Game game Inter Miami against New York Red Bulls
New Jersey — Inter Miami coach Phil Neville on the level of New signees Kieran Gibbs, Nick Marsman, Indiana Vassilev hope to add a boost to an Inter Miami team mired in a five-game loosing.
Inter Miami, a team launched last season with promises of attractive free-flowing soccer and an abundance of goals, continues to struggle to find the back of the net.
Heading into Saturday night’s road game against the New York Red Bulls (7 p.m., My33), Miami has scored a league-low nine goals through 11 games and its nine shots per 90 minutes average also ranks last in MLS.
The team sits in 13th place in the 14-team Eastern Conference and is desperate for a win after a five-game losing skid during which it scored just one goal. Miami has been shut out six matches this season.
The solution, says coach Phil Neville, is to get Miami’s best players on the field in their proper positions and commit more men to the box.
He is determined to do both on Saturday night. For the first time in two months, Gonzalo Higuain, Rodolfo Pizarro and Robbie Robinson are fully fit, and Neville said they are all expected to make an impact, along with Lewis Morgan and Brek Shea.
The team has a new weapon who could also add a spark, U.S. youth national Indiana “Indy” Vassilev, a speedy 20-year-old forward who joined last week on loan from English Premier League club Aston Villa.
“We need to get more people in the box,” Neville said. “We need to get Gonzalo in the box more. Need to get Rodolfo in the box more, Robbie Robinson, Brek Shea. They need to commit more to getting in the box to score goals. You’re never going to score goals with three, four men outside the box.”
Neville said he believes in the attacking players he has and is confident they will turn the corner.
“With Rodolfo, Gonzalo, Robbie, Lewis, Indiana, Brek Shea, I think now we’ve got to put them in the best positions to create more chances,” he said. “I think you’ll see Rodolfo and Gonzalo physically better, Robbie physically better, I think we’ll be able to have more explosiveness, more quality. What you’ll see is a full hit.
“No excuses now. We’ve run out of them, and now it’s time to win.”
Another area Inter Miami players have been focusing on is set pieces. Miami has not scored on a corner kick all season and has scored just once on a free kick in Week 2, when Gonzalo Higuain scored off a free kick from his brother, Federico.
Miami has the height to be more dominant in the air on set pieces, and aggressive players such as Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Gregore and Nico Figal can also attack in those situations.
“It’s a big facet of the game, and I said to them we have to start scoring from set plays,” Neville said. “It’s a big weakness in our game. When you think about the goals we scored, if we add three or four set plays on top of that we win more games.”
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— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) July 17, 2021
Inter Miami (2-7-2) faces a tough challenge against the Red Bulls (5-5-2), who have outscored opponents 9-2 in their past five home games. The duo of Fabio and Patryk Klimala are dangerous. Fabio is second in MLS with six assists, and Klima has been involved in five of New York’s last seven goals.
The Red Bulls’ roster is youngest in the league, with an average age of 23, so Miami will have to pick up the pace and energy.
“They have a real brilliant system,” Neville said of the Red Bulls. “They are high intensity young team. The stage is one of my favorite stadiums in the U.S. I have great memories there with the England women’s national team. It’s a brilliant stadium. I can’t wait for the team to get out there and start performing the way an Inter Miami team should perform.”
The game roster Saturday will include two players who arrived recently from Europe Dutch goalkeeper Nick Marsman, who came from Feyenoord, and defender Kieran Gibbs, who played for West Brom after 10 years at Arsenal.
Both have been following Inter Miami from afar and believe the team’s problems are fixable this season.
“In football, it’s about details,” Marsman said. “I think we have a good group from what I’ve seen. It’s not a big thing we’re missing. It’s confidence, a bit of luck in the end game. We have to act like a team, like a group, that’s very important. If we do that the wins will come.”
