Lionel Messi to MLS?.. The Saga Starts Part 1 [R]

As I alway told my daughter. " you can't control what the ref's or other players do.....the ONLY thing you have control over is how YOU respond"

 

I always liked the Strikers logo....

 

Oof, Strikers or Stinkers?

 

I liked Palermo's or Juve's Pink jersey's...







But I just can't get into Inter Miami's Pretty In Pink.....

 

The Heron pink is better than their aqua and orange alternate kit. #squishthefish

 

Not too into the pink but I was diggin' Orlando's purple last night. Always like Pareja as a coach also.

 

I liked Orlando City’s, Luis Muriel and he scored a beauty against Miami last night.

From 2019–2024, I followed him closely with Atalanta and score quite many goals with them.

Too bad he is 34 now because I would have like to see him for at least 6-7 MLS seasons.

 

He reminds me of (Brazil's) Ronaldo a little bit in the way he looks - his face a little and the way they carry maybe a little more weight than the average player, and a bit in how he plays.

Orlando may have to become my "third team". It's Quakes all the way, but if I had to pick a 2nd team - Columbus, and then maybe Orlando. Then maybe Montreal because - similar colors to Quakes, and they are just so sad - it's my mercy pick.

 

One of the podcasts I listen to said that Vancouver’s scouting report was that Miami players argue with the ref a lot. So, they did quick kicks and quick restarts. This was also how ORL scored on Saturday when Messi & Co argued about passback to the GK.

 

Like they always used to teach us, you cannot judge intent. So whether or not the player meant to do a passback, usually every GK beyond the age of 14 or so knows not to pick up a ball that came off a teammate’s foot. I was surprised Guido let it go.

 

LOTG requires you to judge intent. You can’t determine if the defender “deliberately” kicked it to the GK without judging intent. It’s not what we think the rule should be, it’s what it is. And “well a 14-year old GK should know” is not a factor in LOTG either.

An indirect free kick is awarded if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, commits any of the following offences:

• controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it
• touches the ball with the hand/arm after releasing it and before it has touched another player
• touches the ball with the hand/arm, unless the goalkeeper has clearly kicked or attempted to kick the ball to release it into play, after:
  • it has been deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team-mate

 

The argument they made on the broadcast, and they seemed to be fairly confident about it, is that it wasn’t clear if he was passing to the non-GK teammate or not but in any case that teammate let it go the the keeper. I’d have to watch it again to see if there’s any credibility to that. Messi’s claim that the ref didn’t know the rule is highly dubious.

 

I’m sure the language barrier gets in the way of many of his “discussions” with the refs. Whatever the ref told him he chose to interpret it as “I don’t know the rule”.

 

I want to make one comment on Jim Madison’s opinion of Joe’s behavior. Joe has a very loud, clear voice. The way he said “walk away” to Messi was exactly the way he teaches us to say it in SJRA meetings. He is not shouting.

And at that point in the post-game, where Messi had already been badgering Joe since failing to get the call he wanted, it would have been unprofessional to suddenly say, oh Leo what’s the problem, can we talk?

Joe did what Joe always does, he just didn’t treat Messi as anyone Special. Is that wrong in the eyes of MLS? The clue will be what assignments he gets next.

I personally feel Joe is the best ref in mls. But in the half that I could see on my phone, I wasn’t sure if that was his finest game.

 

My understanding is that he did give Messi special treatment. The yellow likely would have come out earlier but Messi said something which couldn't be ignored. We may have seen red with someone else. (assuming an earlier red didn't deter the rest of the interaction.)

 

🚨Lionel Messi is now 3rd on the all-time free-kick scorers list. Just 11 more to claim the top spot. 🔥🤩 pic.twitter.com/ncype2CZUS

— Inter Miami News Hub (@Intermiamicfhub) May 25, 2025

Having done a dozen or more of these Miami games in person, I feel entirely comfortable saying that Philly treats Messi with less reverence than any other MLS crowd. Legendary sports fans, obviously, and some of the only who actively boo him at almost all times.

— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) May 24, 2025

 

Which is the way it should be!

Of course everyone admires Messi for his accolades and accomplishments bla bla bla but we all must always root for the home team and against the visitors.

That has been going on since sports were invented.

 

I'm shocked, said no one ever...

 

Lionel Messi set to get new manager as potential replacement lined up for Mascherano at Inter Miami

 

Reads like an AI-generated article. Not placing too much faith in it, though sure, Masch is on the hot seat.