Inter Miami hits midpoint of season knowing there is much room for improvement
Inter Miami’s franchise-record unbeaten run is no more, and with that went an opportunity to continue to climb up the standings toward a playoff spot.
A two-goal first half from New York City FC sunk Inter Miami to its first defeat in five games with a 2-0 loss at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Inter Miami entered the match with a chance to move into 10th place in the Eastern Conference, but a pair of goals from NYCFC striker Valentin Castellanos left 12th-place Inter Miami eight points shy of a postseason berth with a 4-9-4 record at the halfway point of the MLS season.
“I do not think this is anywhere near where we wanted to be,” Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville said. “Even though the last two or three weeks have provided a little bit of positivity and good feeling, we are nowhere near where we want to be. We are nowhere near the level of consistency we need to be.
“The players know that, I know that, and the whole club knows that.”
While Inter Miami knows it has to be better across the board in order to reach the playoffs, the offense needs special attention. The team is averaging less than a goal a game (15 in 17 games).
That output is worst in the Eastern Conference and second worst in all of MLS — ahead of only expansion team Austin FC — and those struggles in the final third were back on display vs. NYCFC. Inter Miami started the match against the east’s third-place team dictating the tempo, but an inability to score allowed NYCFC to take the lead via a Castellanos header in the 20th minute.
Castellanos scored again before halftime on a penalty kick while Inter Miami sputtered the rest of the way en route to its eighth scoreless game of 2021.
“The final third is the most difficult in soccer,” said centerback Leandro Gonzalez Pirez in Spanish. “Unfortunately, it is very subtle details that determine if you have a chance and score a goal or not. We have to work on that, keep on insisting in practice, continue working on our finishing, and continue working on our way that we think is best to create scoring opportunities.
“We have to strengthen that. We have to keep believing in what we are doing. I think sooner or later we will find consistency in front of the opposition’s goal. I think we have been having chances as of late, but we have been missing too much.”
The defensive side also needs work, though.
For as well as Inter Miami played Saturday night, the team conceded the two goals surrendered were due to lapses in concentration that have happened far too many times this season. Their 28 goals given up are fourth worst in the Eastern Conference.
“We need to be ready on the details,” said Gonzalez Pirez in English of the defensive issues.
The good news for Inter Miami is that there is still half a season to go. Seventeen matches still remain on the schedule, including two at home in the next week.
Inter Miami is 2-5-2 at home, but both victories have come in the past couple of weeks.
“We are taking baby steps, and we are now approaching the moments in the season where we have got to put our foot down on the gas,” Neville said. “It is there for us if we want it. It is not as if we are in a position where it is impossible.
“It is there for us if we really, really want it. We really need to put the hard yards in. If we do, we will be successful. If we do not, then we will continue to be inconsistent and will continue to suffer like we have in the first half of the season.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 12:18 AM.