Five Reasons to be Excited about Inter Miami (2/5)

Inter Miami return to MLS action on August 22 against in-state rivals Orlando City. For each day leading up to the game, I’ll be going into detail explaining one of my five reasons to be excited about Inter Miami.  These five reasons, and dates of all and each coming piece, are listed below:

Reasons to be Excited About Inter Miami

1. New Signings (August 17)
2. Return of Robbie (August 18)
3. Playing with More Experience (August 19)
4. Potential Acquisitions (August 20)
5. First Home Game (August 21)

Matchday will feature a pre and post-game piece as well.

Return of Robbie Robinson

Due to personal reasons, Robbie Robinson left the MLS bubble at the Orlando tournament before the first game. He never returned, and Diego Alonso was forced to use different starting strikers than in his first two matches.

Robinson was Inter Miami’s first-ever MLS SuperDraft pick as they chose him number one overall earlier this year. The pick wasn’t a surprise considering Robinson was one of the top athletes in all of NCAA. In a fantastic junior year at Clemson University, Robinson finished with 18 goals and 9 assists, a total of 27 goal contributions in just 19 games. Although he’s still young and has room to develop as a player, his raw talent is enough to prove he should Inter Miami’s starting striker as of now.

On the offensive side of the ball, Inter Miami has struggled heavily in creating scoring chances. In the three group stage games, Miami finished with a total of seven shots on target. In the two games before the tournament, those games in which Robinson played in, Miami totaled 12 shots on target. It’s safe to say that with Robinson on the field, Miami is a much better attacking side.

His stats are not enough to show his impact on the field. Robinson at 6’2 is big enough to contribute to hold-up play from direct passes. His lateral quickness and technical ability on the ball also allows him to use dribbling and pace to get by center backs in a threatening way. Both Juan Agudelo and Julian Carranza have shown nothing to prove to Alonso that they should be the starting striker.

The addition of Blaise Matuidi could also help Miami in terms of creating chances. If Matuidi can be the ball-winning midfielder that he’s known as it’ll allow Rodolfo Pizarro to stay up the field and create chances. A Robinson-Pizarro partnership in the middle of the field is very intriguing.

It was reported in the Miami Herald that Robinson has joined the team for full team training ahead of Saturday’s match against Orlando. If no surprise transfers are made, expect Robinson back in the lineup this Saturday and for games to come.

Make sure to look for tomorrow’s piece on how being five games in will help Inter Miami get their first points.