Martino, the Inter Miami boss, expressed concern over his team’s goal drought.
Coach of Inter Miami, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, expressed his anxiety on Wednesday about his team’s goalless record as the 2024 Major League Soccer season draws near.
Despite starting ahead of defence alongside former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in both games, new acquisition Luis Suárez lost 1-0 at FC Dallas while Martino’s team drew 0-0 with El Salvador.
On February 21, the MLS team’s season opener at DRV PNK stadium will take place against Real Salt Lake.
“Scoring goals is the main area of concern,” stated Martino. “But we are looking for team strength that little by little I think we are going to achieve.”
As part of their Asia trip, Martino’s team is scheduled to play Al Hilal on January 29 and Al Nassr on February 1. He stated that his group must “speed up” the process and make improvements.
“It is always better to win if you can, but it is not the priority,” he declared. “On this tour, we know exactly what we need to look for. We’re trying to find some fine tuning. Beyond the outcome, there exist alternative goals.
When we got there in June of last year, the crew was seated in an awkward spot at the table. We could have easily won our first prize, the Leagues Cup triumph, but we never lost up on the goal of improving the squad
“We still need to speed up a little more to truly be competitive.”
Martino claimed that the team has been upset by the injury of Argentina international Facundo Farías. Farías is projected to miss the 2024 season after tearing his left ACL in the goalless draw against El Salvador on January 20.
“Facu’s injury has moved us all and makes us have a slightly strange taste from the two games we played,” Martino said. “But if we think about it from an organizational standpoint and in what we have planned, we are on the right track.”
Argentine center defender Nicolas Freira, who signed a season-long loan from Mexican team Pumas UNAM on Tuesday, is part of Inter Miami’s traveling team for their Asian trip.