Inter Miami manager Phil Neville has urged star striker Josef Martinez to "play better" after going goalless so far in the 2023 MLS season, just as he did last season with misfiring Argentine legend Gonzalo Higuain.
Martinez, the 2018 Landon Donovan MLS MVP, made a highly-publicised switch from Atlanta United before the season after a contract buyout. While with Atlanta, the Venezuelan won the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup
In 2018, Martínez became the most decorated single-season player in MLS history by winning the league MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Golden Boot and MLS Cup Final MVP. However, he has failed to hit the net since his move to Miami across six starts - and Neville demanded an improvement after the 1-0 loss to FC Dallas on Saturday night.
“He needs to play better,” Miami head coach Neville said of Martinez. “It’s the first time today we played with two strikers. Gotta say, I don’t think in the first half either had a shot on goal. Did we get him the service? Probably not. We need more from Josef, that’s without a shadow of a doubt.”
Against Dallas, Neville paired Martinez with Leonardo Campana, who made his first appearance of the season after missing time due to a calf injury. Neither made an impact at DRV PNK Stadium, and Miami are desperately missing the goals Gonzalo Higuain provided after the Argentine retired last season.
In 2022, Neville publicly called out Higuain during a similar run of poor form, and the former Real Madrid star responded as he scored 16 goals and three assists. He was also named 2022 MLS Comeback Player of the Year for his efforts.
Martinez has 11 shots in 483 minutes this season, but just three have been on target. He has proved to be an immense disappointment after he entered the campaign with lofty expectations; Martinez scored 98 goals over the course of six seasons with Atlanta, including 31 in 2018.
Martinez holds a number of MLS records, including for career hat-tricks with (six in his first 44 games), the record for cumulative goals in regular and post season (35) and the record for most consecutive games with a goal (15). The 29-year-old also scored 100 goals in the MLS faster than any single player in league history (125 games).
Amid bad performances, Neville revealed there would be changes when Inter Miami travel to Houston Dynamo FC in their next contest on 22 April. He added: “I think what we’ve got in the team, we’ve got some players that are comfortable and from now on those players won't be comfortable anymore because they're not playing to the levels I expect. We’ve got players that have not had opportunities that I think now deserve an opportunity. So in two weeks' time, I think we'll see that.”
Miami have become the second team in MLS history to lose five successive matches after winning their opening two contests for a season. The Florida-based outfit sit 12th in the Eastern Conference.
