With five games to go until the end of the regular season, Inter Miami are sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference table and eight points shy of the last playoff spot.
Phil Neville‘s side have lost six games in a row, with their last defeat taking place on Saturday away at Columbus Crew, who cruised past Miami 4-0 and piled the pressure on David Beckham.
The Miami owner is aware that Neville is at the receiving end of criticism and he may be forced to make a tough decision and part ways with his former Manchester United teammate.
Neville didn’t shy away from responsibility
After the game with Columbus, the Inter Miami coach expressed his confidence that the team can make this season’s playoffs, but also acknowledged that he should be held responsible for Miami’s recent displays and results.
“It’s mathematically not impossible still to qualify for the playoffs, but it’s going to be absolute mountain to climb for us,” said Neville.
“I sit here as the manager, and we’ve got a lot of big questions and big decisions to make.
“When a team loses, you’ve got to look at the manager first and look at the tactics, systems, players you pick, roster you built, and there’s no hiding place for me at this moment or for my staff or players.
“I have to take responsibility. It’s my job to get this team better, to coach better, to make sure they are fit enough to play 90 minutes and to play the way I want to play. Those are the questions I have to ask myself and my staff because we have players who are not fit enough to compete 90 minutes.”
Controversial comments on MLS referees
Following Miami’s 1-0 defeat to the New York Red Bulls last week, Neville expressed his frustration on the officiating in his team’s latest defeats.
“I don’t want to sound like a broken record but something is fundamentally wrong with the way referees treat Inter Miami,” Neville declared.
“There has to be a massive investigation into the decisions given against Inter Miami. We want this to be the best league in the world, but we’ve got decisions like that.
“We’ve had our integrity questioned this year. We got stones thrown at us and had to take a lot of absolute s**t from a lot of people and had to accept it. I can’t accept this, I’ve got to defend my club against something unjust and wrong. I feel we’re being cheated.”
After the MLS handed Neville a fine, the Miami coach issued an apology for his public accusations on the referees, but there were many who didn’t take his remarks well.
Following his controversial comments and the six-game losing streak, his job could be in danger and it remains to be seen whether Beckham will decide to fire his friend and former teammate.
