Beckham, owner Mas emphasize building
Youth development a priority in 2nd year with Henderson, Neville on board
A lot didn’t go right for Inter Miami CF in their inaugural year, leading to significant changes in their coaching and front-office leadership.
They got off to the worst start in Major League Soccer history after dropping their first five games. Inter Miami didn’t showcase the attractive playing style or compete at the level they hoped to, ending their inaugural season ended with a 7-13-3 regular-season record and 3-0 playoff loss to Nashville SC.
Meanwhile, David Beckham, an Inter Miami co-owner and the club’s president of soccer operations, had to watch his team’s discouraging season from over 4,000 miles away from South Florida in the United Kingdom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was my utmost priority to get back as soon as possible,” said Beckham, who returned to South Florida on Christmas for the first time in 10 months. “We know going forward we want to learn and evolve and this is part of the next history of our club.
“Last year was very frustrating, watching games from my house at the U.K. at 1 a.m and 2 a.m. I’ve been here for the last three weeks and have been able to be around the club and the staff to see exactly what we need to do moving forward, which is why we made the changes we made.”
The main changes: former Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso and sporting director Paul McDonough both “mutually agreeing to part ways” with the club, and former England women’s national soccer team coach Phil Neville — also a former teammate of Beckham’s — and former Seattle Sounders sporting director Chris Henderson taking their respective positions.
In the first comments to media
from the club’s ownership group and front office since Inter Miami’s playoff to Nashville on Nov. 20, managing owner Jorge Mas said the changes in the organization weren’t just about the team’s disappointing end-of-season record.
“These moves were precipitated by the fact that we as owners won’t settle for mediocrity and we think bringing in new leadership can help us excel in all of the areas that’ll make us a better club, a better team and establish a DNA and culture that’s a reflection of ownerships’ aspirations,” Mas said. “Bringing Chris and Phil at this time were the leaders we needed for the following chapters of Inter Miami for 2021 and beyond.”
The next chapter of Inter Miami’s journey in MLS will see Beckham take a more active role on the club’s soccer side than he was able to in 2020.
“I always planned to be hands-on and have been hands-on, but unfortunately from the other side of the world,” Beckham said. “I’ve been in the training facility every single morning working with the medical staff, the coaches we have here, talking with the players we’ve had in, going through each item we weren’t happy with. Being here for the last three weeks has been very rewarding. A couple of things have been eye-opening and that’s why we’ve really made the changes we made.”
The main aspect of the club that both Beckham and Mas emphasized will be changed is making the development of young players — from the MLS team to the club’s USL League One affiliate, Fort Lauderdale CF, to the club’s academy teams — a bigger priority going forward.
“This is a team and organization that’s going to develop players,” Mas said. “We’re blessed to live in South Florida and have a significant talent pool that will build up the ranks as young players who aspire for the first team. The player development side of what happened in 2020 was not up to David’s satisfaction, especially with some of the young talent on the team. All of the decisions we’ve made are all driven by developing players.”
Felipe Valencia’s signing with Inter Miami as the club’s first academy product to ink a homegrown deal was an indication of what Beckham said is the ownership’s mindset.
“The DNA of this club has to be what comes through our academy system,” he said. “We want to be known as one of these great academies that has produced some great players so our fans can sit in that stadium, their parents can sit in that stadium and see these young players come through and play at the highest level.
“That’ll be the proudest moment for us, that’s what was so important for us and that was my dream from Day One — that the academy system is so strong and better than anyone else’s.”
All while still looking to bring in some of the top soccer stars in the world — such as Blaise Matuidi and Gonzalo Higuaín, both of whom joined Inter Miami from Juventus in 2020.
“We want the international star,” Neville said. “We live in a world where football is universal. But ultimately, I think that young homegrown player is absolutely essential to this football club. Someone on the field who has the heart of an Inter Miami player. That’s my goal this year — to put someone on the field that’s got Inter Miami blood.”
But the greater emphasis on prioritizing youth development doesn’t mean Inter Miami’s leaders are less ambitious than before.
“We want to compete for championships every year,” Henderson said. “As a global club that can compete with the elite in this league, when you build that competition and have a clear identity of how you want to play, you can get to that position where you’re competing every week.