Previously unknown except in his home country, Taylor has been an unexpected breakout star of Inter Miami's winning run.
After spending most of his childhood bracing Finland’s long and cold winters, the Taylor family moved when Robert was 14 to Chesterfield, a small market town in the East Midlands, around 30 minutes north of Nottingham. When he was not playing for his Sunday league club, Taylor would go to Chesterfield’s town center and practice his freestyle tricks and skills in front of the locals, collecting the change he earned as a street performer for pocket money.
“It was a more robust style of football if you like, and while technical ability will always stand out, you still need a bit of physicality to really shine, and he probably lacked that at the time. Height-wise, he’s grown considerably since then, I think he’s referred to as six foot now, but he was a lot smaller then in terms of his upper body strength. He was never the quickest, so he couldn’t really get away from people with his pace.
Returning to the Nordic countries brought Taylor more success. His first stop was JJK, a provincial Finnish club, now playing in the nation’s second tier, where he spent two seasons. After a stint with perennial top-flight side RoPS, Taylor spent time in Sweden and Norway before moving to South Beach in 2022.
“You look at the MLS Twitter feed, and it’s full of a Finland player doing well. There are other Finnish players doing pretty well in America, Alex Ring, Lappalainen, but Taylor’s come along and taken it to the next level by both playing really well but also having the stardust rub off on him.” As the graph above demonstrates, Taylor was most commonly deployed as a traditional winger under Phil Neville before Tata Martino took over the reins to coincide with Messi’s arrival. His job back then was primarily to stay wide and create opportunities for Martinez, the central striker.
His quarter-final goal against Charlotte FC, where Taylor moved into the box uncontested and whipped a shot beyond the goalkeeper from a DeAndre Yedlin pass, highlights how his spacial understanding has allowed him to profit from the increased movement around the box since Messi’s arrival.
Belgique Dernières Nouvelles, Belgique Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Anthony Joshua's fight with Robert Helenius nearly collapsed over glove disputeAnthony Joshua's fight with Robert Helenius on Saturday at the O2 Arena was very nearly off.
Lire la suite »
Fans accuse Anthony Joshua of 'losing the plot' after intense face-off with Robert HeleniusAnthony Joshua and Robert Helenius exchanged words during a fiery face-off.
Lire la suite »