When a head coach has such players like Blaise Matuidi, Gonzalo Higuaín, DeAndre Yedlin and Kieran Gibbs, you would be forgiven for thinking that such players who can boast playing at the top in their respective European leagues would help Inter Miami to at least near the top of the Eastern Conference and the MLS overall.
Special Focus on the Inter Miami Discipline and Identity Issues
And yet, Phil Neville’s team are languishing at the bottom not just in the Eastern Conference, but also in the whole of the MLS after four rounds. The Herons have not won a single match in 2022 but what is also concerning is having the lowest goal difference having scored only two goals and conceding ten goals.
Have a look at the Eastern Conference standings after just 4️⃣ games. pic.twitter.com/f30wfd47tC
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 21, 2022
The discipline on the pitch needs desperate improvement as they have already had 13 yellow cards and 1 red card shown to them in those four games. Only CF Montreal are ahead of them with 14 yellow cards and 1 red card.
So, who is to blame for such poor form in the MLS? Is it Phil Neville? You could argue that his team choice and tactics are responsible for the mess that they are in. What about the players? As I mentioned at the start, you would think that having the likes of aforementioned players would boost the team or could they be there just for the pay-check instead of pulling their weight on the pitch? Could it be both? Who’s to say that there might have been a fall-out between the players and coaches after such worrying results?
Maybe, it could be the management of the soccer club itself? Giving jobs to former Manchester United team-mates has somewhat made me question whether David Beckham used his personal heart rather than his business head in appointing Phil Neville to the role of head coach. Remember, Neville’s only prior head coaching experience in men’s football was when he was sharing duties with Paul Scholes at Salford City (whom Neville co-owns with Beckham, Scholes and other shareholders) for one match. In Neville’s defense, he did make a success out of managing the England women’s team with a win rate of over 54% whilst successfully managing the team to 4th place at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Whatever is happening at Inter Miami needs to be identified as soon as possible. For me, I don’t believe the club has set solid foundations to build on whether it is on the pitch or off it.
There are now only three owners consisting of the Mas brothers and Beckham himself. This is where they need to build the club’s identity as a foundation stone to show the soccer world what they are about and give it a vision of where they want the club to be. Building Miami Freedom Park may be a good start but it’s what you do inside of it that counts.
As for on the pitch, Phil Neville needs to identify who is giving their all on the pitch and disperse of the players only there for the money. If it means getting rid of the legacy players, so be it. At least it should give him an idea of what players he can bring in to build around those giving 100% for the club.
Neville discusses his belief in his players. pic.twitter.com/tRMrvhHGdN
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) March 19, 2022
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