Josef Martínez called out during Inter Miami’s slide: “He needs to play better”

“He needs to play better,” Miami head coach Phil Neville said of the Venezuelan international after a 1-0 defeat to FC Dallas Saturday night. “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.”

On Saturday, Martínez partnered with Leonardo Campana, who made his first appearance this season after missing the first six matches due to a calf injury. Both were off by the 70-minute mark, failing to make much of an impact at DRV PNK Stadium. After Gonzalo Higuaín’s retirement last fall, Martínez and Campana are expected to carry the load up top.

“We’ve played seven games and our center forwards haven’t scored a goal apart from Shanyder [Borgelin],” Neville said. “That’s a concern.”

Martínez has 11 shots in 483 minutes this year, but just three are on frame. There were high expectations entering the season after Martínez scored 98 goals over the course of six seasons with Atlanta, including 31 in 2018 when he helped lead the Five Stripes to an MLS Cup title.

Now, although not mentioning Martínez by name, Neville promised changes when Inter Miami return to play on April 22 at Houston Dynamo FC. They have a bye next weekend during Matchday 8.

“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,” Neville said. “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.”