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Updated January 23rd, 2021 at 08:55 IST

Neville, Beckham and Inter Miami defend hiring process

David Beckham bristled when asked whether Phil Neville’s was hired as Inter Miami coach because they’re buddies

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David Beckham bristled when asked whether Phil Neville’s was hired as Inter Miami coach because they’re buddies.

“Of course, people are always going to turn around and say, oh, it’s because he’s your friend. It’s nothing to do with him being my friend,” Beckham said Friday. “Our ownership group don’t just employ our friends. We employ the best people, whether it’s on the field, off the field, in our backroom staff, the staff that we have work in our training facility, at the stadium.

"We are running a serious soccer club here. And I think at the end of the day, we hire people that we feel are best suited for the job.”

Beckham, a former England captain, was given ownership of a future Major League Soccer team at a discount as part of his transfer to the LA Galaxy for the 2007 season. Miami started play last year and had seven wins, 13 losses and three draws, finishing 10th among 14 teams in the Eastern Conference under coach Diego Alonso. Miami fired Alonso following a 3-0 playoff loss to Nashville.

Neville played with Beckham on Manchester United from 1994-03 and England’s national team from 1996-07, and they are part owners of fourth-tier Salford City in England. Neville coached England’s women’s team from 2018 through this month - the Three Lionesses lost to the U.S. in a 2019 World Cup semifinal.

Neville was hired Monday along with former U.S. midfielder Chris Henderson as chief soccer officer and sporting director. Beckham was absent from March until Christmas Day because of the novel coronavirus pandemic but has been in Florida since, attending training.

Image credits: AP

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Published January 23rd, 2021 at 08:54 IST

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