Nguyen adjusting to strange period

But midfielder admits rare downtime tough on training

Questions about recent dabbling in TikTok. Breakdowns of a new cappuccino-making hobby. Detailed breakdowns of teammates’ Fortnite skills.

Such is the nature of Inter Miami midfielder Lee Nguyen’s life right now as Major League Soccer progresses — ever slowly — toward a hopeful return from the coronavirus pandemic work stoppage. Nguyen joined the MLS Instagram feed Friday afternoon to share a sliver of his life right now, with Inter Miami holding voluntary individual workouts so far.

But in a league that holds just a sixweek offseason in normal years, this downtime is revealing plenty of unprecedented difficulties.

“It’s wild, right? Its almost like the offseason before preseason,” Nguyen said. “Even so, it’s tough because you’re trying to get fit, get sharp during this time, but you can’t train with anybody. … There’s only so much you can do that’s tailored around yourself.”

Nguyen and his teammates are trying to make the most of those limitations, knocking passes off stationary objects, placing dummy defenders in front of goals and maximizing physical fitness.

“The alternative was running out on the street, on the sidewalk,” he said. “It’s baby steps toward what we’re trying to achieve.”

For an expansion team just two games into its inaugural season, though, the time away since mid-March raises a host of additional challenges.

Nguyen, a 15-year veteran who came to Miami from LAFC in the expansion draft, knows the role culture and chemistry play in success. In 2018, his LAFC team posted the most successful expansion season in league history, finishing the year with 57 points and qualifying for the playoffs. On Friday, Nguyen praised owner David Beckham’s role in trying to forge a “family feel” in Miami, hosting dinners and speaking with players oneon-one.

“Coming to Miami, where they’re trying to build something similar and have

that same success, and to see that happening from the very start is very cool,” he said.

Topics diverged from there — touching on some of his other career stops and personal achievements, comparing Beckham to the Dos Equis man. One viewer even asked: “How do you get so good at soccer?”

But after roughly a halfhour answering questions virtually, some from the MLS Instagram host and some from fans, Nguyen bid adieu to viewers for now.

And for the record, he’s not complaining about 40,000-plus followers on TikTok or shying away from boasting about his Fortnite skills (and trashing those of former teammates).