Neville discusses Pizarro and Higuain in MLS press conference

Not appearing in 

Miami’s

 last few games due to an abductor/hip injury that has kept him out of practice for three and a half weeks. However, the 27-year-old midfielder traveled to Denver with the 

Mexico

 national team but did not play in any of Mexico’s CONCACAF or friendly matches.

Hence, the 

Mexican

 midfielder has been rumored to make a move away from the MLS club.

Neville

 said 

Pizarro

 and forward 

Robbie Robinson

 (hamstring) are out “for the foreseeable future” and will not play in the Saturday’s game at 

D.C. United

 but media and fans should not read more into 

Pizarro’s

 absence.

“He’s an Inter Miami player,” 

Neville

 said of 

Pizarro

. “I think I’ve told you guys 100 times I like the boy. I want the boy to play well for Inter Miami and so does the boy.”

On 

Pizarro’s

 injury, 

Neville

 added: “It was a good opportunity for him to go with his national team, for them to assess him in terms of his injury, to get him out of this mental environment into that environment. The boy is injured. Let’s not read too much into any of the speculation you guys are writing. The boy is injured.

“He’s been out injured for three and a half weeks. He has not been on the grass in three and a half weeks, so we need to get him back to his full fitness to make sure he’s pain free and then he’ll be a great Inter Miami player.”

“There is no possibility of Rodolfo leaving this football club. He’s an Inter Miami player. He’s injured at this moment in time. We can’t stop the speculation but the reason he’s not playing is because he’s injured…I’m not going to answer any more questions about Rodolfo Pizarro. I think I spoke and told you how many times that he’s a big part of what we want to do here and he’s happy here.”

Then the former 

Manchester United

 player was pressed with questions about his Argentine striker, 

Gonzalo Higuain

. The Argentine forward told 

 of joining MLS from Italian giant Juventus: “I thought I would come here and play with a cigarette in my mouth and, instead, it is difficult. It is a tough league. I learned that it is similar to Italian football. In Spain and England it is easier to do well, while in Italy, if you do not know the league, you suffer.”

Although 

Neville

 believes 

MLS

 is a more complicated league than outsiders realize, he insists he had no trouble with 

Higuain’s

 candor.

“He did the interview with 

Christian Vieri

, one of his close friends and a fellow footballer and you get into an environment where you speak honestly and we want footballers to speak honestly and not just give standard answers,” Neville said. “Maybe the perception in other parts of the world that this league is easier, but the biggest compliment in the interview that I saw was he said it’s really, really difficult, and I totally agree.”

Neville

 went on to hail ‘

competitive’ MLS

 as different climates and travel and parity within the league make it hard for any side to win the league title: “He was actually giving a compliment and being open and honest about maybe his thoughts beforehand and ultimately he is under no illusions now.

“I’ve known it for a long, long time when those big DP [Designated Players] players come from around the world, if you do not commit 100 percent, focus on everything then you will get found out. I think Gonzalo has learned that over the last year at this club.”

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