Inter Miami is set to play for their first trophy as a franchise on Saturday evening against Nashville SC in the Leagues Cup final. It has been a remarkable turnaround for a team that had been winless for 11 matches before the arrival of Lionel Messi.
In fact, Tata Martino’s first game in charge of the team was a defeat, only adding to their MLS woes. The man responsible for the poor state Inter Miami was in, in league play, was Phil Neville.
The English manager could never really get the team going, knowing full well the ownership group was preparing the arrival of Lionel Messi and other major pieces. In a podcast interview with Taylor Twellman, Neville spoke about his final days at Inter Miami and how he has no regrets or anger towards the club.
Phil Neville on Inter Miami departure
“I was a part of the building and the foundation, putting down of the Busquets, the Albas, that was all part of the plan… I always had the feeling deep down that probably I wasn’t going to be here when (Messi) was going to come to the club.”
Neville attributes the team’s poor run of form to his sacking in the lead up to the signing of Lionel Messi. “The results weren’t good enough for the last month that I was at the job.”
Neville also spoke about the bitter but human moment when David Beckham informed him that he was being let go. “My best friend, one of my lifelong friends, delivered the news that I wasn’t going to work at Inter Miami anymore. That was really hard, hard for David, hard for me, but it was actually a special moment for two people that just had total respect and love for each other.”
