David Beckham has revealed what he did before sacking former Manchester United teammate Phil Neville at Inter Miami to none other than his brother Gary.
David Beckham admitted he had breached football’s unwritten rules before sacking former Manchester United teammate Phil Neville. Inter Miami co-owner Beckham appointed his brother Neville as head coach of the MLS side in January 2021.
He led the Herons to the MLS playoffs in 2022, but the team’s fortunes plummeted and he was fired by coach Beckham in 2023 after 10 losses in 15 games. Beckham has now revealed that he and other club owners had concerns about Neville’s tactics before pulling the trigger.
In English football, it is forbidden for owners to get involved in their team’s affairs, but Beckham had no hesitation in telling the head coach that his approach was not working. As part of the Salford City documentary series, Beckham spoke to Gary Neville about Phil’s stay in Florida. “Phil played in a back five for half a year in Miami,” he said regretfully.
Laughing, Neville asked, “Did he play one up or two up?” Beckham rubbed his forehead and replied, “One up!” Five in the back, one up. ”
Neville then asked, “Did you tell him?” “Yeah, every day. We never had a philosophy of not telling the coach,” Beckham said.
Beckham said firing Phil was one of the hardest things he had ever done. Speaking to Rio Ferdinand, another former colleague at United, he confessed:
“When I first acquired Phil to manage the Miami team, I knew what he was going to do. I knew he was going to steady the ship. I knew he was going to bring the work ethic that I’ve seen over the years.”
“Everything had to be perfect with Phil. He brought everyone together and transformed the club overnight. Phil’s work was unbelievable.
“But Phil knew that and said, ‘If it doesn’t work out, I know what’s going to happen.'” And we’re close enough to have that conversation.
“When he first came, I said, ‘Phil, I don’t want this to affect our friendship.’ He said, ‘I get it, it won’t, when the time’s right, if it’s right, we’ll both know.’ And we had some very intelligent conversations and I will never underestimate what he did for the club.
“I think that was one of the hardest things I had to do, even though me and Phil were talking about it when he first came. I knew that no matter when it happened, no matter when it happened, if it came at this moment, it was going to be difficult.”
Beckham remains involved with Inter Miami as co-owner. Along with Gary Neville, he is also part of League Two Salford’s main ownership group.
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