Who is Gerardo Martino?
After seeing his handy work a couple of times I decided to look up the new Inter Miami Manager. He might be relatively unknown in my country, but he certainly has a solid reputation in world football. Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino was born in 1962. His birth place was Rosario of the Santa Fe Province in Argentina and he is of Italian descent. Tata became a professional football player and played for his local club Newell's Old Boys. According to Wikipedia, Gerardo holds the record for most appearances and was voted the best player in the club's history! Impressive. Martino played during the 1980's and 1990's, represented his country and retired in 1996.
Tata became a manager in 1998 and had his first taste of international football in 2007 as the manager of Paraguay. In 2012 he managed his hometown club which was the start of what looks like an incredible period for him. In three consecutive seasons he went from leading Newell's Old Boys, to Barcelona, to the nation of Argentina! The Argentina job lasted 2 years until 2016. His next challenge was in the MLS with Atlanta United. After 2 years in the MLS Gerardo became the manager of Mexico from 2019-2022. That's a great deal of domestic and international experience Martino had gathered before he became the Inter Miami manager in 2023.
Accolades
Paraguay Pimera Division - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
South American coach of the year - 2007
Supercopa de España - 2013
MLS Coach of the year - 2018
CONCACAF Gold Cup - 2019
What kind of football does he play?
According to Transfermarkt, Martino's preferred formation is an attacking 4-3-3. Wikipedia tells me he likes the high press and at Barcelona he continued the club's tradition of tiki-taka. Gerardo likes his teams to play out from the back and he is also in favour of youth development. Sounds good right? I'm sure by now you'll be wondering what it looks like. I found some Miami fans talking football on Twitter. One described the previous Miami regime as 'cross and inshallah'. Tata's brand of football will surely be a welcome change. In my opinion the slow tempo is reminiscent of an international football game. The additions of Busquets and Alba to the Miami side can only help with retaining possession and a passing game will be perfect to get the best out of Leo Messi. Perhaps letting the ball do the work and playing a slow tempo will be beneficial to the former Barcelona trio too.
Numbers
It's all good and well playing the ball out from the back, dominating possession and playing a passing game, but does it get results? Well the experienced Argentinian Coach averaged 1.82 points per game as Manager of Atlanta United, 2.22 PPG as manager of Barcelona and 2.21 PPG as manager of Argentina. What I find really interesting is how Tata was the first head coach in Atlanta's history and that he led them to an MLS cup victory within two years of the club being formed. He's literally an MLS legend and knows how to get results too.
Clearly the Inter Miami governors have done their homework and appointed a manager with the perfect expertise to guide their newly formed football club. Another interesting point is that Martino has managed Messi before when they were both at Barcelona. Leo played 66 games under Gerado. In those matches Leo scored 54 goals and achieved 24 goal assists. That's an incredible tally which demonstrates Martino knows how to get the best out of his star player. Tata was obviously crucial in bringing Messi, Busquets and Alba to the club, creating an attractive brand of football and will be central to their plans for youth development. He is a key figure and integral part of Inter Miami's strategy. Tata Martino is a fantastic appointment.
Don't forget if you want to watch Tata Martino's Inter Miami with his captain Leo Messi there's only one place to do it. Click here, get your MLS Season Pass and watch Inter Miami play their next match live on Apple TV.
