Inter Miami CF: What to know about Phil Neville’s squad for the start of the 2023 MLS season

The MLS 2023 season kicks off on Saturday 25 February with Nashville vs New York City FC and the day after we have a full fixture list to chow down on. Inter Miami CF take on CF Montréal in their first game of the year in what promises to be a tough opening test for Phil Neville and his team.

In 2022, the side finished 6th in the table with 14 wins, 14 losses and 6 draws. They scored 47 goals - the worst in the top 6 - and conceded 57 - the third worst in the entire league. Clearly there is room for improvement for Neville, but just what should we expect from Inter Miami this season in MLS?

A big goalscoring loss for Inter Miami

Gonzalo Higuaín left Inter Miami at the end of the 2022 season, and will be a huge loss at the top of the pitch, as his experience and talent allowed him to score 16 times during the campaign. Given that Phil Neville’s side were not prolific in front of goal, finding the back of the net will be something that is top of his list of priorities for the season ahead.

Luckily, he read my mind before I wrote this, and Inter Miami have indeed looked to address the gap up front. They have signed Josef Martínez from Atlanta United FC, who scored 9 goals last season. The striker has both Serie A and Europa League experience, as well as having scored over 100 goals in MLS. He is a certain fixture in the national side, spearheading the Venezuela attack and can also occupy the left wing. The club signed “the one-time MVP, MLS Cup champion, MLS golden boot winner, U.S. Open Cup winner, and Campeones Cup champion” for 6 seasons.

Nicolás Stefanelli is another striker that Inter Miami have brought into the team, from AIK in Sweden. He scored 40 goals in 114 games for the club and will be looking to make his mark on MLS. Jean Corentin is a French youth international from Lens who was also signed as a striking option for Phil Neville, who wants to have as many cards in his hand as possible given the huge exit of one of his star players.

Young talent emerging through the ranks

South Florida native Shanyder Borgelin was promoted from the youth team and signed as a homegrown talent to add the the jam-packed front line. On his arrival to the first team he said: “It’ll be my second year at the Club and I’m excited for it. I want to thank the Club for having me and the fans for their support.

“When I first heard that I was getting promoted to the First Team it was a surreal moment for me and my family. My agents called me and told me everything was worked out. Right then and there I kind of just broke down and cried because since I was a kid I wanted to be in this position and be able to play at the highest level.”

Defending reinforcements

DeAndre Yedlin and Kieran Gibbs can offer some Premier League experience at the back. The 33 year-old ex-Arsenal left-back suffered from injury last season after being signed in 2021 and will look to have a positive impact on a side that conceded way too many goals last season.

Messi, maybe?

Could it happen? Let’s be honest, if Inter Miami sign Messi you can throw this preview out of the window, because nothing else will matter anymore. The ex-Barcelona man has been linked for months with a move to MLS and Phil Neville’s side has been working relentlessly to convince the player with a lucrative package and competition prospects. PSG are reportedly offering him a new contract and Barcelona are, well, in a bit of a mess, so perhaps the stars could align for the Argentinian alien to fly stateside...

Inter Miami’s style of play

Phil fiddled around with the formation over the last season, playing variations of both single and double striker systems. He used the 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, sometimes a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2 and even a 5-3-2 in some cases. Whether or not this suits Martínez (let’s leave Messi out of the tactical debate for now) is yet to be seen, but Inter Miami’s lack of possession may suit the transitional style that the forward likes to play. On paper, Campana and Martínez doesn’t sound like a bad couple of strikers to me.

Conclusion

If Phil Neville can find a way to stop his team from conceding goals, then Inter Miami should be in for a strong season. A playoff place is definitely not out of the question in 2023 and especially given the numbers they have up front. If he could find a way to sneak 50 strikers onto the pitch then that would work. Or he could just sign Lionel Messi instead. Whatever happens, it is sure to be interesting.