Introducing: Maxi Falcón! ‘The Wig’ is here to cover Inter Miami’s thin back line

Injuries decimate 2024 back line

To be fair, the Herons’ defense wasn’t bad; only eight teams allowed fewer goals than the 49 the Pink & Black picked out of the net last year. Seattle was last year’s stingiest defense, giving up just 35 goals in 34 league matches; Charlotte allowed 37. Twenty teams gave up more scores than Inter Miami — three (D.C. United, New England and San Jose) leaked more than 70.

But the back line was a mess last year. The Herons traded starter Kamal Miller to Portland and signed Argentine veteran Nicolás Freire to a year-long loan in the offseason. In August 2023, Inter Miami paid $6.3 million to sign young Argentine center back Tomás Avilés (who won’t turn 21 until this August). The plan evidently was to pair Freire and Avilés, with the journeyman mentoring “Toto.” Freire suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament. The club brought David Martinez in on loan in July, but the injury-plagued 27-year-old Paraguayan played in just 10 matches for the Herons last year, four in the MLS regular season and three each in the playoffs and the Leagues Cup.

Serviceable backup Sergii Kryvtsov, a 33-year-old Ukrainian, was reinserted to the starting lineup and Ryan Sailor, whom Inter Miami selected from the University of Washington with the 9th overall pick of the 2022 MLS Super Draft, was the main backup. Aviles has pace, but is hardly physically imposing and lacking experience. Kryvtsov’s experience served him well, but he lacked the speed to recover if the ball got by him. Sailor, 26, isn’t particularly fast or physical and still learning his position. He’ll enjoy a decent career if his heart isn’t set on starring.

Coach Tata Martino, who resigned after last season, tried a variety of combinations to try to shore up the back line; Sergio Busquets, the former Barcelona star who is among the greatest-ever defensive midfielders, was moved to the back with some success, and Noah Allen, 20, an Inter Miami Academy product from nearby Pembroke Pines, moved from left wing to center back and became a dependable (if undersized) rotation player.

All things considered, the Herons’ defense did really well considering the merry-go-round it placed in front of goalkeeper Drake Callender. Aviles is a year older, stronger and smarter — despite a red card in the MLS season-opening draw with New York City FC, he’s seemed more poised and better positioned in the dearly going — and Noah Allen has earned enough respect that he briefly wore the captain’s armband in the Herons’ 3-1 Concacaf Chamnpions Cup win Tuesday. Inter Miami also has acquired another Argentine defender, 23-year-old Gonzalo Lujan, who, like Allen, provides reliable depth at the position.

But is was Maxi Falcon that excited supporters’ imaginations and Maxi Falcon playing up to the hype in his first match with Inter Miami. Hopefully, last year’s dumpster fire defense is a thing of the past. I hope to see the partnership of Toto and the Wig patrolling the defensive third for years to come.