The Los Angeles Galaxy had two full months to prepare and two decades of film to study. They had a high-profile date with Lionel Messi and, by Sunday night, a masterplan to halt him. They’d try to “condense the field,” as Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. They’d try to “isolate” Messi and Luis Suarez “as much as possible,” defender Maya Yoshida added. And for 91 minutes on Major League Soccer’s opening weekend, they succeeded.
But in Minute 92, their goalkeeper’s scouting report proved prophetic.
“It’s Messi. He’s good, man,” John McCarthy said with an incredulous chuckle.
McCarthy had faced Messi last year with LAFC, so a reporter wondered whether he’d relayed any tips to teammates. McCarthy shook his head, and added: “There’s not much you can say.”
And there wasn’t much he could do when Messi pounced on a minor mistake and drove at Galaxy defenders in stoppage time. There wasn’t much any of them could do to protect a 1-0 lead. Their tired legs scrambled and weary brains spun as Messi and Jordi Alba passed and moved into the penalty area.
“When he and Alba connect like that, it’s ridiculous,” Vanney said. “It’s really, really difficult to defend.” It erased an otherwise excellent Galaxy performance; Messi’s goal earned Miami a 1-1 draw. And it highlighted the Herculean challenge vexing every Messi opponent.
“Unfortunately,” Vanney said, “he just slipped away from us for a split second. And that became the difference.”
Ever since Messi joined Inter Miami, MLS coaches like Vanney have been scheming. They’ve dissected Messi’s movements; analyzed his tendencies; and dreamt up tactics to contain him. They’ve stressed the importance of narrowing gaps and closing space. They’ve armed their players with painstaking detail.
But they’ve realized, almost invariably, that Messi masterplans are often futile.
“It is almost comical how much we think we can control things as a coaching staff, at times,” Houston’s Ben Olsen says.
“You are facing one of the most talented players ever in the world, arguably the best — or maybe not so arguably,” says Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda, whose team lost 4-0 to Messi’s Miami last July. “He’s super talented, so at times, it is really difficult to set a collective strategy on how to stop Messi….