ESPN pundit Herculez Gomez has taken aim at Lionel Messi over the Inter Miami star’s performance against Sporting Kansas City despite showing ‘prime Barcelona form’.
The Argentine international was back to his best on Saturday with a sensational MLS display in Missouri, with Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes even left amazed by what he saw from Messi on the night.
A goal and an assist saw Inter Miami claim a massive 3-2 win on the road in front of a 70,000 strong crowd, with the result taking the Herons back to the top of the MLS standings and back in the driving seat for the Supporters Shield.
However, Messi’s performance left one burning question on the mind of Gomez.
Messi slammed for showing up ‘three days too late’ for Inter Miami after Monterrey loss
Speaking on ESPN’s Futbol Americas, pundit Gomez was critical over how Messi turned up against Sporting Kansas City just three days after putting in a poor performance for Inter Miami against CF Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Gomez said when asked about Messi’s performance against Sporting Kansas City: “It’s three days too late. We see Messi and friends play in MLS and they look like the Harlem Globetrotters. Guess what the opposition looks like then? The Washington Generals.
“You go from playing against Rayados [Monterrey] who in CONCACAF is star-studded in their house where the fans were hostile, and I thought we were going to see the angry Messi and for him to show up, but he sure did in this game [vs Sporting Kansas City].
“We got prime Barcelona Messi, but my initial reaction? Three days too late.”
Messi criticism over Sporting Kansas City performance is just plain strange
An argument can be made that Messi didn’t turn up against Monterrey, yet for those who watched the game, it’s clear that the Argentine wasn’t involved simply due to the overwhelming differences in quality between the two sides.
Inter Miami did as well as they could in a hostile environment, with Messi being marked out of the game expertly by Monterrey and given little space to cause damage if given the chance.
Which is why criticism over Messi’s performance against Sporting Kansas City is just plain strange, with the Inter Miami star showing what he can do when gifted space and time against a side who respected him too much in MLS.