Phil Neville has been around some of the biggest names in world football. The former BBC football pundit, Everton captain and England women’s national team manager was teammates with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, and a member of the club’s famed academy class of 1992, which included his brother Gary, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham.
On Saturday, the outspoken Neville, now head coach of MLS side Inter Miami, welcomed The Athletic into his office inside the club’s impressive training facility in Fort Lauderdale. The two seats in front of his desk are often reserved for private conversations with his players, and as Neville offered a chair, he pointed to a nearby table that seats four as another option.
“(Former Manchester United manager) Sir Alex (Ferguson) was a genius at the man management thing,” Neville said. “If he ever sat (across from you, at his desk,) you knew you was in s—. If you sat over there, he was either trying to drop you or leave you out of the team or give you some good news.”
Neville is entering his third season at Inter Miami, which is co-owned by Beckham. The MLS franchise has lofty ambitions, including signing Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi this summer. But the South Florida club is still…
