Player Ratings From Inter Miami's Opening Night Match vs. Real Salt Lake
+ Messi's antics
photo credit: Inter Miami CF
Inter Miami kicked off its highly anticipated 2024 season at home against Real Salt Lake.
It was a cold night at the newly named Chase Stadium, with La Familia cheering in full support.
The Herons wanted to start the year on the right foot, setting the tone for the rest of the league
They did that and then some.
The first 45 minutes were all Miami, high pressing, and maintaining 60% of the possession against RSL.
The men in pink dominated, and Salt Lake looked out of ideas. Defensively, Miami looked solid and rarely gave up an opposition attacking opportunity.
Unfortunately, that all collapsed in the second half when RSL was able to get a foothold in the match and pushed forward. Miami was fortunate not to concede. Something that Tata Martino will undoubtedly look to correct during practice this week:
All in all, it was a step in a positive direction for Miami and something that they’ll build on in the coming weeks.
Here are the player ratings from Inter Miami’s chilly opening night match against Real Salt Lake.
*I’ll rate every player on a scale of 1 to 10, with 5 being average.*
Goalkeeping, Defense:
🧤 Drake Callender - 6.5: Had a solid game, and made some great saves to keep Miami in it.
🏎️ DeAndre Yedlin - 7.3: Used his recovery pace well. Contributed in both attack and defense.
🦌 Tomas Avilés - 8: Phenomenal performance from the youngster. Shame about the injury. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.
🏋️ Serhiy Kryvtsov - 9: I’ve been hard on him, but other than a few shaky moments in the beginning, he was one of the best players on the pitch.
💨 Jordi Alba - 8: Did typical Alba things. Was incredible on the left flank. Combined well with Robbie Taylor.
Midfield:
🥨 Julian Gressel - 7.3: Looked better than he did during pre-season. Was surprisingly a good double pivot with Busquets. His work rate was sound.
🧮 Sergio Busquets - 7.1: Misplaced some passes that led to RSL attacks, but was the metronome Miami needs.
✌️ Diego Gomez - 8.5: People were quite harsh on him, but he’s always had that quality within him. Against RSL, he showed that.
Attack:
🐐 Lionel Messi - 9.5: MOTM performance from the Argentine. Dictated the tempo well, and was involved in both of Miami’s goals.
🔫 Luis Suárez - 6.8: I know folks will get on him for looking slow on the field, but he had a hand in Miami’s second goal and nearly scored one himself. Also nearly went a full 90 minutes. Solid stuff from the 37-year-old.
🪽 Robert Taylor - 9: Alongside Gomez and Messi, was one of the best players on the field. The starter on the left-hand side for the Herons.
Substitutes:
🐥 Noah Allen - 6: Was serviceable when Avilés went off injured.
💈 David Ruiz - 6.5: Did well when Busquets came off. Progressed the ball well and helped Miami seal out the win.
👖 Jean Mota - 6: Had a couple of good forward passes that helped keep Miami on the front foot.
🦩 Lawson Sunderland - 6.5: That pass to Messi that almost led to the third goal was a sight to see.
🛎️ Leonardo Campana - 6.4: Stretched RSL’s back line well when he came on. Would like to see him get more minutes.
A quick note on… Lionel Messi
This man isn’t real. 😹😹😹😹
Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below! Let’s discuss it!
This is just what they needed. What a win. Excellent analysis as always.
I mostly agree with the ratings except for Callendar who got the lowest from the starters. Its true that he didn't do much, but he also didn't have to do anything, and he did not make any mistakes. Might be a bit harsh to be penalized for not facing danger LoL.
Also, Why do you think that Aviles is injured? Unless its something that I have not seen, I only saw that Tata said he took him out because he was tired and didn't want to take a risk. I hope he and Busi are fine.