Phil Neville has his heart set on a long stay in the United States as he prepares for his second season as head coach at David Beckham’s Inter Miami.
Former Manchester United defender Neville took over at the MLS outfit last year after leaving his post as the manager of the England women’s side.
The 45-year-old endured a difficult first campaign at the Fort Lauderdale-based club – which is part-owned by his former United and England team-mate Beckham – as they failed to make the end-of-season play-offs.
After overseeing a major overhaul of the squad in the close season, Neville will now face pressure to deliver but he is fully committed to life in Florida on the field at Inter and off it with his family.
“We are committed, we don’t go half measures,” said Neville at an MLS launch event. “We’ve got no house or property in England, there’s nothing to come home for apart from family.
“We love living in the US and we as a family, and me personally, want this to be a success.
“I want longevity in this role. I think there’s nothing better than a manager in place for a long time. That’s what longevity means and I think that breeds success.
“I want to be successful and I want to repay the faith that David and (co-owner) Jose (Mas) have put in me.”
A lot of Neville’s happiness comes from the fact his family have embraced the move to the US.
His son Harvey, 19, is also on the books at Inter and has been playing for their reserve side Fort Lauderdale.
Neville said: “I’m married to an incredible woman. We were in rented accommodation for maybe two or three months but I came home one day – we’d just lost a game – and she said we’re not renting anymore, we’re buying, we’re committed to this.
“My son Harvey is having the time of his life, he’s really loving the experience out here and my daughter passed her driving test yesterday, so that was a big moment for the whole family.
“She’s at a really good school in Miami and now wants to go through the American college system, which scares the living daylights out of me really, but she’s just totally bought into the American way of life, and we’re a family that do that.”
Neville, however, is under no illusions as to the size of the task facing him as he tries to mould a team from a squad that will have 15 new faces for Inter’s third season in MLS.
“We had to send a strong strong statement because the first two years for this franchise weren’t good enough, weren’t acceptable from the top down to the very bottom,” said Neville, whose side begin their campaign against Chicago on February 26.
“So we had to make major changes to get what we wanted. I think last season taught me an awful lot and probably the thing I learned the most was this league is the hardest thing in the world too win.”
