The legendary Argentine is putting on a show in the U.S., but it's a familiar one to anyone who has followed his career
There's a clip in the documentary 'See the Ball, Pass the Ball', a film breaking down Barcelona's historic dominance under Pep Guardiola. In it, Thierry Henry reviews a highlight of Lionel Messi, and the legendary striker is left somewhat dumbfounded. After breaking down all of the seemingly perfect moments that led to this particular sequence, Henry is left with one conclusion: "That's not normal."
There's room to analyze the brilliance of Messi, even if few are willing to do so rationally. Instead, the Messi discourse is always divided into extremes. That phenomenon hasn't changed since Messi's move to MLS, either; in fact, it's only intensified. Everything he does is some type of referendum. No game is just a game; it's also a statement on the bigger picture.
In recent weeks, the narratives have gone into overdrive. Messi has been utterly dominant for Inter Miami, putting up record numbers and setting a pace the league has never witnessed before. And, as a result, the discussions have been fired up: is Messi exposing MLS?
The answer, of course, is somewhere in the middle. Even the league's most passionate supporters must admit that MLS isn't up to the levels of Europe, particularly defensively. There's still a long way to go until that happens. But, on the other end, this is all just a case of Messi being Messi. And, as Henry said, the Inter Miami star isn't normal.
This is nothing new for him. Messi isn't exposing MLS; rather MLS is being exposed to Messi, an otherworldly talent unlike any we've ever seen.
Watch Inter Miami with the MLS Season PassStream nowGettyOut of this world
Messi's most recent performance was legitimately out of this world. Six goal contributions all within 45 minutes? It was unfathomable.
The Argentine smashed a pair of single-game records in Inter Miami's 6-2 beating of the New York Red Bulls, helping his side overturn a 1-0 halftime deficit with an out-of-nowhere second-half explosion. For the first 45 minutes, the Red Bulls had Messi corralled, but after the break, there wasn't a damn thing they could do to stop him.
His first assist was simple enough, and goal-scorer Matias Rojas did all the work, to his credit. From there, though, it was an avalanche that the Red Bulls couldn't stop. Rojas was set up again, netting a brace in just his second Inter Miami appearance. Luis Suarez got three goals of his own, all assisted by Messi. And then there was the man himself, Messi, who snuck a goal in there among all the assists.
This was a history-making performance, but it wasn't anything unusual. When healthy, Messi has been producing all season long.
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The numbers don't seem real. Ten goals and 12 assists in under 700 minutes: how is that possible? Well, this is Messi we're talking about. He does these sorts of things.
As a result, the Argentine has several MLS records in his sights, despite missing a month of the season due to injury. Carlos Vela's MLS single-season goal record of 34 seems doable. So too does Carlos Valderrama's record of 26 assists set during the early years of MLS. With so many games remaining, Messi's 2024 season is on pace to be historic.
If Messi does hit one or both of those records, what will that mean for the league? How will people view the achievement? In what context will people digest a potentially historic Messi season?
If social media tells us anything, the discussion could get somewhat heated…
Getty ImagesExposing MLS?
So, does Messi's dominance say more about the state of MLS or the man himself? Both sides have merit, of course. MLS is, quite obviously, not equal to the top levels of European soccer. Elite teams across the pond have more history, bigger budgets and, most importantly, better players. MLS, by comparison, is still in its relative infancy, and still has so much catching up to do.
For many, Messi's early-season explosion is less about him and more about those in his way. MLS, as a league, isn't up to his level. He's averaging three goal contributions per start, for goodness sake. What Messi is doing is dominance personified.
“It is clear he is the story," tweeted ex-USMNT star Alexi Lalas. "On the other hand, he is letting to world know how poor quality our league is. The league should also pay high quality players for teams to compete against him.”
Even so, is it really that unexpected? We all knew that the biggest challenges Messi would face would be unique to MLS: the travel, the physicality, the turf, etc. On the field, it's not some hot take to say that Messi would be in a different stratosphere than every other player in MLS .
That's been the case wherever Messi has been, though. His run in MLS isn't the first time he's lit up all in his path.
Familiar sight
Messi has never had a better running mate than Suarez. If Messi was created in a lab to dominate this sport, Suarez was created right next to him to ensure it would be just a little bit easier. The Uruguayan is the ultimate sidekick, the player best positioned to take advantage and elevate Messi's brilliance.
As a result, Suarez has had a front-row seat for some of Messi's brightest moments, and its one he now has in Miami. As such, Suarez is perhaps the best person in the world to remind everyone that what Messi is doing in MLS isn't unique; he's been doing things like this all along.
“What we saw is surprising because it hasn’t been seen before in our sport," Suarez said, "but as a teammate and knowing Leo, nothing surprises me because that’s the quality player he is."
Suarez's point was echoed by Inter Miami coach Tata Martino, who has also had a very good view of some of Messi's top moments, given this is Martino's third time coaching the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner. In Martino's eyes, Messi frequently does things that the world has never seen, but he does them so frequently that it has become expected.
"Messi had exceptional games in Barcelona, during my time with him," Martino recalled. "But I also remember a semifinal with Paraguay in the Copa America in Chile, where he didn't score a goal and he was still the best player on the field. In Barcelona, he had a game against Valencia where we were losing 2-0 and then won 3-2 with three goals from him. And there was another against Sevilla where we were losing 1-0 and then he scored three goals and we won 4-1.
"I always say this, and it's redundant at this point, but he always does something new. To have involvement in all six goals of a team's 6-2 is something that will be difficult to see again."