Here is what Tata Martino had to say about being named Inter Miami coach on Wednesday

Inter Miami’s drastic summer makeover continued Wednesday when the club announced the hiring of Gerardo “Tata” Martino as its third head coach.

Martino, the 60-year-old native of Argentina, was a natural choice to get the job as he led Atlanta United to the 2018 MLS Cup title in that club’s second season, has coached in two World Cups with Paraguay and Mexico, reached three Copa America finals and, vitally important, coached Miami-bound Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona and with the Argentine national team.

Martino replaces Phil Neville, who was fired June 1. He will assume coaching responsibilities upon receipt of his work documentation. He takes over a team that is in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-13-0 record just past the midway point of the season, but believes there is time to turn things around.

“I get to this club with a clear understanding of the situation it is in, but there are important players who are injured right now, other important players missing for the Gold Cup, and who knows the other players who are yet to come,” Martino told the Miami Herald on Wednesday. “It is very difficult to say what the team needs when the roster is so depleted, so many absences. To make an analysis with a reduced roster is not only difficult, but unjust. We must wait maybe one month to see what we can do when the roster is complete.”

Messi is expected to make his debut on July 21 at DRV PNK Stadium in the Leagues Cup tournament opener against Mexican club Cruz Azul and would likely play his first MLS regular season game Aug. 20 at home against Charlotte. Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, who also played for Martino, will join Inter Miami in July. One to three other signings are expected, according to sources close to the team.

“I am very optimistic,” Martino said. “Obviously there is a lot of work to do, but it is not just about turning around the league season. There are other tournaments the team is enjoying and well-positioned to contend for, and we are planning for the season to come.”

Inter Miami advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinal and will play at Cincinnati on Aug. 23 for a berth in the final against the winner of Houston Dynamo vs. Real Salt Lake. The winner earns a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Martino said he is eager to get to know his new team and reunite with Messi, whom he coached at Barcelona in 2013-14 and with the Argentine national team for two years.

Messi and Martino are from the same hometown, Rosario, and were there together last weekend participating in a testimonial game for former Argentina player Maxi Rodriguez, who is retiring. Messi scored a first half hat-trick on his 36th birthday in front of 42,000 fans and played in another farewell match for retiring Juan Roman Riquelme.

“Now there will be a few days of vacation and then I will start in my new city, my new club [Inter Miami], I am very excited,” Messi told Argentinian Public Television.

Messi will find a familiar face at the team’s Fort Lauderdale training facility.

“We are not friends, but we have a very good relationship,” Martino said of Messi. “We are both from Rosario and worked together for three years. I am getting a player who, of course, is the best in the world but also, is someone who for 20 years has been accustomed to competing, competing, competing at the highest level. He is going to compete to the maximum with his teammates and change the dynamics of this team.”

Elite players who join MLS from Europe’s top leagues have to adapt to the new style of play, cross-country travel and the change of time zones and climate. Martino is confident Messi and others who come will make the adjustment.

“The reality is that MLS is a very physical league,” Martino said. “These players coming from Europe were competing at the highest level until 15 days ago, so what they need, they’ll be coming off vacation when they get here and will need to regain top fitness to handle what this league requires. It will take a little time.”

Martino also previously coached Venezuelan forward Josef Martinez, who was MLS MVP during the 2018 Atlanta championship season but has struggled thus far in Miami. “Nobody can forget he is one of the great goal scorers in the history of this league, and in those days I found the best version of Josef and that is what he has to find, that best version of himself because if he is, we are in the presence of a very different player,” Martino said.

The coach said he was attracted to Inter Miami because of the vision of co-owners Jorge and Jose Mas and David Beckham, as well as sporting director Chris Henderson and Niki Budalic, the director of soccer operations.

“Without knowing if it will be a happy ending or not, I had to understand what the owners’ objectives are and if that corresponds with my aspirations,” Martino said. “In my talks with Chris and Niki I saw we have a very similar vision of what we have and what we need. And then, personally, me and my family learned to love MLS and this country during my time in Atlanta. It is a league with a lot of parity and with clear rules that do not let one team have a huge advantage. It’s a collection of things that brought me here.”

Martino’s wife, Angelica, is an English teacher. They have one son, Gerardo Andres, two daughters, Maria Celeste and Maria Noelle and two grandsons, Mateo and Bernardo.

“Tata is a highly respected figure in our sport whose track record speaks for itself,” said Beckham. “We are confident that his achievements in the game and experience as a head coach will inspire our team and excite our fans and look forward to seeing the impact he will have on and off the field.”

Jorge Mas added: “Tata has coached at the highest levels and we believe that experience will be hugely beneficial to us as we aim to compete for titles.”

Martino is bringing along a staff that includes his longtime right-hand man Jorge Theiler, fitness coaches Rodolfo Paladini and Jose Manuel Alfaro, and video analyst Damian Silvero. All those assistants worked with Martino at Atlanta United and other stops during his career.

Interim coach Javi Morales, also a native of Argentina, will continue to lead the team until Martino’s paperwork is done and will likely be on the sideline for the Saturday home game against Austin FC and the July 4 home game against the Columbus Crew. Morales will then stay on Martino’s staff as an assistant, per a team source.

“Tata has a proven track record of success in this league and on several other major stages of soccer. He knows what it takes to win in MLS and we’re confident that’s what he’ll bring to Inter Miami,” said Henderson.