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Neville and Beckham can be the winning formula, says Premier League legend

The jury is out on as to whether Neville can succeed after his most recent spell as England Women's coach, where he lost seven of his last 11 games before resigning.

Brad Friedel believes Phil Neville is the right man to lead David Beckham's newly established MLS franchise Inter Miami.

Neville and Beckham know each very well, having both been a part of the Class of '92 alongside Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt.

All of six of them experienced some of Manchester United's biggest achievements, including an unprecedented treble-winning season in 1999. The pair have remained close since retiring from the game and are partners with Neville, Scholes and Giggs with all five owning 10% of League Two side Salford City.

From his experience with Neville, Friedel - most recently coach of New England Revolution between 2017 to 2019 - believes Neville will be successful despite the club entering just its second season of existence.

"I did my pro licence with Phil Neville so [I] know all about his quality. I think it's a great hire... he's a really mild-mannered guy, a very intelligent guy," he exclusively told Cards Chat.

"They're still bit-piecing their entire club together... there's a lot of uncertainty with the club itself. Neville will be fine to deal with big name signings like Higuain and Matuidi. He played at one of the biggest clubs in the world [Man United] for a long time.
"You know what I think will help him even more is his time with the women's national team in England, because it showed that Phil was able to adapt to a completely different way of playing.
"The players will like him, he speaks Spanish from his time at Valencia, which will help him here in Miami. It will also help with a lot of the foreign players that you bring in, because there's [a] huge influx of players from South America," he added.

Beckham has had a huge impact on MLS

Friedel had one of the best views on the pitch when he went up against Beckham during his Premier League days with Liverpool and Blackburn.

The former goalkeeper - who also played for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa - credits Beckham for increasing MLS standards across the board. Beckham left Real Madrid in 2007 to join LA Galaxy and enjoyed five years at the Galaxy, winning two MLS Cups in the process.

"MLS is now more of an attractive option for players from Europe's top leagues. It's better football, they're better players," Friedel said.
"It's better, and it gets better and better every single year - more fans, more participation on social media and a lot of the cities that you can live in are beautiful cities."

david beckham gordon ramsay inter miami owner mls

David Beckham talks to celebrity chef and good friend Gordon Ramsay during an Inter Miami match

"The impact that David had on MLS reverberated globally. No one really knew about MLS until David came here. And he got MLS into media outlets and social media outlets that MLS could never have imagined without the signing of him... what David did for the league is just second to none to what anyone's done in the league so far."

"I think, during his time at LA Galaxy, what he did for the league will never be replicated by anyone unless [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi come over at the same time."

"The impact that Beckham had on the MLS as a player can't be repeated as an owner.
"If they win the league, will it be because David Beckham won the league? I think it will be Inter Miami and David's name will definitely be there."

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