Messi’s Inter Miami Looked Old Against Real Salt Lake — And They Are

In the end on Wednesday night, Lionel Messi’s creative genius, combined with his opponents’ lack of composure, was enough to lead Inter Miami to a 2-0 home victory over Real Salt Lake in the first MLS regular season game.

But for long periods of the second half, RSL was dominant in a way that we have never seen a Messi-led team be dominated since his arrival in Miami. Salt Lake advanced its line of confrontation, turning Miami into its own half repeatedly before Messi could get the ball, and at one point had six unanswered goal attempts between the 61st and 82nd minutes. Claret-and- Cobalt outscored the league’s most ball-dominant team in the final 45 minutes.

And they could have made things even more difficult for the Herons with better decision-making, the most egregious example coming on an early second-half breakaway when Andrés Gómez shot himself instead of laying the ball out to the open Cristian Arango inside the penalty. area.

Miami seemed slow. They seemed tired. They looked like what they are: old.

On paper, the Herons still have arguably the most talented roster MLS has ever seen, built around Messi and three of his former teammates from a Barcelona team that was among the greatest clubs in the history of the sport. And they will almost certainly win a lot of games this season simply by staying alive and relentlessly punishing their opponents’ mistakes, as they finally did on Wednesday night.

But while Messi has continued to defy – or at least delay – the wrath of Father Time, winning his eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023 At 36 years old and before leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup trophy, he has always been the exception and not the rule. And he’s just the beginning of the list when it comes to Miami players in the twilight of their careers who may need help from teammates to cover the distance needed to defend competently in a professional football game.

The former Barcelona centre-back is the obvious starting point, with 34-year-old Jordi Alba being the youngest of them. But he is only the starting point. Seven of Miami’s 10 starting outfield players on Wednesday night were over 30, including DeAndre Yedlin and Julian Gressel, two of the players who have been tasked with doing the literal job the Barça Boys can’t. they can.

Jean Mota, one of the first substitutes from the bench, is also 30 years old. Robert Taylor, who has been Miami’s most consistent threat to run behind the backline when Messi has the ball, will turn 30 before the end of the season. And while 30 is by no means definitively past its peak in the modern game, it is an age of increased injury risk, especially if you spend a lot of minutes on the field compensating for work-rate deficits elsewhere.

If coach Tata Martino’s team, which is the undisputed favorite of bettors, reaches the MLS Cup final on December 7, the lineup that played on Wednesday will feature a record eight outfield players aged 30 or older , surpassing the previous MLS Cup record of six by two. .

The average age of the Herons group will be 32 years, 132 days, about a year and a half older than the previous maximum set by the 2013 Real Salt Lake team (30 years, 349 days) that lost to Sporting Kansas City , and one even a little higher than the 2016 Seattle Sounders (30 years, 285 days), the oldest to win the MLS Cup. Seattle wasn’t as old as that average age seems either, with no starters aged 34 or older, and three of the thirty-somethings playing central defense or defensive midfield, the positions that involve the least field coverage.

None of this disqualifies Miami from achieving great things this season. But it is even more confusing that the club chose to start his season with a Jules Verne-style preseason itinerary that spread throughout the world. And it probably means Miami can’t win. all. To win the four trophies the Herons are competing for this season, they would have to play 53 or 54 competitive games. It is not an unmanageable burden for truly elite clubs around the world. But those teams almost always feature difference-makers at the peak of their careers.

Martino is likely to field younger teams as the season progresses, particularly as the Herons balance their early regular season schedule with the Concacaf Champions Cup. At some point, injuries will inevitably force Martino to perform as well, and while much of Miami’s squad is past their physical peak, another sizable chunk is on the bright side. They are simply unproven.

Messi has continued to defy Father Time and is an expert at conserving his movement to have a lot of energy in the most important moments. That’s also his job description. By definition, it cannot also be the job description of more than half of his teammates. If so, the Herons will endure many more second-half attacks like the one they withstood Tuesday, with much less fortunate results.