Scouting Inter Miami: 5 things to know before NYCFC's first trip to Nu Stadium

New York City FC visits the defending MLS Cup champions and newly-crowned Campeones Cup winners, Inter Miami CF, for a midweek match at Nu Stadium, NYCFC's first visit to the new stadium which opened in April. New York Soccer Journal spoke with Scotty Grays of the Drive Pink Dialogue podcast to get an update on Miami's season, which has seen the club cycle through three head coaches but still has the Herons in contention for a spot in Concacaf Champions Cup. Here is your NYCFC vs Inter Miami preview.

1. Early impressions of the new coach

New York Soccer Journal: Kily González is only three MLS matches into his tenure as Miami's new head coach, but in the early going, what has differentiated him from the team's other coaches this season, Javier Mascherano and Guillermo Hoyos? Has he made any notable changes in how he sets the team up, and what's the vibe around him so far?

Scotty Grays: It's probably worth setting the context that the expectations for Kily González aren't particularly high (or low, to be fair). His résumé gives little reason to expect he will hit the ground running or be spectacular at Inter Miami. González is the new cog in the larger Inter Miami project, unlike many MLS coaches who become the face of their project. 

This is a team led by Lionel Messi, and led by its roster, and the coach is and has been along for the ride. That was certainly true of Guillermo Hoyos and was more true than outsiders might assume with Javier Mascherano. There is a ton of talent on Inter Miami, but it’s unique in its makeup and doesn't lend itself to a high degree of flexibility in the ways that allow a coach to have an outsized tactical impact.

González was thrown into the fire as a coach, spending his second day in charge on the sideline of a Campeones Cup final against Cruz Azul. As you may expect, the formation, lineup and structure looked very similar to the 4-3-3 Miami had run with under Guillermo Hoyos. The same was true four days later when they played San Diego FC.

Inter Miami fans got their first real glimpse of what we can assume was Kily González's big plan a week later against the Columbus Crew, where he debuted a 3-4-3. It looked really bad: the offense was disconnected from the rest of the team, and the midfield was non-existent. He scrapped it and returned to the 4-3-3 this past weekend in a 4-0 win over DC United. 

Despite this weekend's victory over DC, Inter Miami still has just two wins in its last ten MLS games, a record that has seen them drop from being on Nashville's heels at the top of the Supporters' Shield race to the rest of the pack. They enter Wednesday's game in fourth place in the Shield race, but only three points ahead of ninth-place San Jose.

That context matters because the primary goal for Inter Miami this regular season is to finish in the top three or four in the Shield race in order to qualify for next season's Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC). Considering their tenuous position in that pursuit, it's probably safe to assume Kily González won't be making major changes to the 4-3-3 that Inter Miami's gone with for much of the season. As a result, his impact will more likely come from timely substitutions and how the players approach the final twenty minutes of games, during which they've dropped a potential seven points in their last six MLS games.

As far as the vibe around Kily González, his arrival hasn't generated much excitement or apprehension. The focus remains on the team's results rather than the man on the sideline, though he'll inevitably face scrutiny if those results don't come. He won the Campeones Cup on his debut; now can he secure Champions Cup qualification and lead a successful title defense?

2. Casemiro settling in at center-back

NYSJ: Miami added Casemiro and Matías Galarza this summer, what have those two brought to the table so far early in their time with the team, and how have they complemented the existing squad?