Martino takes pressure off Inter Miami heading to the CONCACAF Champions Cup

It will be a historic day for Inter Miami this Thursday as they make their debut in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup against Nashville SC. Ahead of the first leg of the round of 16 tie at Geodis Park, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino spoke at a press conference. The Argentine coach emphasised the fact that they do not consider themselves favourites and took the opportunity to give some hints about the condition of Jordi Alba.

Miami not riding on favourites

In a tournament that features other interesting MLS franchises and top-tier teams from Liga MX, Martino was clear about where Inter Miami stands: “We have the same obligations as Philadelphia, Pachuca, América, Tigres, Monterrey, Cincinnati. The only way to become favourites is based on what we can do on the field,” the experienced coach said.

“I don’t recognise favouritism before the ball starts rolling, and none of us, neither the coaching staff nor the group of players, ride on favouritism at the expense of other institutions that have much more experience in this type of competition and squads of equal hierarchy,” he added, highlighting the fact that the Fort Lauderdale team is just making its debut in the tournament.

The club’s head coach then turned his attention to Jordi Alba and Federico Redondo: “Jordi is dealing with a strong bout of flu, and we will evaluate him tomorrow to see if he is fit to play or not. In Federico’s case, he is available. We will also evaluate in these last hours whether we believe it’s a game for him to start or if he should be ready to come on in the second half.”

Yedlin’s departure and the alternatives for Martino

Another interesting situation for Inter Miami is what they will do due to DeAndre Yedlin’s departure to FC Cincinnati: “As always happens in this league, there are footballing issues, budgetary issues. With the extension of the transfer window, one starts playing with a certain team, and at some point, this changes from one day to the next,” Tato stated.

“Our options are purely improvised, as there is no specific right-back in the squad due to Ian Fray’s injury. Whether we use a midfielder or a centre-back playing as a full-back, any decision we make will not be linked to a specific right-back.”

Inter’s options for the right-back position could include Julian Gressel, David Ruiz, or Robert Taylor, but doubts will be cleared once Martino reveals the lineup, as well as the possible tactical setup they will adopt. Another factor comes into play here, as they used the five-back formation a lot during preseason, but the four-back setup is yielding results for them.