With three new starters and key players out, point earned
Inter Miami CF (1-1-1, four points) picked up another point on the road this season with their scoreless game against Nashville SC on Sunday at Nissan Stadium despite playing three new starters and missing several key players.
Federico and Gonzalo Higuaín weren’t available on Inter Miami’s gameday roster against Nashville SC after leaving South Florida to be with their family after their mother’s death last week, while Julian Carranza (non-COVID-19 illness) also wasn’t available for Sunday.
Nico Figal was pulled from the lineup less than five minutes before kickoff due to sustaining a hamstring injury during warmups.
Robbie Robinson was limited, and eventually taken out of the game after playing 10 minutes, due to aggravating a hamstring injury he sustained last week — but Inter Miami recorded their first clean sheet of the season behind goalkeeper John McCarthy and stout defensive play for another road decision.
Here are three takeaways from the match:
Gonzalez Pirez and Shawcross shine: In his first start for the team, Ryan Shawcross showcased the qualities Inter Miami highlighted about him when he signed with the club in February.
Shawcross, a 15-year veteran center back, provided Inter Miami’s backline with a calm and steady presence (36 passes on a 91.7 passing percentage). At 6 feet 3, he was disruptive in the air defensively (winning three aerial balls) while also stopping several of Nashville SC’s attempted crosses. Shawcross finished Sunday with a team-high nine clearances and two interceptions en route to being named to the MLS Team of the Week.
The most encouraging part of Shawcross’ performance? Playing the entire match in just his second appearance with Inter Miami after coming on as a sub in the 79th minute of their 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union last weekend. He was limited to eight total appearances with his previ
ous club, Stoke City, over his last two seasons mainly due to injuries.
Not to be overshadowed by Shawcross’ play was Leandro Gonzalez Pirez delivering another solid performance in the back. He made strong tackles, disrupted Nashville SC’s attacking methods (three interceptions) and stopped their shots before they could get to McCarthy (team-high two blocks).
The effectiveness of the Gonzalez Pirez-and-Shawcross centerback pairing will be crucial as the latter continues to get in better game shape and as coach Phil Neville tinkers with using Nico Figal as a right back in certain matchups.
“The relationship with Leandro is brilliant,” Shawcross said.
“He’s a good player, he’s strong, he’s aggressive — that’s what you need from defenders and we got an abundance.”
Morgan’s best game: Lewis Morgan stepped up in the attack with so many absences against Nashville, especially early on.
After having quiet performances — by his own standards — in Inter Miami’s first two games, the Scottish winger was the team’s most threatening offensive player on Sunday.
Morgan made a well-timed run in the fourth minute to receive a cross from Jay Chapman inside Nashville’s box and take Inter Miami’s first shot on goal to force Joe Willis to make his first save of the match, though Morgan not having the best first touch during the sequence prevented him from being as dangerous as he could’ve been with the opportunity.
Three minutes later, he found Chapman inside Nashville’s box with a low cross, with Chapman one-timing it to Nashville’s goal to force Willis to make another save.
Morgan’s three shots (one on target) and 84.2 passing percentage were his best marks so far this season.
“He was our most dangerous player,” Neville said. “He looked super fit in terms of his speed. His game is built on going box to box, making those long, bursting runs of 40-50 yards, and that’s what I saw [Sunday].”
Full backs in the attack: Inter Miami’s fullbacks didn’t provide much to the team’s attack on Sunday — and haven’t for most of the season — with Neville admitting they aren’t getting as high and wide on the field as he’d like.
When Figal moved from center back to right back towards the end of the match against the Union last week, he displayed a glimpse of the attacking ideas Neville wants to showcase — provide width in possession, be a passing outlet and send in crosses when necessary.
Figal provided the assist on Federico Higuaín’s game-winning goal against Philadelphia while also serving Gonzalo Higuaín with a cross that could’ve resulted in a goal. Neville noted that Brek Shea, who replaced Joevin Jones at left back during halftime, got forward “a lot more” once he subbed in. Shea’s contributions to the team’s attack without forcing Inter Miami to make any defensive sacrifices could bode well for him receiving more playing time going forward.
Those attacking moments from the team’s starting fullbacks haven’t come often this season, which Neville attributing it to players working themselves back into shape and learning how to play off their teammates through the early parts of the season.
“Joevin still needs more days training and get up to top speed, but we’re super pleased with him,” said Neville, with Jones being subbed out of all of Inter Miami’s games so far this season. “We spoke to [starting right back] Kelvin [Leerdam] the other day and we spoke about him having an impact in the final third. That’s probably the reason why we signed him — because of his offensive play.
“The difficulty for Kelvin is he’s got Lewis Morgan [in front] of him, who likes to play really high and wide, so it restricts him to maybe getting around him. We like Lewis to be isolated out there. There’s more to come from the fullbacks in the way we want to play.”