In revealing the club's process of grilling eventual No. 1 SuperDraft selection Robbie Robinson, Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough admitted he was the 'bad cop' during the interview.
McDonough bluntly told the forward that he wasn't sure if he'd start for Miami, then Robinson confidently responded, "Why are you going to draft me?" McDonough also said the 21-year-old has an "enormous amount of talent," but doesn't spend enough time in the gym.
Robinson is looking to rectify the latter.
“Isolation is going well, it’s giving me a chance to focus on my upper body more and get that much stronger," Robinson told MLSsoccer.com on Friday. "I’ve been doing the running, we’ve had it planned out really well.”
"Upper-body strength has always been a thing I wanted to improve," he added. "When you’re playing in the league, you’re playing against men."
Aside from completing fitness drills Miami sent their players, Robinson got his hands on 25-pound weights to do various upper-body exercises. That's also in response to how head coach Diego Alonso has challenged him.
“Diego is on me a lot," Robinson said. "He wants me to make the right decision. He’s on me about my work rate, but I like that. When a coach wants you to get better, they’re harder on you. They want you to succeed and think you have that potential. I think he sees that in me and is pushing me really hard. I thrive under that.”
This period of isolation has also helped Robinson recover from injury. He was forced to exit Miami's match against D.C. United on March 7 just before halftime with an apparent knee injury, which looked serious as he went down writhing in pain.
Robinson said he would have only missed a few weeks and only has slight discomfort in his ankle.
As he patiently awaits a return to training and games, Robinson still has his hands full. He got an English bulldog puppy a few weeks ago and named it Titus.
“The thing is crazy," Robinson said with a laugh. "One night it peed on my bed three different times. I had to keep waking up and cleaning it. It was terrible. So, that’s what I’m going through right now.”
