This is why Finnish winger Robert Taylor moved 5,000 miles to play for Inter Miami
Finland is not the first place Inter Miami fans would think of as a breeding ground for MLS talent, but as part of the offseason roster rebuild, the club was searching for a skilled winger of a certain price range, and data analytics put Robert Taylor on the short list.
The club’s Scandinavian scout got on the case and did more research on Taylor, 27, who was playing for Brann in the Norwegian league. Taylor’s father, Paul, is from England and played in Finland in the 1990s, and the younger Taylor followed in his dad’s footsteps.
He spent his teen years in England with the youth teams of Nottingham Forest, Lincoln City and Barnet. A late bloomer, Taylor said he had trouble handling the physicality of the English leagues, nearly gave up on soccer, but went back to Finland, established himself and eventually make the Finnish national team.
Now, he is eager for a new challenge with Inter Miami and becomes the fourth Finnish player in MLS this season, along with Robin Lod (Minnesota), Alexander Ring (Austin) and Lassi Lappalainen (Montreal). Taylor’s attitude impressed Inter Miami coach Phil Neville from their first phone call.
“We spoke to him on the phone on Zoom, had a really good chat and he’s so hungry, he has something to prove, and I love that,” Neville said. “When we were bidding for him, it was a real hard negotiation with his club. They wanted top dollar for him. He kept pushing, kept calling, messaging, pushing, calling, messaging. I told Chris, `We have got to find a way to get this boy at this club’, so we put our money where our mouth was because of his attitude and hunger to come here and succeed.”
They eventually came to an agreement and paid Brann a $500,000 transfer fee.
“I spent all my professional career in Scandinavia, so when a chance like this comes along to move all the way across the world, I’m very open to it and when the chance came, I was so excited and really wanted to come,” Taylor said. “I wanted to try something new and especially a club like Inter Miami. It’s a massive move for me and I’m really happy to be here.”
He said he was aware of Inter Miami because of its global branding, and he kept tabs on MLS to follow the other Finnish players in the league.
Asked to describe his playing style, Taylor said: “I like to be on the ball a lot. I like to get in positions where I can take people on and try and create scoring opportunities.”
Teammate Ariel Lassiter has already seen those qualities in Taylor.
“He brings a lot of personality on the field, he’s not afraid to go 1-v-1, not afraid to get on the ball even in the middle of the field with one or two guys on him, and I think that’s very important in the system we play,” Lassiter said. “We need players with personality, with character to get on the ball and make things happen.”
Taylor arrived in South Florida last Thursday, trained 20 minutes Friday and came off the bench as a second-half substitute in the season opening 0-0 tie against the Chicago Fire. He played well, but was winded by the end of the game, as he has not had time to acclimate to South Florida weather.
“Mentally, everything is so new to me and I’m so excited to be here,” Taylor said. “I’m really excited to get on the pitch every day and get on with it. Physically, the sun is hot, I can’t lie. It is burning me sometimes. It’s a big difference. In Finland where I just was a few weeks ago it’s snowing.”
Neville said the coaching staff and trainers are being patient with him. They think it will take a few more weeks for him to get to base fitness.
“He’s an outstandingly talented player who is four weeks behind everyone else physically,” Neville said. “Technically he’s phenomenal. He’s going to have to be real patient, and he’s not going to like that because even in the negotiations he didn’t show that quality of patience. We know we’ve got a really good player on our hands who is going to be a fantastic addition to the creative side of our game. The connection he has already with Gonzalo in training is sensational.”
Ulloa, Marsman, Robinson still out
Victor Ulloa (calf), Robbie Robinson (hip), Nick Marsman (knee) and Ryan Sailor (hamstring) are expected to be out another few weeks.
Edison Azcona (quad), Bryce Duke (quad), Kieran Gibbs (hamstring), Damion Lowe (groin) returned to limited training, and are listed as day to day.
“Azcona trained with the MLS Next [reserve] team because the boy is that hungry that he would just go 100 miles an hour the first day, so we just protected him a little bit,” Neville said. “Kieran Gibbs is really keen to get back in asap and with his experience and age, we have a return to play process and you’d think he’d be able to skip a few stages because he knows his body. The 17-year-olds and 20-year-olds don’t necessarily when they’re coming off muscle injuries, so we have to be extra cautious.”