Athletic has live coverage of Lionel Messi’s debut at Inter Miami.
How do you give advice to an expert? It’s like shopping for the person who has everything. All you can do is offer your humble opinion, which will ultimately be unnecessary.
Messi is still widely perceived as the best player in the world – he has won everything there is to win in football and on Saturday he officially became the league’s new signing at the box office. However, Athletics asked some of Major League Soccer’s top players to offer Lionel Messi advice on life in MLS. Naturally, they hesitated and some turned down the request, like Atlanta United star Thiago Almada, 22, who was Messi’s teammate on Argentina’s World Cup-winning squad this past winter.
Argentinians Sebastian Driussi of Austin FC and Luciano Acosta of FC Cincinnati, both MVP-caliber No. 10s, spoke of Messi with the utmost respect, but at times they sounded like two stunned fans talking about their hero.
“I’m going to share a field with him,” Acosta said. “It’s emotional. He is one of our idols. For us, Messi is the best ever.”
“Give advice to Messi?” Driussi asked. “It is the opposite! I want him to give me advice.”
LAFC’s Carlos Vela, who faced off Messi during his time in Spain with Real Sociedad, it was more like business. Vela, 34, is the captain of the defending MLS Cup champions and the winner of the league’s MVP award in 2019. At his best, the left-footed forward offers a glimpse of what Messi’s profile is like. can be used tactically in MLS.
Vela, like Messi, tends to come out from the right wing or play between the lines as a central player in midfield. Both are deadly around the penalty area. How MLS teams choose to defend Vela could be similar to what Messi will face. So what would Vela recommend Messi do as he gets used to his new league?
“I think he’s good enough to figure that out on his own,” Vela said with a laugh. “I cannot – nor can anyone else – tell Messi how to play.”
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham told a group of reporters on Tuesday that Messi and Sergio Busquets will need time to adjust to MLS.
“Things are different than they were in 2007,” Beckham said, referring to the year he came to MLS. “But Leo will still need – no matter how good he is, no matter what size he is, and Sergio, too – they will need time to adapt. You know, they can surprise us. We can start winning every game, but we have to be patient.”
Messi is joining a team that is in the midst of a rebuild and currently in last place in the Eastern Conference.
He will not be surrounded by the group of selfless, ball-hunting teammates who helped him win the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. Neymar will not wear the pink and black jerseys of Inter Miami either. And yet, Messi’s brilliance brings to mind truly strange predictions.
Alvaro Barreal, Acosta’s Argentine teammate with FC Cincinnati, told TyC Sports in Argentina that he projects a fruitful future for Messi in MLS.
“He is a completely different player than anyone else,” Barreal said. “Obviously the season has become complicated for his team and it will be a bit difficult for him, but I think Messi will be able to score three to four goals in the game.”
Acosta was more grounded.
“He is very different from any of us. We can’t compare ourselves to him,” Acosta said. “I think a lot of opponents will respect that. Others will not. Some may be afraid to mark it. But no (FC Cincinnati).
Acosta repeatedly said how competitive and physical MLS has become. Drius as well. Both players scoffed at the idea that MLS would be a walk in the park for Messi. It’s a competitive league, they said, and one that their compatriots in Argentina and so many observers around the world continue to misjudge.
“He is the best player of all time,” said Driussi. “My advice though: MLS is really competitive. It’s not what they say big name players come here to retire. If he comes here with that mentality he might suffer a bit. But I don’t think that will be the case. If he struggles in MLS, what are we left with? I think he’s going to have a big impact.”
Until Messi, Diego Valeri was probably the best Argentine no. 10 to ever play in MLS. Valeri, 37 years old, is already retired. The former Portland Timbers star and 2017 MLS MVP was recently inducted into the club’s ring of honor. He is now an MLS analyst on Apple TV. Like Acosta and Driussi, Valeri’s excitement when talking about Messi in MLS is palpable.
“I’m happy as an Argentine that I can have him here so close after I became world champion,” Valeri said. “He won the World Cup after fighting for so long. It’s a very special time for MLS and a unique moment in his career. It’s a moment to enjoy his career.”
Valeri laughed when told Acosta, Vela and Driussi had given similar answers when asked to give Messi advice. What advice can be given to a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner? And what can a fellow Argentine, who has suffered through decades of national team disappointments, say to a recently crowned world champion?
