Phil Neville’s return to Inter Miami is not a second chance—it is a glaring indictment of MLS’s refusal to enforce accountability, a league where a 13th-place finish in the Western Conference is apparently a stepping stone, not a fireable offense. Let’s be brutally clear: Neville’s tenure at Portland was a catastrophe measured not just by the table, but by the product on the pitch. The Timbers averaged 1.1 points per game under his watch, a ghastly return for a club that spent aggressively on Designated Players like Evander and the aging but expensive Diego Chara. Defensively, Portland hemorrhaged 1.8 goals per game, ranking dead last in expected goals against. Neville’s tactical rigidity—a stubborn insistence on a high line despite a backline that lacked recovery speed—was exposed week after week. Opponents like the Galaxy and St. Louis City carved Portland apart on transition, and Neville offered no adjustment. By any objective metric, his tenure was a failure, and his sacking was overdue. Yet within weeks, he lands back in Miami, a club he already managed to a 12th-place finish in 2022 and a 6th-place finish in 2023—mediocrity that Orlando City and New England fans would mock.
This is crony-culture in its purest form. Inter Miami’s ownership structure—with David Beckham as co-owner and a coaching network that resembles a Premier League alumni reunion—treats failure as a resume line rather than a disqualifier. Neville’s relationship with Beckham, forged at Manchester United and extended through roles with England’s women’s national team, gives him a lifetime pass. Compare that to other MLS managers: Robin Fraser was fired after a single bad half-season at Colorado; Ezra Hendrickson didn’t survive Chicago’s early struggles. They lacked the right phone number in their contacts. Neville, meanwhile, gets a front-office title and direct access to the first team, effectively leapfrogging the accountability that every other coach in this league endures. The message is deafening: if you’re part of the inner circle, you can coach Portland into the ground and still walk into a prime role with Lionel Messi on the roster. It undermines the meritocracy MLS pretends to uphold.
The implication for Inter Miami is clear: they are betting that Neville’s familiarity with the club’s dysfunction outweighs the evidence of his incompetence. But this is a team that now carries Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba—players who demand tactical precision and ruthless standards. Neville failed to build a coherent structure around them last season, watching Miami leak goals in the Leagues Cup and exit the playoffs in the first round. Bringing him back—in any capacity