Lionel Messi suffering 'significant wear and tear' in current Inter Miami role as manager Tata Martino claims Herons need to 'diversify' their attack to his benefit

Messi and his Miami team-mates have played just two matches so far in the 2024 MLS campaign, with the Argentine setting up one goal in their opening win against Real Salt Lake and getting a goal as they drew with LA Galaxy. Herons boss Martino is already concerned about the fitness of his star player, however, and feels the rest of the team must step up to make life easier for the 36-year-old.

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"What worries me most today is the day-to-day life and how he is recovering game by game," he told reporters on Friday. "I feel that in these first two games we have resorted to him in each game in an exaggerated way and that it has caused him significant wear and tear. Precisely the match against Orlando in the Leagues Cup was a match where he found the ball many times in the final quarter of the field. In fact, at the time of finishing the plays, he almost scored a goal in the six-yard box.

"And that is what we have to look for in him, that the team finds him to make plays, but sometimes they find him to finish those plays. I feel that he has had too much wear and tear in these two games, and That is also my responsibility to make the team work in such a way that we can use it in a diverse way."

The pressure is on Inter Miami to secure a place in the MLS playoffs this season after they missed out last term despite boasting the likes of Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Now that the ex-Barcelona stars will get a full season under their belts and have been reunited with forward Luis Suarez, they are expected to put in a much better showing in 2024.

Despite the worries about his physical condition, Martino may call on Messi to start when they take on Orlando City on Saturday. Their Florida rivals played out a goalless draw in their first MLS match of the season against Montreal Impact.