Phil Neville: Inter Miami defender Nico Figal is ‘massively impressive, a throwback’
Nico Figal remembers his first phone call with Inter Miami’s new coach Phil Neville.
It was late-January, Neville had just accepted the job with Miami, and Figal was spending his off-season with family in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“He called to see how my training was going, and I was surprised because when I saw he was calling, I figured he would be talking to me in English, and my English is really bad, that is something I’m working on; but it turned out he addressed me in Spanish,” Figal said. “I could understand everything he said. His Spanish was surprisingly good. He runs training in English, but then speaks to me in Spanish after to make sure I understand all his principles and philosophies.”
Figal and Neville both said it is critical that the players and coaches communicate better this season. Neville likes to have “a universal language” at practice, which is English, but he reinforces his messages in Spanish to Hispanic players such as Figal, Rodolfo Pizarro and Christian Makoun.
Determined to improve his English and be a vocal leader on the field, Figal is taking English lessons three days a week.
As Inter Miami prepares to play its first preseason match Saturday against USL opponent Miami FC, Neville said Figal has been among the team’s standouts.
The Argentine defender has been “massively impressive” in this first 10 days of training, Neville said, and he sees Figal as interchangeable between a center back or a right back. The coach said he has been impressed by Figal’s commitment and the way he loves to defend, reminding him of top defenders during his playing days.
“Nowadays, the modern defender tends to like to have the ball at his feet, but Nico is the opposite,” Neville said. “He is a throwback to when I was a defender. Ultimately, you were judged on your defending, on keeping the ball out of the back of the net and clean sheets…Nico has that look in his eye, the look of a really, really strong defender you wouldn’t want to play against if you were a center forward.”
Another player Neville praised was forward Robbie Robinson, last year’s No. 1 draft pick. The former Clemson star started strong, but left camp for personal reasons over the summer, and never regained his form in the latter part of the season.
“Robbie has been outstanding in preseason training, and going into games and friendlies the next few weeks we’ll ask him to push is level up even more,” Neville said. “On Day 1, he came in as quite shy, quite reserved, but now I see a boy who is laughing, joking, in with his teammates. He is regaining his mojo and confidence. When you enjoy training and are scoring goals, that allows you to go out and express yourself.”
He said Robinson has a high ceiling. “We have a big talent on our hands with Robbie,” Neville said. “He can go as far as he possibly can, depending on how much he’s prepared to work for it and want it.”
In other news, Neville said there has been no resolution in the MLS’ investigation into Blaise Matuidi’s contract. Also, new international signees Gregore (Brazil) and Ryan Shawcross (England) are awaiting visas as are two members of his coaching staff from England.
“It is massively frustrating for me, but hopefully, by the end of March we will have everyone here and begin integrating them,” Neville said.
Inter Miami has five preseason games scheduled and opens the regular season at home April 18 against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Figal said the team is energized and eager to put last season in the rearview mirror.
“It’s a new year, a new season and we have a lot of hopes and aspirations because we feel we didn’t reach our objectives last year,” Figal said. “We have a new coach, a lot of players want to earn their spots, so there’s a lot of energy in camp and a very positive attitude.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 4:53 PM.