Tata Martino: “It’s the third game in a week and fatigue is starting to hit us”

After being held to a 0-0 draw away at Orlando City on Wednesday, Inter Miami are back in action this weekend as DC United pay their annual visit to Fort Lauderdale. The visitors are mid-table in eighth and on paper seemingly an accessible rival, however, the Herons will be seeking to avoid any excess of confidence as it’s a game they must win to remain top of the Eastern standings.

On Friday, Miami coach Gerardo Martino spoke about what he expects from the game, and from a rival who, despite a few ups and downs, are a dangerous opponent - especially considering the accumulated fatigue that he is beginning to affect the Inter Miami squad after playing three games in a period of seven days.

Three games in one week for Martino’s Inter Miami

“After we played them in DC, they descended into an erratic period regarding results and performance and have even modified their tactical setup, but all MLS teams represent a different degree of complexity and we must be very attentive,” the coach told reporters in Friday’s press conference. “Especially because it is the third game in a week, fatigue and travel begin to play a role and we will have to be attentive not only to the opponent, but also to our own physical fitness”.

Regarding some of the threats that his team could come up against on Saturday, Martino singled out DC’s forward Christian Benteke, whom he considered their key player. Inter Miami will need to keep their eyes on the former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker - or better still, make sure he sees as little of the ball as possible.

“There is an area where Benteke is very strong, which is inside the area. The second issue is to mark him closely inside the area but the first is to avoid everything that comes his way - he usually gets service from the wings,sometimes through the centre, He doesn’t just score scores goals, he uses his head to lay the ball off to his team mates inside the area... so it is best to make sure he doesn’t get much time on the ball,” Martino said of Benteke.

New call from Tata Martino to the League

Martino was also quizzed about a topic that he has constantly expressed his disagreement with, the MLS fixtures calendar and how is team is always affected by the international breaks - an area which he feels could be improved.

The Argentine reiterated that in an ideal world, the MLS should be put on hold during FIFA breaks. Inter Miami are one of the most affected by the FIFA windows breaks due to the high number of internationals in Martino’s squad. During the last international break, he was without six players.

Martino feels that squads need to be evenly-balanced in order to compete - while Inter Miami has the most expensive payroll in the league and with the largest budget, it is largely due to the stars players on its roster. So when the FIFA window comes around, he is left with a depleted squad and that is his major concern and source of his complaints to the league.

“Fundamentally, regarding the FIFA window. The competition should stops like it does in the rest of the world. If not, what will happen is that teams will tend to sign lower quality players - ones that won’t be taken when the international break comes around. And as for the roster, expanding the rules a little is to have a more even roster.

“It is true that Inter Miami has, from what I read this week, the largest budget, but what you have to see is how many footballers are decisive in reaching that number. Maybe you will reach that number with three players and with three players you cannot compete. So the issue is how do we make the rosters more complete and when you go out to play the Concachampions or the Leagues Cup, with Mexican teams also competing, our replacements are the closest to what the teams in other leagues have,” he concluded.