Analyzing Inter Miami: Motivated Higuain creates, improved attack, and more
Three takeaways from Inter Miami's rollercoaster 3-2 win against the Chicago Fire
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Gonzalo Higuain’s name will not pop out on the box score and he may not have scored a goal, but he just put forth a Man of the Match-type performance to help push Inter Miami to victory.
Thanks in large part to the recent arrival of his immediate family.
Inter Miami finished on the better end of a rollercoaster affair against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, winning by a 3-2 mark at Drv Pnk Stadium thanks to the latest strong showing from Higuain. The star striker helped set up all of the South Florida side’s goals in the victory, contributions that could easily be overlooked given how the game played out but that were key to the team’s success.
“I thought he was sensational,” said Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville. “I have got to say I thought he put in a team performance tonight that probably we have not seen in the past from him.”
While Higuain’s finishing was poor on the night — he failed to put any of his six shots on target — the Designated Player was involved in several if not most of Inter Miami’s best attacks. He created for others as much as they did for him, including on his equalizing assist in the 62nd minute when he fed Robbie Robinson with a quality cutback pass inside the penalty area to make it 2-2.
That may have been Higuain’s most highlight-worthy play in this one, but he also sent the ball to Victor Ulloa that was then hit to Rodolfo Pizarro for the dramatic winner in the 93rd minute. The Argentine attacker also turned well to find Robinson with a nicely-weighted pass in the sequence that led to the rebounded opener from Indiana Vassilev in the 34th minute.
Higuain did a lot of other less notable things from the run of play, too, looking as motivated as he has for Inter Miami. With reason, too.
“I think what people do not understand probably (on the) outside, in sport and football in particular, is that these people are human beings,” said Neville. “Gonzalo has gone eight months without seeing his little baby, he has gone eight months without seeing his girlfriend — the love of his life — and yesterday they arrived in the country and he saw his little baby for the first time.
“I do not care how hard you are or how soft you are, that would give you a lift in life or that would affect you if they are not involved in your everyday life. He said to me before the game that even just having a room in his house that was full of toys, that was messy, that was mucky, was something that inspired him (and) that made him so proud.”
Higuain’s season statistics after his two-assist showing vs. the Fire — MLS officially counts secondary assists as assists, hockey style — now stand at eight goals and four helpers in 17 games. He has played a direct part in two-thirds of the goals Inter Miami has this year, 12 of 18, and that is not including plays that he does not get any numerical credit for like the one on Wednesday that led to the opener.
That is a respectable haul from the oft-criticized attacker, who was named to the MLS Team of the Week on Thursday, and one that might only further improve now that he is getting fitter and happier.
“With his family really settled, his father is here as well, I think he will only get better and better,” said Neville. “At the start of the week, I thought could he play three games in a week, could he get through all three games (and) you think to yourself now, he has to play.
“He has to play because he has that confidence, that momentum, and that bit between his teeth.”
Neville found more attacking success with new looks
Inter Miami did something on Wednesday that it had only done once before this season and twice in the franchise’s short existence: score three goals in a game.
One of the biggest talking points regarding this team this campaign has been its lack of attacking punch, but the game against the Fire showed that Neville may just be finding a way to better balance his team out by giving it a slightly more offensive edge. The English manager started his team in the 5-2-3 formation we have seen in some recent games, but made the defensive system a bit more attack-minded by having Lewis Morgan drop to right wingback and Vassilev ahead as the right winger.
Their presences on the field in addition to that of Higuain and Robinson meant that there were now four natural attacking players on the field to help generate chances — one more than usual — and it gave the team a boost. After all, it is no coincidence that they were the Inter Miami players who last touched the ball in the build-up to the opener (in the first video listed above in this story).
Neville also made a good in-game adjustment just as the match was starting to get away from Inter Miami in the second half. He switched the setup to a 5-2-1-2 (or 3-4-1-2 when in possession) before the hour-mark, with a No. 10 playing behind two strikers. That tactical switch helped reclaim control for his side, which pulled level shortly after the alteration and just before the head coach was about to sub out Robinson.
The strategy also paid dividends late, as it allowed substitute playmaker Rodolfo Pizarro to float a little higher while striker Higuain dropped deep. Their interchanging of positions in that moment allowed for Pizarro to be given just enough space from his mark to finish with aplomb.
Inter Miami was still not all that accurate in front of goal on the night, putting just four of 12 shots on frame. Nonetheless, this was a step in the right direction for Neville and a team that has been hurting for goals.
Defending corner kicks becoming an issue
It has been well documented in this space that Inter Miami has trouble with attacking set pieces, but defensive ones are starting to become a problem as well.
Primarily on corner kicks.
For the third time in four matches, the South Florida side conceded off a corner on Wednesday. Fire centerback Francisco Calvo came up with a quick equalizer in the first half, negating Vassilev’s opener from six minutes earlier by getting into the space between Kieran Gibbs and Nicolas Figal in Inter Miami’s zonal-marking scheme and nodding the ball home at the near post. Sure, goalkeeper Nick Marsman should have done better on his save attempt, but regardless conceding on dead-ball situations has started to become a trend.
The Herons first gave up a goal to Antonio Carlos in the 1-1 draw vs. Orlando City on Aug. 4. They then conceded four days later to C.J. Sapong in the 2-1 win vs. Nashville SC. Now they surrendered this one.
Inter Miami’s defense has made improvements from the run of play, but needs to correct these mistakes on corner kicks to boost its chances of continuing to pick up points in hopes of making a playoff push. The team has not recorded a cleansheet since Week 3 of the season back in early May, but that might change if Inter Miami can soon shore up some things when defending corners.