Few teams left their mark on Major League Soccer like Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s Atlanta United side that crowned his memorable two-year reign with an MLS Cup 2018 title.
Almost five years later, Martino is back in the league hoping to recreate that same magic with Inter Miami CF.
“You remember those great moments,” Martino, still a cult-like figure for the Five Stripes, said Thursday during his introductory press conference as the Herons’ new head coach. “And so sometimes you have dreams of being able to replicate them in other places.”
Martino, announced Wednesday afternoon as the third coach in Miami’s four-year history, returns to MLS with excitement and eagerness. That emanates from the Herons, who in early June parted ways with Phil Neville and appointed Javier Morales on an interim basis. Now, their vacancy is filled.
“We had targets and Tata was the target we wanted,” said chief soccer officer and sporting director Chris Henderson, before thanking the club’s owners.
“We're so happy to be able to get it over the line in working with David Beckham, Jorge and Jose Mas, working together with leadership at the club. We were able to bring in a winner, someone who's won, someone with experience who can come and take a group, climb the table.”
Tata returns
If anybody can pull off this goal, perhaps it’s Martino. The 60-year-manager’s résumé is about as prolific as it gets in world soccer, with previous stops at LaLiga giants FC Barcelona, the Argentine national team and, most recently, with Mexico at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
He’s now tasked with turning around a club sitting bottom of the Eastern Conference table and on the outside of the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs picture looking in.
A tall task for sure, but one that doesn’t phase the man who helped build Atlanta’s 2017 expansion side into an MLS powerhouse almost overnight.
“In 2023 I think there are still some beautiful challenges ahead,” Martino said about his short-term goals for the club. “First, to see if we can finally reach playoff positioning.
“… As long as there’s the possibility, we can’t stop trying,” he added, also highlighting how Miami can win their first major trophy this year in the form of the US Open Cup (they visit FC Cincinnati in the semifinals on Aug. 23). The new, expanded 2023 Leagues Cup provides an additional opportunity to earn silverware.
Still, between key injuries, international absences and planned summertime signings that have yet to arrive, Martino stressed the need for patience.
“Then there’s the big challenge, which consists of building our definitive team between this moment and the beginning of the 2024 season,” Martino said. “That’s the moment we have to use to have the team that will definitively represent Inter Miami.”
Reunions in Miami?
The player most expected to join Miami is none other than Lionel Messi. Six months removed from winning the World Cup with Argentina, the seven-time Ballon d’Or recipient has expressed his intention to join the Herons once his contract with French club Paris Saint-Germain expires at the end of June.
Martino expects MLS would reach unprecedented levels with Messi competing; the Rosario natives previously worked together at both Barcelona and Argentina.
“That the world’s greatest player decides to play in this league, evidently it will open an even greater scenario of growth,” he said.
Martino also revealed he’s had conversations with both Messi and fellow Barça legend Sergio Busquets, who’s also reportedly near a deal with the Herons.
“When I spoke with Leo, yesterday I spoke with Sergio,” said Martino. “We spoke about coming to make things happen. To compete, to compete well.
“They’re competitors, world champions, champions of the Spanish league… it’s in their blood.”
Josef memories
Another reunion arrives with Josef Martínez, the star Venezuelan striker and Atlanta United icon who reached his greatest heights under Martino alongside then-attacking partner Miguel Almirón.
Josef’s epic MLS Cup 2018-winning campaign, in which he also took home Landon Donovan MLS MVP and MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi honors, is among the best individual seasons in league history. But injuries and Father Time have reduced the now-30-year-old’s offensive impact, as he’s on just 4g/1a in 16 appearances during his first season with the Herons.
However, Martino is convinced he can get the best out of a player who arrived in Miami during the offseason following a contract buyout with Atlanta.
“We’re talking about one of the best goalscorers the league has. It’s very difficult to do without a player of so much category,” Martino said of Martínez. “The hope is that he can play like he did in Atlanta.”
Moving forward
Hope is certainly high in Miami right now, with Martino’s arrival ushering in the first of several highly-anticipated moments for the club this summer.
“Come late August, we’re gonna have a different look, a different team,” Henderson stated. “This will give the opportunity for Tata and his staff to work work with the players in a new way.”
With Martino onboard, and possibly soon Messi and Busquets as well, plenty of eyeballs will be on Miami games at DRV PNK Stadium and beyond.
“The combination of that, it feels like a new beginning for the club,” said Henderson.
