Inter Miami winger Julian Gressel has said pre-season losses have shed important light on the issues the Herons had to fix in the squad.
The Florida franchise won just one game this winter in their worldwide pre-season tour, with Inter Miami losing 6-0 to Al-Nassr and 4-3 to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
With the MLS season starting tonight, there are fears from fans that Inter Miami’s chemistry might not be good enough yet with the likes of Luis Suarez and Gressel joining the team this year.
Julian Gressel says pre-season was a wake-up call for Inter Miami
Yet speaking to the Miami Herald, Gressel has claimed losses in Saudi Arabia and Japan against high-quality opponents has been a positive for Inter Miami, as well as experiencing a real pre-season tour.
Indeed, MLS clubs rarely go abroad for pre-season training, usually opting to stay in the United States, yet Inter Miami’s time around the globe could prepare the Herons for the regular season this week.
Gressel said: “You get the exposure of unbelievable, high-quality opponents that you play in the middle of their seasons after long travel, and that should help us now that we have real matches.
“The past few years, I played preseason games in training jerseys, behind closed doors. This was totally different. We’ve already been tested and exposed on the global stage, and we saw what we had to fix.”
Inter Miami could be better prepared than most MLS clubs for new season
Inter Miami’s humiliating episodes in pre-season are well-documents, from losing 6-0 to Cristiano Ronaldo’s side to accidentally starting an international incident in Hong Kong
Yet with the season now upon us, the Herons could be better prepared than the majority of MLS clubs heading into tonight’s clash against Real Salt Lake.
As Gressel says, Inter Miami have faced some truly good teams this pre-season that have prepared the Florida franchise for the new season, and the squad will have learnt important lessons in the process.