Head coach Phil Neville, and owner David Beckham look on prior to the game against CF Montreal at DRV PNK Stadium on May 12, 2021 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
(Picture: Getty Images)David Beckham’s American dream team, Inter Miami, are officially the worst football team in America, after back-to-back defeats in the MLS.
It’s turned into a complete nightmare for the former Manchester United and LA Galaxy footballer, after he stumped up $40 million of his own cash for his team to achieve greatness.
Instead, they’ve only been able to score just one goal in 540 minutes and have lost their last six games with an aggregate score of 13-1.
Fans have had enough too, and booed the players back to the dressing room after their 5-0 defeat to New England Revolution.
In a further embarrassing twist, their big spending on players hasn’t had the desired effect either.
Inter Milan were recently slapped with a record fine of $2m by the MLS for breaching their salary cap rules - where salaries are capped to $9.225m for each team.
However, teams can sign up to three player that exceed this cap under “The Designated Player Rule” - ironically dubbed as the “Beckham Rule.”
The club had already signed three players that exceeded the cap - Gonzalo Higuain, Matias Pellegrini and Rodolfo Pizarro and broke the rules when they signed French international Blaise Matuidi.
Back in February, the club appointed fellow ex Man Utd player and friend of Beckham, Phil Neville.
At the time he appeared optimistic about where the club could go under his management, he said: “We have a clean slate to build something bigger and better than anything else in America.”
“Not just America but even world renowned.”
When he arrived at club, he added: “The biggest challenge for me as a coach is to come here and and prove to people the foreign coaches can come here and be successful”
After the worst defeat in the club’s short history, its safe to assume Neville is eating his words at this point.
Some have called into question whether Neville, who previously coached the England women’s team, was given the job due to his friendship with Beckham.
Jorge Mas, the club’s managing owner denied this, and in a press conference said: “Phil Neville was not handed the Inter Miami job. Phil Neville earned the job,”
“The fact that he’s David’s friend is a reality and no one runs from that. Actually, we embrace it.”
Regardless of whether this is true - the scoresheet speaks for itself.
Neville’s first game saw them lose 3-1 to LA Galaxy, after initially going ahead 2-1.
Despite their rough start, they went on a three match unbeaten streak - a win against Philadelphia Union and draws against Nashville and Atlanta United.
They then suffered a 2-0 defeat against Montreal but were able to clinch a 3-2 win against Cincinnati - all thanks to Captain Gonzalo Higuain’s late winner.
However, the team then went on lose in six consecutive matches - with Inter only being able to find the back of the net once in that time.
After their most recent loss, Neville admitted to reporters that he “wasn’t expecting it.”
“The players need to take a long, hard look at themselves, and so do I.
“We win, we lose together. You will never find me blaming (anybody else). I will take full responsibility for that and ultimately it is my job to make this team better and at this moment in time they are not. That’s on my shoulders.”
The Inter Miami manager also said he feels the “full support” of the club’s owners.
“They don’t need to tell me about their concerns because I have the same concerns.
He added: “I’ve been in football long enough and I know the consequences - that’s no problem to me.”
Let’s just hope that the team gets it’s act together for Monday’s match against Philadelphia, otherwise Neville could be facing an awkward chat with his mate Beckham.
