home ground.

Inter Miami will visit St. Louis City next Saturday night. “We’ll introduce some things (tactically) that we’re interested in seeing,” Martino added.

“We have to evaluate based on what we see and based on what you (reporters) assess, which is what could happen in the future,” he continued. “We need training sessions and that will likely mean we’ll need a bit more time, but I’m very optimistic based on what we’ve seen thus far and based on the work that’s taking place off the pitch.”

Martino was asked about the high-profile additions that are expected to be announced soon. Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will join Inter Miami later this month. Messi’s official announcement is imminent.

“It’s difficult to comment on this because there are things that still need to be resolved. To speak officially on that is a bit awkward at the moment. We hope that the announcements that have to be made are taken care of. When those people are here we can talk about our future with more certainty.”

Asked about Messi, Martino said that he didn’t have an answer as to when the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is expected to join the team. Martino later mentioned Fray, Cremaschi, Allen and Hernandez as players who at the start of the year likely didn’t imagine they’d be playing regularly with the first team.

“Of course they must’ve had plans to play their way into the first team,” Martino said. “It’s come to fruition based on the injuries and players with Gold Cup commitments. The best part about all of this is that they were ready when their moment came.”

(Photo: Inter Miami)