St. Louis City SC head coach Bradley Carnell has claimed he saw something from Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi that he’s never seen before from the Argentine.
The 36-year-old attacker bagged his 14th goal in all competitions last night as the Herons fought back to claim a 3-3 draw at Chase Stadium against St. Louis City, with Messi now set to depart Inter Miami for the Copa America.
Having dropped points in their last two games, Inter Miami’s final fixtures before Messi’s link-up with the Argentina national team could not have gone any worse, with the Florida franchise likely to struggle in their upcoming MLS fixtures without the forward.
Yet Carnell noted something that was quite off about Messi’s game last night for Inter Miami.
St. Louis City says Messi lost the ball ‘so many times’
Speaking to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Carnell made the claim that he had never seen Messi lost the ball as much as he did in the transition as he did last night against the Western Conference giants.
Whilst Messi was on the scoresheet and did cause St. Louis City problems, the former PSG and FC Barcelona star was clearly targeted by last night’s opponents in a specific manner that had a real impact on the flow of the game.
Indeed, the Missouri-based franchise does deserve some credit for how they approached taking on Messi, with MLS sides likely to take note of how St. Louis City managed to limit the Argentine to just a few moments on the ball.
Carnell said: “I’m not too sure I’ve seen a game where Messi lost the ball so many times in transition, and we were coming from the front, the back, the side, which was amazing to watch. That’s a player with the highest pedigree, so we prove we can afford at this stage. I think everyone’s a little bit upset right now.”
MLS teams are starting to find out how to stop Messi and Inter Miami
Whilst Inter Miami have seemingly cracked the code with how to keep Messi fit, MLS teams are now starting to find out how to stop the reigning Ballon d’Or holder and the Herons as a whole.
Whilst Messi was still able to cause damage last night, the forward was clearly pumped up at the end of the match as Inter Miami again were unable to claim all three points after their midweek lost to Atlanta United.
And with Messi now away on Copa America duty, the attacker could return to an MLS where the best sides in the division could now have the tactical knowhow on how to stop him, with St. Louis City setting the example last night.