Inter Miami defender Julian Gressel reveals Lionel Messi’s tactical instructions in English and “funny moment”

For much of his career, we barely heard Inter Miami star Lionel Messi speaking to the media. That has changed somewhat as the former Barcelona star has got older and taken on a leadership role, particularly with Argentina. Following his move to Florida, the attacker has conducted several interviews in Spanish and been the feature of an Apple TV+ ‘documentary event,’ and it has now come to light, via Herons defender Julian Gressel, that he has been handing out tactical instructions in English on the field.

Inter Miami’s Gressel launches podcast “about what it’s really like to play with Messi”

Gressel, who joined Inter Miami who Columbus Crew in January, has recently founded his own Player/Manager podcast, in which he appears with Football Manager creator Zealand Shannon. “Player / Manager is podcast about what it’s really like to play with Messi & co. at Inter Miami, MLS and soccer in North America and beyond,” reads the podcast’s bio.

On the second episode, a seemingly star-struck Gressel discussed his initial interactions - or lack thereof - with the Argentina captain during Las Garzas’ preseason tour, which took them to El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan, and revealed he had ultimately been left impressed with his new captain’s communication skills in English, which few have ever heard him speaking (AI not included).

Messi and Gressel’s “funny moment” in English during preseason

“There was a funny moment that we had during this world tour. On the field, where he didn’t really ever speak to me much and, if he did, it was a little bit in Spanish always, which I understand most of it in Spanish. He came over to me and said something in English. That was the first time he’d spoken to me in English.

“During the game, he was covering his mouth like he always does, and goes, ‘Now, we change. You stay and Jordi runs. Jordi goes more in behind’. I was just like, ‘Yes, OK! Sounds good’. Then after, this is the funny part about it, after he goes, ‘English, pretty good, no?’ And I was like, ‘Yes! Very, very good, I understood everything”.

Will we see Messi managing in the Premier League when he hangs up his boots? Maybe, or maybe not, but the 36-year-old has previously spoken of how much he is enjoying life in the United States, which will no doubt be having a positive effect on his linguistic skills, as Gressel has hinted at.