Gerardo Martinocoach of Inter Miamirecognized on Saturday that the team led by Lionel Messi’s 2024 season ended in failure after its shock exit against Atlanta United in the first round of the MLS playoffs. “The season is not a success when you are eliminated in the quarterfinals (of the MLS East),” he said in a press conference.
“It’s had good things, it’s had bad things. If you think about where we were in November last year, obviously there is progress in terms of the club, not just the team. If you think about our expectations for this playoff. ‘, we obviously fell too short,” he added.
Inter Miami suffered a heavy setback on Saturday, losing 2-3 against Atlanta United and being eliminated 1-2 in this best-of-three series. The team of Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets won this year’s MLS Supporters’ Shield (trophy for the best team in the regular season) and broke the record for points in the league with 74.
But he bid farewell for the first time in the MLS Cup qualifiers against an Atlanta United that was ninth in the East in the regular season with just 40 points, entered the playoffs eighth via the wild card and is in the process of rebuilding. along with a temporary coach (Rob Valentino).
“The game, in general terms, I think we justified the whole game winning. Even with the runs that Atlanta had, we had a large number of goal situations, we played very close to the area of Atlanta,” he argued with Martino. The coach emphasized that the players were “bad” and sad” in the locker room after the unexpected and massive disappointment.
“As it should be, as it should be when there are so many expectations and the team can’t meet them. At the end of this year we are getting used to achieving the goals we set for ourselves and we were not able to achieve . is the most important,” he said. .
The coach asked two play questions
On the other hand, the Argentine coach criticized two “debatable at least” referee decisions: a penalty that in his opinion happened in the first half for a handball in the visiting area and Atlanta United’s third goal, which came in a play in that Tomás Avilés, from Inter Miami, is on the ground complaining of physical problems.
“I’m talking about a game very similar to the second game, at home in Atlanta, where Fede (Redondo) cut and attacked and there was a player, I think, Ajani Fortune, lying on the floor and he was stopped by Luis Suárez and we got the ball out. But that’s what we did,” he also noted, criticizing Atlanta United’s performance.
When asked if this elimination is more difficult considering that Messi is 37 years old and may not have more time in the league, Martino made it clear that nothing is certain about it. “I don’t really know how limited Messi’s time in MLS is. There is a question about the passage of time, that is clear, but I would not dare to say that it is also very short,” he said. “I think there is no reason for the club not to keep trying next year. Everything that happened this year, the bad and the good, was better than everything that happened last year and I can say that even from the life that the club has,” he pointed out.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
