Player Ratings From Inter Miami's Humid Clash Against Al-Hilal
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The march to opening day continues for Inter Miami.
Donned in the new pink 2getherness kit, the Herons touched down in Saudi Arabia to continue their pre-season preparations.
Based on photos posted on the club’s social media, the players looked relaxed, despite the off-field hubbub surrounding the “final” edition of “The Last Dance.”
Though Miami will take on Al-Nassr in a few short days, I know many fans and folks who cover the team don’t see it as a special occasion, but rather just another pre-season match to get fit.
Before we dive head-first into that craziness, let’s take a look at Miami’s match-up against Al-Hilal.
*I’ll be rating every player on a scale of 1 to 10, with 5 being average. And I'm basing this on mainly the first 45 minutes. For the substitutes, I’ll judge accordingly.
Player Ratings:
Goalkeeping, Defense:
🧤 Drake Callendar - 5.6: Probably should’ve done better with a couple of shots.
🏎️ DeAndre Yedlin - 6: Just a ‘meh’ game from the US international. Nothing too crazy.
🦌 Tomas Avilés - 5.5: Lost his marker at the end that made the game 4-3. Needs to tighten up in the back.
🏋️ Serhiy Kryvtsov - 3: Arguably the slowest out of the back three, Kryvtsov is not a starter on this team and showed it once again.
🐥 Noah Allen - 6.5: Was hustling all day, and got visibly tired at the end. If he made a mistake, he almost always track-backed to fix it.
💨 Jordi Alba - 7: Another solid game from the ex-Barca man. Was offside a few times, but that goal will come.
Midfield:
🥨 Julian Gressel - 6.3: Still needs to get his legs under him. Looked gassed by the end. Still think he’d be better as a wing-back. But he played better than the first two friendlies.
🧮 Sergio Busquets - 6.8: No complaints here. Did his thing, but will need to watch out during defensive transitions when he pushes up the field.
💈 David Ruiz - 8: MOTM performance alongside Messi. With Farias out and Cremaschi recovering, he’ll be relied on in that midfield.
Attack:
🐐 Lionel Messi: 8.5: Alongside Ruiz, one of the best players on the field. Got a goal and an assist. Looks solid and fit. Made a few runs that should encourage Inter Miami fans as the season inches closer.
🔫 Luis Suárez - 7: Oh man, the guy is 37 with knee issues, but he chased down almost everything. Got his first goal in an Inter Miami kit and showed tons of promise offensively with his link-up with Messi.
Substitutes:
🦒 Chris McVey - 5: Had a couple of nifty touches, and will probably get more playing time next match.
🛎️ Leonardo Campana - 5.5: Could’ve impacted the game, didn’t.
🐺 Gregore - 5: Like the other substitutes, had decent touches, but just couldn’t get anything forward.
🪽 Robert Taylor - N/A: Didn’t play enough for a rating.
A quick note… on Miami’s defensive situation
I disagreed with pundits who claimed that this Miami roster has no visible weaknesses.
It does, mainly on the back line.
For starters, most of my gripe lies with Kryvtsov’s playing style.
While he can be reliable in a low block, the high line that Miami implements doesn't suit his attributes.
It’s no shock that the Ukrainian was initially brought to the club by ex-manager Phil Neville, who seems to prefer slower, methodical center-backs rather than ones who can cover ground (Allen, Aviles, etc.)
Miami’s main goal before the season starts is bringing in an athletic defender who can command a back three.
Because right now? Kryvtsov isn’t cutting it.
Hopefully, tonight’s showing against Al-Hilal kick-starts Miami’s front office into action.
On the bright side, at least they scored three goals!
Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below! Let’s discuss it!
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Miami Needs another excellent defender. I get we haven't seen Freire play yet, but I doubt he can plug all the holes and spaces in the back, especially if they will be playing with 3 central defenders, and that's before we start considering rotation, resting players, or even injuries. Hopefully, Krystof isn't out for too long. Not sure if there is any news on that front. Also, Aviles got lucky with that no penalty call, he needs to rein in his aggression. At this point I would rather they invest everything in a defender instead of going for someone like Cristian Medina as a replacement for Farias. Messi and Suarez will score a lot of goals regardless of who they are playing but our backline needs to be addressed before CCC.