Neville on fans booing his son: ‘Hit me. Come for me. Don’t go for my young kids.’
Phil Neville #PhilNeville
Desperate to turn things around and get out of the Eastern Conference cellar, Inter Miami instead squandered easy scoring chances, lost 1-0 at home to the New York Red Bulls and fell short for the fourth league game in a row.
After New York scored in the 52nd minute, one group of Miami fans in the DRV PNK Stadium north stands displayed their feelings about coach Phil Neville by pulling out a banner that read “Neville Out!”. They booed when Neville’s 20-year-old son Harvey came off the bench in the 88th minute and each time he touched the ball.
“In moments of real adversity, you learn a lot about yourself and the players you have, and I was incredibly proud (pause) of the young boy they were booing,” Neville said about his son. “It showed great courage. It hurt. It hurt. But I understand, and I think he understands. Do I agree with it? Probably not. But I’m his coach and I believe in young players.”
Neville said his father was his hero and he recalled one instance when he was playing Under-12 and one of the parents was shouting at him, and his father said: “Hit me.”
“That’s what I’d say: `Hit me guys, I can handle that. I can take that. I’ve had it all my career,’” Neville said. “We have the best fans. I understand their frustration, the banners and all that because it comes with the territory being a professional football manager. I would say to the supporters, `Just come for me.’ Support the team and the young boys…Don’t knock one of our own. Just come for me. If you’re unhappy, hit the manager. Don’t go for one of my young kids. That hurts and that’s personal.”
Defender DeAndre Yedlin, the acting captain while Gregore recovers from surgery, had a similar message for the fans.
“We understand the fans’ frustration, we’re frustrated, as well and have not been nearly good enough,” Yedlin said. “As far as booing Harvey, he’s one of us. If you’re going to boo Harvey, then boo all of us. He’s done the steps he needed to do to get playing time and get on the field. He works hard every day in training like everyone else. He’s not here just because his father’s the coach. He’s a great young player. I don’t think it’s right to go after one player, especially a young player.”
Miami dominated possession 62 percent to 38 percent but managed just one shot on goal and six shots total while the Red Bulls had 18 shots, nine on target. Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender, who has been the team’s rock all season, made eight saves to keep the game close.
Miami remained in last place in the East with a 5-10-2 record. The Red Bulls (4-5-7) moved up from 13th place to 11th.
Miami and New York are two of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, and both were held scoreless in the first half.
The Red Bulls finally broke the ice in the 52nd minute. Miami lost the ball in the midfield, its defenders were slow getting back, New York’s Luquinhas penetrated the area, hit the right post and Tom Barlow took advantage by pouncing on the rebound for the goal.
“That goal knocked the stuffing out of us,” Neville said.
Inter Miami had a golden opportunity to take an early lead and grab control of the game after being awarded a penalty kick in the eighth minute. Officials went to VAR and determined that Red Bulls defender Kyle Duncan tugged on Nico Stefanelli’s shorts in the box as both went up for a ball.
But Leo Campana failed to capitalize, missing the PK with a soft shot that went directly to NYRB keeper Carlos Coronel. The Ecuadorian forward failed to score on another easy chance from close range late in the first half. He received a perfect angled pass from Franco Negri in front of the goal and rather than take a shot, he hesitated for a split second, took an extra touch to move the ball to his left foot and lost it.
“We’ve not delivered in the big moments,” Neville said. “There’s not been one team that’s been better than us. We’re not taking the big moments. After 15 minutes we should have been up 3-0, game over. We weren’t and we got punished.”
He challenged his players to pick up their performances going forward.
“We’re going have to take all the criticism, all the booing,” Neville said. “We’re going to have to take it on the chin. We’re not in position to fight back against people who say things about us or about me. The buck stops with me. Our results haven’t been good enough.”
New York peppered Callender with five shots in the last six minutes before intermission, but Callender came up big time and time again, including a leaping save over the crossbar.
Neville went back to a two-forward lineup with Campana and Josef Martinez after starting Campana alone in the 1-0 loss to Montreal last weekend. Stefanelli returned to the starting lineup, as did David Ruiz, who missed the previous few games while on duty with Honduras in the U20 World Cup.
Edison Azcona, who scored for the Dominican Republic in the U20 World Cup, was on the game roster for the first time this season and made his season debut off the bench.
Former Inter Miami winger and fan favorite Lewis Morgan, who was traded to the Red Bulls for $1.5 million before the 2022 season, began the game on the bench. He had played just three games this season due to a hip injury. Now sporting platinum blond hair, Lewis came off the bench in the 62nd minute.
Inter Miami is home again Saturday against D.C. United.
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