FORT LAUDERDALE.- He Inter Miami is putting together its preseason schedule, one that will likely include between four and six games at the start of next year. The season of MLS It is 34 games. They will also have to dispute the Leagues Cup, the US Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League.
Oh and there are the national team dates for several of their players.
Everything adds up and Lionel Messi —eight-time winner of the Golden Ball and who turns 37 next summer—and many of his teammates Inter Miami They will have to play a large number of games in 2024. Whether Messi and his teammates are available most of the time is part of what the team will have to figure out with planning for next year, the sporting director said on Monday. Chris Henderson.
“I think the challenge for our performance staff is what can we do as a team to support the players and make sure they can give us as many minutes as they can,” Henderson said. “But there will be times when we will have to balance the calendar”.
Injuries were a problem for him Inter at the end of the previous season and Messi — who after arriving from Paris Saint-Germain had a very busy schedule with Leagues Cuphe US Open Cup and league games — ended up suffering from an ailment in his right leg.
After a meeting with Argentina In October, Messi told reporters that “the month of July was very hard for us, we played every three days.”
Concern at Inter Miami:
“We are not machines. We are not robots”he declared in September Sergio Busquetsanother of the stars who joined the Inter Miami mid-season. “We would like to play every game, every minute and not be tired, but it is something we cannot control.”
Henderson said the team will look to take advantage of its roster depth when the schedule gets tough. It is also a good problem for future teams. Dispute the CONCACAF Champions League It will be significant for the club in 2024 after winning the title of the Leagues Cupthe first trophy in its short history.
“I think there are a lot of discussions around the league about how to alleviate some of these international windows and the overcrowded schedule.”Henderson commented. “But I think that with the number of tournaments that the teams will have, in addition to their international obligations, It will be difficult to find a solution. There are not enough days to fix it.”
FOUNTAIN: AP
