Will MLS Teams Adapt Their Defending Against Lionel Messi?
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:02 >> So, from the Sporting News, we have a contributor, his name is Kyle Bond.
00:07 I like him very much.
00:08 He comes on the show every week and I think he was at the game.
00:11 He was at the game last week.
00:12 In fact, he was there.
00:13 He had said that to me, and I wanna ask you this question too.
00:16 He had said that the spacing, and I don't know enough about soccer to know this,
00:20 but the spacing on the flip side of Messi, meaning the defenders, was very weak.
00:25 And that led to some of the scoring and maybe some of the, so
00:29 basically what I'm trying to say in layman's terms, cuz I don't get it and
00:32 you do, is that is this gonna change?
00:34 Are teams gonna play better against Messi where we don't see this madness that
00:38 what we've seen in the first two games, is that gonna change?
00:40 >> I think Atlanta United was a particular opponent for
00:45 that space to unfurl itself.
00:48 Because I do think that life cannot possibly be that simple for
00:52 Lionel Messi because the amount of counterattacking space that he had,
00:56 the ability to create for teammates, was kind of ridiculous.
01:00 And I have to imagine that MLS teams are going to figure out solutions
01:04 to close down his space.
01:05 But also, the thing that will become interesting is, obviously,
01:09 I think in the first game, Cruz Azul, the Mexican opponent,
01:12 actually completely narrowed in on him.
01:15 But it allowed Sergio Busquets behind him to pick out passes for fun.
01:18 And he actually was the one who was creating space for
01:21 Messi by playing very difficult passes that only he can.
01:24 Part of the reason why he's in the team.
01:26 But I think as Miami, who announced another signing, by the way,
01:29 another youth signing today,
01:31 they're up to five players have announced as new in this window.
01:35 As those players start to come through and create threats of their own,
01:38 it's going to be harder and harder to focus in on just Messi.
01:41 And while you would understand why a team would do that because he has been so
01:44 brilliant lately, I do have to imagine that these other players
01:48 are going to come along.
01:49 And if three players go towards Messi, there's going to be space for others.
01:53 But I do think Atlanta had a particularly poor game plan for
01:58 Lionel Messi and frankly made it fairly easy for him.
02:02 I think Cruz Azul kind of created something of a model,
02:04 which it sort of gets lost to history now because he scores that free kick at the
02:08 end, but it was going to be a 40 minute period that Messi played in the game
02:12 without really making a huge impact because Cruz Azul kind of made it so.
02:16 So I kind of wonder if more game feel will be studied from that first game.
02:19 And ultimately, I think MLS teams are going to have to figure out other
02:23 solutions, they're going to have to deviate from their usual game plans to
02:26 adjust to this opponent because it's so unlike anything they've ever played before.
02:29 [MUSIC]