The Daily Heron: Messi ‘unsure’ about next World Cup; Attacking with Style; more Inter Miami news and notes

Hello, Herons fans, welcome to the The Daily Heron, where time is fluid and publishing schedules are mere suggestions. It’s been a week, but most of what you missed is speculation about Messi’s and Alba’s fitness heading into the most critical stretch of the season. What we know? Scar tissue and muscle fatigue. Caught up? Good. Let’s look at some other La Rosa Negra stories making worldwide news…

Taylor wins Miami’s third-straight Goal of the Matchday

Inter Miami suddenly has an embarrassment of riches on the attack. Robert Taylor won Goal of the Matchday 33 for his drive-and-strike Wednesday against Toronto. Three of the four nominees for the latest award were Herons, with Benjamin Cremaschi and Facundo Farias also making the cut with goals from the 4-0 Inter Miami win. It’s worth noting that the Matchday 32 and 31 winners also wear pink; Campana and Farias won the previous two awards.

It’s important to note none of the three are former Barcelona players in their 30s, which bodes well for Inter Miami’s future. Casey Dunau, a writer at MLSsoccer.com, took notice when he made the Herons’ match Sunday at Orlando City one of his “Big Three” matches of the weekend despite the anticipated absence of Messi and Jordi Alba:

"Inter Miami are one of the most exciting teams in the league even down a star or two, with the likes of Sergio Busquets, Facundo Farías, Benjamin Cremaschi, Robert Taylor and Leonardo Campana all capable of producing spectacular highlights."
Casey Dunau, MLSsoccer.com

I love that Messi, Alba and Busquets are playing at Miami, but I’m much more excited about the job Chris Henderson and Tata Martino are doing bringing in young talent to pair with our promising homegrown players. The future looks bright. Vamos, La Rosa Negra!