David Beckham admits sacking close friend Phil Neville as Inter Miami coach was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do.
Neville was dismissed by Beckham and his MLS franchise following a defeat to New York Red Bulls which left his team bottom of the Eastern Conference. And Beckham has opened up on having to give his former Manchester United and England team-mate his marching orders.
Appaearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Beckham said: “Phil has been in management for a long time, and he knows what happens in management.
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“I think when I first bought in Phil to manage the team in Miami, I knew what he was going to do. I knew he was going to steady the ship. I knew that he was going to bring the work ethic that I’d seen over the years.
“Everything had to be perfect, you know, with Phil. And he brought everyone together and he changed that club overnight. The work that Phil did, it was incredible. But Phil knew, and he said at the time, ‘if I’m not getting the results, I know what’s going to happen’.
“And we’re close enough to have that conversation. You know, when he first came in, 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 a very sensible conversation, but I will never underestimate what he did for the club.
(Image: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
“I think it was one of the most difficult things I’d had to do, even though me and Phil had spoke about it, you know, when he first came on as Miami coach. I knew that if it came to this moment, it was going to be difficult no matter what time it happened and when it happened.
“I’d called him and said, we’re going to meet. We walked in the room and we hugged. It was quite emotional on my side, just purely because I didn’t want to sack a friend.”
Beckham, meanwhile, has revealed he got so superstitious towards the end of his playing career he used to go through THREE pairs of boots in games.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
He added: “It got to that point, I actually used to wear a new pair for the warmup. Then I’d wear a new pair for the first half, and then I’d wear (a new pair for the second half), most of the time. It was down to if I’d done that the week before, or if I’d had a bad first half.
“Superstition, that’s what it was really, but that was later on in my career, that wasn’t early.”
Listen to the full Rio Meets Becks interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. RioFerdinandPresents.com