Analyzing Inter Miami: Playing to strengths, Federico Higuain makes impact, and more
Three takeaways from Inter Miami's 3-0 midweek win over Toronto FC
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Inter Miami did two things on Wednesday that the team had not done in some time.
It won a game, and did so by deploying more players in their natural positions.
Inter Miami stopped its six-game losing skid on Wednesday night with a historic 3-0 home win over Toronto FC, and a key ingredient in that convincing victory was head coach Phil Neville’s decision to move out of the 5-3-2 formation the team had used as of late and into a 4-2-3-1.
The change in system combined with struggling Toronto FC’s uninspired display led to the best performance Inter Miami has had this season and quite possibly ever. Not only did the Herons post the biggest win in franchise history, but they thrilled along the way with a more attack-minded style of play that better suited players’ strengths.
“I thought it was time to put them in the best positions,” said Neville. “We have been covering the holes a little bit, covering up the cracks, and now it was time to put them in the best positions. You think about (Kelvin Leerdam's) performance tonight, you think about (Lewis Morgan’s) performance tonight, they were back to their probably best. They looked freer.”
That they did, and it helped Inter Miami function better as a team. Leerdam avoided the type of mistakes he made repeatedly in recent weeks when forced out of position and into a centerback role, and he also bombed forward frequently from his natural right back spot vs. Toronto FC. He also finished with a high passing accuracy rate at 91.5 percent.
Morgan, meanwhile, was much more involved in the attacking play in his preferred winger position. The Scotsman has been used as a right wingback in recent months, and that has reduced the amount of offensive actions he has been able to deliver given that he has had more defensive responsibilities than he does when he plays higher up the field and has a fullback in behind covering for him as was the case on Wednesday.
“What you have seen tonight is me playing in a position I have played basically my whole footballing career so naturally I am going to be more comfortable out there,” said Morgan. “What you have seen of me this year at right wingback is the first time I have ever been thrown into that and playing there, so there probably was a little bit of learning on the job.
“Tonight I managed to play in a position where I do feel most free. … In an ideal world that is where I am more comfortable.”
Neville deserves credit for switching out of the five-man defensive line, but he took a bit too long to come to the realization that this change was needed. Inter Miami entered Wednesday on a six-game losing streak in which the team scored just one goal while surrendering 16, and one ingredient in the frustrating slide that severely damaged the team’s playoff hopes was the Englishman’s decision to force square pegs into round holes.
He continued to trot out that aforementioned system time and again despite not having the personnel to play it, and as a result poor reactive performances and defeats piled up at a time when the side needed wins to make up ground in the race for the playoffs.
With this win over Toronto FC, though, the South Florida side has found a different option that gives Inter Miami more of an attacking punch as well as sufficient cover defensively. Expect Neville to go with this look much of the rest of the way, especially since his team’s dire situation calls for goals and wins to have any shot of making the postseason.
Federico Higuain makes big impact in first start since July
Another player who showed really well in the 4-2-3-1 setup on Wednesday night was Federico Higuain, who both scored the winner and generated better attacking sequences as the side’s No. 10 during his 63-minute shift.
Making his first start since July 31, the 36-year-old playmaker was a difference-maker. He authored the decisive goal after just 10 minutes — this after scoring a tidy second-minute goal that was called back for offside — by pressing high and pouncing on an errant pass from Toronto FC goalkeeper Alex Bono before making the finish look easier than it was. Higuain then had had a hand in forcing the own goal in the second half with solid delivery from the left corner kick.
That was not it, though. Higuain helped Inter Miami generate better spells of play, using his understanding of the game to float into pockets of open space to receive the ball and quickly distribute it with one- and two-touch passes. His play linked the entire team together, as it got more players involved with more touches than they might normally get.
What’s more and something that is not a minor detail is that the Argentine’s presence on the field gets more out of star striker and brother Gonzalo Higuain. The younger sibling stayed higher up the field as a true No. 9 more than he has for much of the season when paired with other players, and that in turn allowed the team to function better in the attacking half.
“What we see with Gonzalo when Federico plays I think is his physical stats go higher, and I think that is subconscious,” said Neville. “I think that is the way I (would) fight for my brother next to me. They like playing with each other, they have an understanding of playing with each other, they know where each other are, they know what passes they want from each other.”
It is unlikely that Federico Higuain starts again in each of the last four games of the campaign. He is at an advanced stage in his career and physically might not be able to handle that much of a work load given the short turnarounds Inter Miami will face, but the more juice the team can get out of him the better it will likely be.
“He has got really good experience, his attitude is fantastic, he plays every game as if it is his last,” said Neville. “When I say to them before the game, ‘Go out there and play the game that you fell in love with,’ and he plays it like that. He tries to win every ball, he runs for every tackle, he runs every knockdown. He wants to do a good thing for the team, he is a real team player, and he has got quality.”
Level of the opposition was low
Inter Miami can only play the opponents that are in front of it, and the team took care of business in that regard on Wednesday. Still, perspective is always needed and thus it has to be taken into account that the Herons were facing a poor Toronto FC side that had very little to play for given that the Canadian side is already eliminated from postseason contention.
Of course, Toronto FC did field some good individual talents like Yeferson Soteldo and Alejandro Pozuelo, but the physically-limited outfit struggles to press opponents and gives up swaths of space for foes to exploit. It is no coincidence, after all, that the Reds have conceded a joint league-high 59 goals this year and that Inter Miami won by the biggest margin in franchise history.
What’s more, Inter Miami tallied off a corner kick for the first time this season in the midweek affair and had also previously enjoyed a strong home outing against Toronto FC. In fact, Neville’s side’s best game this season prior to Wednesday was the 3-1 victory vs. Toronto FC back in August, a triumph that marked the first time ever that Inter Miami won a game by more than one goal.
“We knew we were playing against a team that probably was in a worse situation than us that had nothing to play for,” said Neville. “We knew that they were probably going to rotate the players because they have got (rivals CF Montreal) at home on Saturday.”
All that said, there is still merit in how the Herons played and prevailed. Not only were they low on confidence and in a bad way themselves heading into this meeting, but as previously mentioned the South Florida team was leaking goals and scoring almost none. A dominant showing was far from guaranteed, but that and a much-needed win were delivered in the end.