Neville: Mexican midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro to play bigger role with Inter Miami
It remains to be seen how Inter Miami will look in Season 2 under new coach Phil Neville, but one thing seems certain: Rodolfo Pizarro will be expected to play a central role.
The dynamic midfielder, who plays for Mexico’s national team, started strong last year, but his production trailed off toward the end of the season. He finished with four goals and five assists in 19 matches.
Neville was watching on TV from England and arrived at his new job in January with high expectations for Pizarro.
“I saw a lot of games last year, saw the type of player technically he can be, and in terms of the training I’ve seen over the last three weeks, he’s got fantastic quality,” Neville said of Pizarro.
The key, Neville, said, is to put the ball at Pizarro’s feet more, so he can work his magic.
“We’ve got to get Rodolfo the ball and make him almost make him the central point of the team in terms of his quality and the influence he can have on the team,” Neville said. “Ultimately, we have to provide a system, a methodology to make sure he has that platform to go out and perform. Then it’s up to Rodolfo to show the form he shows for Mexico and that we know he can show for Inter Miami.”
Pizarro, 27, played mostly as a central attacking midfielder last season. He occasionally floated to the wings. He was most effective when he had freedom to move with the ball.
“When you talk about Rodolfo Pizarro, I think what you want — forget the position — you want him on the ball because he’s got great technical ability,” Neville said. “He’s got the ability to turn, the ability to see the pass, so I think that’s something that we need to work really hard on, to get our best technical players on the ball and that means we have to give Rodolfo a good platform, a better platform to be successful.”
Neville said he has been encouraged by the team’s attacking players, which include Pizarro, Lewis Morgan, Gonzalo Higuain, Robbie Robinson, Matias Pellegrini, and Julian Carranza
“We’ve got in our forward line some really exciting players who on their day can be match winners and Rodolfo is part of that front line.”
Inter Miami vs Miami FC
Neville and Miami FC coach Paul Dalglish go way back to their days coming up through English soccer, so they made it a point to set up a Mar. 20 preseason game between their teams. Dalglish, son of Scottish legendary player and Liverpool coach Kenny Dalglish, said the relationship between his USL Championship club and Inter Miami has improved since the MLS club hired Neville and sporting director Chris Henderson.
“Phil and I spoke a little before he got the job, we’ve got a lot of mutual friends, so as soon as he got the job we arranged we’d play, and hopefully play their (USL) Ft. Lauderdale side as well,” Dalglish said. “That’s how it should be, local teams helping each other. We’re rivals on the field but partners off it. We’ve got a responsibility to grow the game. Under the previous leadership that wasn’t an option. Since the changes have been made, Inter Miami have been absolutely incredible to us and opened up the doors and we’ll try to work together as often as we can.”
Dalglish said it makes sense for his FIU-based team to cooperate with Fort Lauderdale-based Inter Miami, especially with travel restrictions during the pandemic.
“We have three teams in the area, different leagues, so even with players, if I see an MLS player, I’ll call Phil or Chris straightaway and send them a text,” Dalglish said.
“I’m close friends with Paul Dalglish, so straightaway when I got the job he was on the phone saying, `I want a preseason friendly,’’’ Neville said. “It made sense. We can play them. They’re right around the corner. They’re our neighbors. It will be a competitive game where players will probably play 45 minutes each.”
Sunderland’s Mitch Curry linked to Inter Miami
Mitch Curry, a Sunderland Under-23 forward Mitch Curry, is negotiating a move to Inter Miami. An MLS source said Curry, 21, would start with Inter Miami’s USL team, Fort Lauderdale SC with the potential of moving up in the future. Lewis Morgan previously played for Sunderland before joining Inter Miami.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 3:23 PM.