Jones, Leerdam expected to make an instant impact with new team
It didn’t take too much for Chris Henderson, Inter Miami CF’s sporting director and chief soccer officer, to convince Joevin Jones to join him in South Florida.
Henderson and Jones previously worked together, with Henderson serving as the Seattle Sounders’ vice president of soccer and sporting director when Seattle acquired Jones from the Chicago Fire — where he started his MLS career in 2015 — in January 2016. Jones and Henderson both stayed with Seattle through the end of last season.
Inter Miami signed one of Jones’ former Sounders teammates, Kelvin Leerdam, two weeks before him. Jones joked throughout the 2020 season that he wanted to play in South Florida.
And as a Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago native, there’s a greater level of comfort being around South Florida’s heat and the local Caribbean culture.
“It’s a big club. The names behind this club are unbelievable,” Jones said of Inter Miami. “You always want to go to a big team and perform — that way you can get more recognized. It’s closer to my country, so I’m happy to be here.”
Since arriving in South Florida from international duty with their respective national teams, both Jones and Leerdam have had mini
mal time on the field with their Inter Miami teammates.
They started practicing with the team in early April, nearly two weeks before Inter Miami’s season opener versus the LA Galaxy this Sunday at DRV PNK Stadium.
Jones and Leerdam have only played in one scrimmage with their new team — an intrasquad match on April 11, meaning Sunday will be the first time they’ll play another squad in a match for Inter Miami.
“It’s never easy to join a new locker room because you have to learn and try to know all the characters of the guys,” Leerdam said. “I’m adjusting really well. It’s going to take a little while. The season is coming very fast at us. For the new guys, it’s always a challenge. We’re trying to fit in.
“There’s always going to be some difficult times in a season, but hopefully those times bring us closer together and reach our goals.”
And it was that relationship with Henderson for both Jones and Leerdam that gave them the confidence they can collectively reach their goals with Miami.
“He knows what I can do. I know what he wants,” Leerdam said of Henderson. “He said ‘let’s try to make a change within the club and raise the bar.’ It’s never an easy thing to do ... everybody needs to put their input in to make everything a little bit better than it was last season. Every little step we take will be a step in the right direction.”
Both Jones and Leerdam are expected to make immediate impacts for Inter Miami this season.
They were on the team that had the projected starters during past Sunday’s scrimmage, with Jones playing as left back and Leerdam as the right back. Inter Miami are hoping both of them will bring in an attacking element to the team as full backs.
Jones was even mentioned as a left-midfielder option when he signed with Inter Miami, which will be key for when Kieran Gibbs arrives over the summer.
“The conversation was open from both positions,” Jones said, “just coming here and helping the team whichever way.”
Leerdam has already shown what he can bring to the team’s attack by scoring a goal with an assist from Gonzalo Higuaín with composure on a well-timed run in last Sunday’s scrimmage.
“What [coach] Phil [Neville] wants from us is be engaged in his way of playing,” Leerdam said. “Play very dominant, be energetic. Try to win the ball when you lose it as quickly as possible. That’s the way I like to play.”
Leerdam added: “We want to have the ball. We want to dominate our opponents. If you have the ball, it’s the best way to defend also. Football is about scoring goals. That’s why I play football and that’s what the coaches tried to bring in. Just go back to why you started: having fun. Everybody wants to score goals, laugh and win, and that’s what we want to do too. It’s easy to say it — to do it is a lot more difficult. The mindset is there.”