“I can’t give him any advice,” Valeri said. “But he will have more time to become a father, a husband. Obviously, he will deal with the stresses of competition every day.”
Messi’s decision to come to MLS is also valid for current and former players who have been criticized for coming to America. MLS continues to be misunderstood in many parts of the world. His unique roster rules and salary cap are a major reason why. There are also no high-stakes battles for promotion and relegation in MLS.
The quality of the game has improved, but it needs to be improved a lot. MLS is not a top league globally, and so soccer in America is not taken seriously by the fervent fan bases in South America and Europe.
“MLS is not followed in Argentina, starting with the fact that here it is called soccer and not soccer,” said Driussi. “Argentinians criticize everything. That’s who we are.”
Valeri, however, who was signed by Portland in 2013, sees Messi’s arrival as a turning point in that cultural debate.
“There is a sense of satisfaction for me that I chose MLS 10 years ago, when it was not so common,” said Valeri. “It is a mixture of happiness and satisfaction that the greatest player of all time has chosen to come to MLS during a historic time for the league.”
Driussi agreed. The 27-year-old signed for Austin from Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg.
“When I made the decision to come here, a lot of my teammates in Russia said ‘You’re going to that league?’ I didn’t see it that way. I don’t know where I would be today if I hadn’t made that decision. I think I made the right decision.”
Valeri believes the style of play in MLS will suit Messi. Teams are more offensive than in previous years, Valeri said. Games may be played end-to-end, but more MLS coaches are focused on building their attacks through possession, rather than the traditional American hit-and-run that dominated the game in the league’s early years.
“Messi is coming to a club that is being rebuilt. A club that is aware that it needs to be rebuilt,” said Valeri. “Messi has to get there and just play. Enjoy yourself and enjoy this chapter in his career. The first thing he needs to do is get on the same page with his teammates and understand what his team needs. Then have fun and enjoy the same positive feelings that he experienced at various points in his career.”
Driussi admitted that Inter Miami’s poor form will be a challenge. But there is hope that Messi will have a positive effect on the team in what is left of their season.
“Messi will elevate the game of his teammates,” he said. “I have faith in this. Your level will increase when you play with someone like Messi. He will come here to compete because the America’s Cup will be played soon. He will want to be the best for the Argentine national team.”
But Driussi also referred to American professional soccer as “more relaxed.” It’s certainly a very different culture for South American players. Soccer is the lifeblood of many Latin American societies. It is not a project or a developing sport as it is in the USA, it is a passion that can cross borders, justifying the term “fanaticism”.
“Losses are not taken so hard here,” Driuissi said. “South Americans take losses very hard. Football means a lot to us.”
Driussi added that the MLS environment and American lifestyle is exactly what Messi needs.
“He needed that peace in his life. To be able to go to the supermarket and enjoy time with his child”, said Driussi. “He couldn’t do that in Europe because of everything he achieved there and because of what his fame represents. I think that’s why he’s coming to MLS. To enjoy his family and to enjoy these moments in his life.”
If Valeri felt validated by the decision of Messi, Acosta and Driussi, and of course countless other MLS players, believe that Messi has given MLS the credibility it has always needed.
“This is a great league for No. 10,” Acosta said. “People say that the number 10 has died out in leagues around the world. Not in the MLS. Number 10s continue to thrive here and these players keep coming into the league. Even the youngest players. It’s great that players of that caliber are coming to MLS. Obviously, the league will grow a lot more with Leo here.”
Sunday, long a rain-soaked ceremony at the club’s stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Messi was officially introduced as Inter Miami’s number 10, or as club co-owner Jorge Mas put it, “America’s Number 10”. The idea of Messi coming to MLS has been heavily debated for years. He became the bane of rumors between Barcelona, Saudi Arabia and MLS. But in the end, even Beckham felt vindicated.
“Ten years ago, I began my journey to build a new MLS team,” Beckham told the crowd. “I said then, I dreamed of bringing the best players in the world to South Florida and the great city of Miami… It is truly a dream come true to welcome Lionel Messi to Inter Miami. Bienvenido a La Familia (welcome to the family).
“It’s the biggest and most historic moment for the league,” Valeri said. “Messi is arriving at the biggest moment in North American soccer.”
As the interview with Driuss ended, he got up from behind his laptop and laughingly said: “Let’s hope that Messi doesn’t overshadow all the work we’ve done!”
(Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)
