Inter Miami’s busy off-season continues with the signing of Gregore.
Inter Miami’s offseason rebuild continues with the signing of 26-year-old Brazilian center defensive midfielder, Gregore.
For a team that has long needed a player of his profile, Gregore joins the club at just the right time.
Miami’s Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson had this to say about the Brazilian:
"“He has a great engine and brings balance and stability to the central midfield.”"
That stability Henderson touched on was what Inter Miami was missing last year. A majority of Miami’s struggles came from the lack of a true defensive presence in the middle of the park. Due to Blaise Matuidi’s age and Rodolfo Pizarro’s hesitancy to track back, Miami started to concede more goals than they were comfortable with.
Now that Gregore has signed, Phil Neville will have a midfield trio that is not only a bit more defensive stable but also has the ability to progress the ball quickly to create offensive chances.
The ball-winning midfielder that Miami’s been crying out for
Presumably lining up in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, Gregore will be deployed as the more defensive midfielder alongside Matuidi and Pizarro. In other words, the Brazilian’s responsibilities will mainly be to screen the backline, win the ball back and break up opposition movement before it becomes a threat.
That’s a big reason why Miami struggled last season. It’s been touched on before, but Diego Alonso’s preferred double-pivot pairing of Wil Trapp and Victor Ulloa, then Ulloa and Matuidi once the Frenchman arrived proved to be a dud.
Matuidi doesn’t have the legs to do the defensive work anymore, and Trapp/Ulloa just wasn’t solid enough defensively or good enough offensively to provide anything of substance.
With Gregore’s signature and Neville’s preferred formation being a 4-3-3, the 26-year-old’s no-nonsense style of defending will free up Matuidi from tracking back and give Pizarro’s more creative freedom.
According to smarterscout’s data-base, Gregore is the perfect signing for Neville’s more possession-based, short passing style that he’d like to implement:
Gregore is an aggressive defender who's active and very skillful in the air. He's a destroyer who can sit centrally in front of the back line and also disrupt opposition moves all over the field. Check out his smartermap from last season's Brasileirão:
— smarterscout (@smarterscout) February 24, 2021
2/3 pic.twitter.com/0ELoLICPY1
With Inter Miami reportedly acquiring Gregore on a TAM deal, it’s a smart signing at a position that the team desperately needed.
Roster revamp
Gregore isn’t the offseason signing that Inter Miami has made so far. Just the other day, the club announced the acquisition of 33-year-old English center-back Ryan Shawcross.
Looking at Inter Miami last season, the backline was their biggest weakness. Oftentimes if Nico Figal was out with an injury or Leandro Gonzalez Pirez was suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Diego Alonso was left scrambling to field a back three/four that can hold up for two or three games.
That’s precisely why Shawcross was signed.
He’s a depth signing who has Premier League and leadership experience to help lead a very young locker room. Plus he’s a decent option off the bench in case something were to happen to any of Inter Miami’s starting center-backs.
Yes, there are concerns about his injury record and he’s not the sexiest name, but compared to what Miami had last season, Shawcross is an upgrade in quality.
After underperforming last season, this is Inter Miami starting from scratch – again.
Focusing on the Academy, while bringing veterans who can perform right away will give the team a new look in 2021. With Beckham officially pulling the strings behind the scenes it’s safe to say Miami will look to improve upon their 2020 record.