Player Ratings From Inter Miami's Rainy Empire State Match vs. the Red Bulls

+ Quotes from Tata Martino.

Mar 23, 2024

photo credit: Inter Miami CF

Inter Miami continued their 2024 regular season away at the New York Red Bulls.

In what looked like an unfathomably horrid game to play in, the Herons were unlike their usual selves as they let the opposition have their way with them.

Moments into the match Miami’s defensive base cracked with the backline conceding just three minutes after kick-off.

The game got worse as the clock clicked on with the Herons looking lifeless and quite sad in their rain-soaked pink uniforms.

This result probably would’ve had a different outcome if Miami was able to bring a full-strength squad. The absences of Federico Redondo, Diego Gomez, David Ruiz, and Drake Callendar robbed the team of starting eleven-caliber players as well as the main spine of midfield.

It’s a tough loss and, as you read on, you’ll see Tata quite upset with the result. However, the season is long and losses are a part of the game.

Luckily, Miami will have a week off to reflect and prepare for their next match at home vs. NYCFC.

Here are the Player Ratings from Inter Miami’s game against the Red Bulls.

*I’ll rate every player on a scale of 1 to 10, with 5 being average.*

Goalkeeping, Defense:

🧤 CJ dos Santos - 4: Very poor. He had a few high claims but was pretty much ineffective in goal.
🪽 Robert Taylor - 5.5: Not quite as potent as he normally is. But then again, Miami was playing in a category-five hurricane.
🦌 Tomas Avilés - 3: Had a giveaway that led directly to a goal. His worst game of the season.
🏋️ Serhiy Kryvtsov - 5: Usually at the end of most of my criticism, Kryvstov was the one defender today who didn’t give the ball away in precarious positions.
🐥 Noah Allen - 3: Gotta shake this one off. Looked uncomfortable and physically unmatched.
💨 Jordi Alba - 6.4: Once again, the best defender of the match out of the four listed above. He was active in attack and hustled back in defense when needed.

Midfield:

🥨 Julian Gressel - 6.5: It appeared that Julian was the only midfielder who was able to properly trap the ball, and pass it forward in the first half, despite the rampant thunderstorms whipping around him.
🧮 Sergio Busquets - 6: ‘Meh’ game from the Spaniard.
🦩 Lawson Sunderland - 5: Was pretty much a non-factor when he was on the field.

Attack:

🛎️ Leonardo Campana - 6.7: Was quite crafty when progressing the ball forward, but didn’t get too many looks on goal.
🔫 Luis Suárez - 6: So desperately wanted to get on the scoresheet, but the entire team was out of sorts.

Substitutes:

☀️ Yannick Bright - 5: Rough outing for him! Had a couple of good tackles, but far too many wayward passes.
🦁(#73) Leo Afonso - 7.1: A bright spot in a game that probably wouldn’t have been played had the USSF agreed to postpone it. Looked quick, and lively and combined well with Alba.
⛵ Ryan Sailor - N/A: Didn’t play long enough to warrant a rating.
🏠 (#82) Pep Casas - N/A: Like Sailor, didn’t play long enough, but I want to call attention to his background. Casas is a midfielder who was drafted by Miami in the 2024 SuperDraft. Before that, the Spaniard went to school at UNC- Wilmington where he played in every game in 2023.

Coaching:

🔢 Tata Martino - 6: Honestly, with the USSF refusing to delay the game, Tata was dealt a bad hand. He lined up Miami in a 3-5-2, something that should be familiar to the players by now, but it was individual mistakes from players at the back that were ultimately Miami’s undoing. Did well to get substitutes on early, but there’s only so much to do when the bench only has IMCFII players.

Tata’s Post-Game Quotes:

Tata on the game:

“Well, because we played a ‘sad’ game. There’s nothing much to said. We were dominated from the beginning to the end. It was terrible and it makes us think about our ambitions, and how far we can go.”

Tata on the refs:

“It doesn’t matter if they were good or not, the Red Bulls wanted to compete, we didn’t.”

Tata on the group:

“When a team comes into the game and doesn’t have the desire to win, the other side will inevitably have the [spirit to push to win the game.]”

Tata on inconsistencies:

“We’re just starting. The team has seen changes from game to game. Players get injured and or go away to international duty.”
Says he has to improvise on the right-hand side due to a lack of right-back (which should be fixed soon.)

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below! Let’s discuss it!