Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No. 10 draft pick, Penn catching up to speed
FORT LAUDERDALE — Josh Penn may have already gained experience as a professional soccer player before Inter Miami CF drafted him a couple of months ago, but he acknowledges there’s still plenty for him to learn in Major League Soccer.
Inter Miami selected Penn, a 20-year-old winger, with the No. 10 pick in the MLS SuperDraft in January.
Penn played a collegiate season with Indiana in 2019, but gained experience on the professional level after signing a United Soccer League academy contract with Indy Eleven in 2019, making five appearances (two starts) for the USL Championship team.
He signed his first professional contract with Indy Eleven last August when the 2020 college soccer season was in peril because of the COVID-19 pandemic — with the contract eventually being mutually terminated after Inter Miami drafted Penn.
“My time in Indy definitely helped to prepare me to come here, but it’s a different level here,” Penn said on Tuesday when asked about the adjustment to MLS. “It’s pretty simple but training hard every day and continuing to get used to the speed of play and physicality. I think I’m doing a good job so far, but obviously, I’m young and there’s a lot to learn. I’m going to keep adjusting and learning from the other guys every day.”
Penn added that Inter Miami coach Phil Neville’s tactical preferences from his wingers fit his playing style, making the adjustment to this level easier for him.
“As a team, we like our wingers to be very involved whether it’s coming inside or combining with our midfielders, or making runs in behind,” Penn said. “He has us being very active, which is already the type of winger I was.”
Inter Miami will play their first closed-door preseason friendly on Saturday against local-club Miami FC of the USL Championship.
Neville said the plan is to get everyone 45 minutes of playing time and tinker with formations as Inter Miami prepare for their season opener versus the LA Galaxy on April 18 at Inter Miami CF Stadium.
“It’s important to play against different players besides in our own group,” Penn said. “It’ll be good for our team to have a real match together and build on that.”
Roster updates: Inter Miami allowed media members to watch a portion of practice for the first time in nearly a year because of the pandemic.
Notable absences from the training session were recent-signees Gregore, Joevin Jones and Ryan Shawcross. The trio remains away from the team, with Gregore and Shawcross still sorting through visa issues after signing with Inter Miami at the end of February. Inter Miami signed Jones last Thursday.
“Hopefully by the end of March, we’ll have all three with us,” Neville said. “Ultimately, I’m still waiting on two staff members from England to get their passports and visas. Because of COVID, everything seems to be taking double the time than what it would normally take, which is massively frustrating for me because it’s two important staff members and three important players. We just have to be patient.”
Neville said he didn’t have an update on Major League Soccer’s investigation of the team’s Blaise Matuidi signing from last August — specifically if the signing complied with the league’s salary budget and roster rules — after saying last week he expected to be “sorted out” over the next 5-7 days.
Matuidi has been practicing with Inter Miami over the past few weeks, with team personnel saying he hasn’t been too bothered by the probe during camp.
“No update on Blaise, so I can’t give you any updates,” Neville said. “We’re waiting for that.”
Fort Lauderdale CF coaching change: Fort Lauderdale CF, Inter Miami’s League One affiliate, announced that Darren Powell has been named the team’s new head coach — replacing Jason Kreis, who’s now an Inter Miami assistant coach. Powell, who was a Fort Lauderdale assistant coach last year, is also the club’s director of player development.
Fort Lauderdale will open the 2021 USL League One season against New England Revolution II on April 10 at Inter Miami CF Stadium, with the match available for streaming on ESPN+.