Should fans stop worrying about Messi's playing time and just enjoy the show? | OneFootball

Don't call it Messi 'Magic' -- It's obviously mastery

"Messi Magic" struck again Saturday. Lionel Messi scored both goals in Inter Miami's 2-1 win against Nashville SC, snapping the Coyotes' team record 15-match unbeaten streak, extending the Herons' MLS winning streak to five, and breaking his own league record by scoring a brace in his fifth-straight league match. His best such streak was a six-game run for Barcelona in 2012.

But is it magic, really? That seems dismissive of his almost four decades of commitment to being the very best football player possible. Nature gave him physical ability and intelligence. But he added the commitment to train his body, to run drill after drill to convert technical skills -- dribbling, passing, shooting -- into second nature, to study the beautiful game and understand how it works -- and how it could work. He's played in more than 1,000 professional matches, adding practical experience to his overstuffed bag of "tricks." What Messi does on the pitch may appear to be magic; it might better be called "mastery."

I've been rethinking my concerns about Messi's workload. Maybe Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano isn't as naive about the Heron captain's stamina as I've worried.

“Obviously, at some point we will have to give [Messi] a rest; we talk to him every day, he feels good, and whenever we feel it’s the time to give him a break, we will,” Mascherano told reporters after Saturday's match. The first-year coach, just 40, played with Messi, 38, at Barcelona and on the Argentine national team. Whenever reporters ask about Messi's minutes and when he might rest, Mascherano's reply is consistent: Nobody knows Messi's body and what it needs as well as the player himself. And Messi's current run of form?

“As for his performance, there are no words. It is incredible what he keeps doing, breaking records every three days. I have said it a million times, he is the flag bearer of this team, he marks our path, he’s our leader," Mascherano said. "He’s the one who shows his teammates how we have to maintain our form right now and it’s a blessing for me to be alongside him in this stage of his career.”

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has started every Inter Miami match since watching the Herons lose 4-3 to FC Dallas in April and has played every minute in 15 of the 16 MLS matches in which he's appeared in 2025 -- including the last 13 in a row.

But 90 minutes for Messi isn't like 90 minutes for anyone else on the pitch. Some less knowledgeable fans mock his leisurely approach to the game. In a culture that worships effort -- hustle -- Messi's strolling around the pitch, trotting instead of sprinting in transition -- seem almost shameful. Supporters who have watched Messi for years know that "the Flea" really is a shark, studying the opposition, the pitch, the officials, expending precious energy only when he can maximize its return.

Messi is a master, not a magician. I still hope Mascherano finds a way to give him some rest, but I'm not going to worry about it. Like everyone else, I'm enjoying the show.