Since joining MLS as an expansion team in 2020, Inter Miami CF have yet to meet the lofty standards set by club brass.
Head coach Phil Neville freely admitted as much on Thursday's MLS is Back media call, coming off a 2021 season that saw Inter Miami miss the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference standings. But after an offseason that has featured more roster turnover than any club in the league, Neville feels confident their squad is ready to flip the script.
Miami's list of new players is a lengthy one, highlighted by Brazilian midfielder Jean Mota, US men's national team fullback DeAndre Yedlin, Jamaican center back Damion Lowe and U22 Initiative attackers Leonardo Campana and Emerson Rodriguez. The list of outgoing players is just as long, headlined by Rodolfo Pizarro's loan to CF Monterrey and Blaise Matuidi's expected buyout. Both midfielders have been Designated Players alongside forward Gonzalo Higuain.
Summed together, it provides Miami with what Neville described as a clean slate heading into 2022.
"We had to take a risk," Neville said. "Me and Chris knew that well into the season that we had to make real big changes, we couldn't just split the squad with one or two players – we had to send a strong, strong statement. Why? Because the first two years wasn't good enough. It wasn't acceptable from the top down to the very bottom. So we had to make major changes to get what we wanted. We had the full backing of the ownership. [Sporting director] Chris Henderson was phenomenal in terms of his experience of how to rebuild a roster.
"And we brought in the players that we wanted to bring in – our recruiting process was as good as I've ever been involved in – and any player that we brought in was our choice with the right character, the right profile and the right position for us. So it was a great learning experience last year. Even in the times where we went six [matches] without a victory, I always knew where we wanted to take the team."
Miami's current roster is more reflective of the vision Neville and Henderson have for the club, as opposed to when the duo joined ahead of the 2021 season.
"I think you rewind back a year, me and Chris Henderson came in really late. We had three weeks before the start of the season," Neville said. "So I'd say that the biggest change will be from a roster perspective and from an organization perspective is that me and Chris now have had 12 months and a lot of time to assess things, to rebuild things, to reset things and all stamp our own imprint on this team.
"I think the roster, now I can 100 percent say that this roster is mine and Chris', in terms of the work we've done in the offseason, the work we did during the season last year, the staff that we've integrated and brought to the club is now our staff. And we feel as an organization we're in a miles better place to reach the goals and achieve the things we want to do and create a culture like we want to do as an organization."
Miami hope the re-made group can hit the ground running, though Neville cautioned developing chemistry and camaraderie can take time.
With that in mind, Neville said team bonding has been central to the club's preseason approach as new players get acclimated ahead of their 2022 opener Feb. 26 vs. Chicago Fire FC (6 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
"For a team to come together and gel it's probably easier when you make bigger changes," Neville said. "Because you think about the 12 new players that we brought in, they've all just been thrust into a dressing room and it's, 'We've got to know each other, we've got to be together as a team.' Rather than bring in one or two that are probably sometimes isolated early on.
" … One of our main focuses this preseason has been the bonding, the togetherness, the spirit of the team, because without that, the tactics and systems don't mean anything. So we've worked really hard at that. It does take time to form friendships and understanding and connections, but I think we're really in a good place."
