Former USA international Herculez Gomez has fired shots at Inter Miami and MLS as a whole over their latest treatment of Lionel Messi.
The 37-year-old attacker is currently out injured after twisting his ankle in the Copa America final, with Messi appearing at Chase Stadium on the weekend wearing a protective boot, as Inter Miami announced that the Argentine will not compete in this week’s MLS All-Star event.
With Messi unlikely to feature for Inter Miami during Leagues Cup, the Herons will be without their star player for even longer, having last played a competitive match for the Florida franchise at the start of June.
And former US star Gomez is now fuming with how Inter Miami and MLS are treating Messi.
Gomez frustrated over lack of information from Inter Miami and MLS on Messi’s injury
Speaking on Futbol Americas, the ESPN pundit voiced his frustration over the special treatment Messi has been receiving surrounding his latest injury, with Inter Miami or MLS yet to give any real indication on when the attacker will be back.
The Herons and the league were guilty of doing something similar last year when Messi first joined Inter Miami, and Gomez has let his opinion known on the matter, one that many fans and pundits will also agree with.
Gomez said on the lack of information on Messi’s injury: “It is complete horsecr*p that they won’t give you an outline on what’s exactly going on and how long it will be. Other teams have to give you that. Inter Miami staying tight-lipped and not saying anything, that to me is embarrassing for MLS.
“We’ve always heard things and seen things from MLS from the beginning, the LA Galaxy got away with these things, LAFC got away with those things, Toronto here, Seattle there, but when it comes to Inter Miami, you’ve not only proven to get away with it, you look the other away, you publicly look the other way.”
Fans and pundits should feel annoyed by lack of Messi updates
Messi is the biggest soccer player on the planet, with every sports journalist on the planet hanging onto every update and rumor that surrounds the Inter Miami superstar, yet such a culture comes at a big cost.
For Inter Miami and MLS, it means they must feel secretive over mundane things that would not apply to any other player, such as when Messi will be back fit and how is the forward’s recovery from injury going.
Indeed, such things should not be kept under lock and key or announced at the last possible second, with Messi a player that everyone wants to keep updated on and wants to know when he will next be out on the pitch.