Tag: Gary Neville

  • I’m disappointed in Ronaldo – Gary Neville

    I’m disappointed in Ronaldo – Gary Neville

    Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville admits he’s “disappointed” by the behaviour of Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Ronaldo has told the club he wants to leave Old Trafford in pursuit of trophies and Champions League football but an exit is yet to materialise and no concrete offers have been forthcoming.

    Tensions heightened further last week when the forward was subbed off during a 1-1 friendly draw with Rayo Vallecano and he left the stadium before full-time – with manager Erik ten Hag calling the episode “unacceptable”.

    Neville said last night: “I’m a little bit disappointed in him. Because he’s letting the manager go into those press conferences.

    “He’s a good age, he’s been one of the best players in the world. Could he not do that interview?

    “On Sunday we’re going to ask for him after the game, could he not come out and speak to us instead of getting other people to say it?”

  • Man Utd will have another manager next season – Neville

    Man Utd will have another manager next season – Neville

    Former Manchester United captain, Gary Neville has said Ralf Rangnick will not be appointed permanent manager of the club at the end of the season.

    The German replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on an interim basis in December.

    However, Rangnick has an agreement with United to move into a consultancy role after his six-month contract expires.

    Having overseen a rough path, which still sees the Red Devils in the Premier League top four, there have been calls for him to be given the role.

    But Neville insists a new manager will be in place ahead of the 2022/2023 season.

    He told Sky Sports: “I don’t think he gets the job at the end of the season, come what may, now. I think maybe there was a feeling at the beginning that it could happen; that isn’t going to happen. Manchester United will have a new manager next season.

    “I think he will have a say in who gets the job because what he has got is a real good view of the characters, personalities, performance levels and training levels of the current group of players so he is in a strong position to advise.

    “He is probably in the strongest position to advise because he is having day-to-day contact with them. He is seeing how they cope with disappointment, how they cope with atmospheres, how they cope with big games, how they cope with training; can they meet the demands of the club? Have they got the quality?”

  • I know Man Utd players who are leaking club news – Neville

    I know Man Utd players who are leaking club news – Neville

    Former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville has claimed he knows players behind the “disgusting” leaks from the club’s dressing room.

    Rangnick is over two months into a turbulent reign as interim manager at Old Trafford.

    That period has been characterised by mixed results on the pitch and numerous dressing room issues.

    Among the leaks from the United dressing room is that the squad prefers Paris Saint-Germain manager, Mauricio Pochettino to be the permanent appointment this summer.

    Neville has now blasted those players and their representatives behind the leaks.

    Speaking on his Gary Neville podcast on Sunday, he said: “I remember when I joined Sky and we had the Champions League in the early years, and I went over to Napoli to do a game involving Chelsea.

    “It was when Andre Villas-Boas was their manager and he left out Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Ashley Cole – four or five prominent players.

    “That is what managers tend to do in their final days at a club, as they see it as a free hit.

    “I remember sitting there at lunchtime with our team and they were getting messages of team news being leaked and the manager being slagged off, and I sat there thinking ‘does this actually happen’?

    “Players agents and PR teams were briefing the media on a matchday about what was going on inside a club, and it was the first time I had seen it and known for it to happen – it really unnerved me.

    “That is happening at Manchester United now – they are at it, the PR teams, the agents and the marketing teams, as a self-preservation for their own player.

    “But what they do not realise is that unfortunately, when they go to the media then those media people go to us – so we know who is briefing.

    “The reality is that we do not like it, but we know who it is.

    “We are not going to throw people under a bus here because we have that journalistic respect – but they are it in the same way that Chelsea were all those years ago.

    “They need to stop it and work as hard as they can.”

  • Gary Neville brands Arsenal players ‘a joke’

    Gary Neville brands Arsenal players ‘a joke’

    Arsenal’s players have been accused of working against manager Mikel Arteta.

    Former England assistant coach Gary Neville has branded Arsenal’s forwards a “little mafia” and questioned whether Arteta’s senior players are still playing for him.

    “I have to say that there was a few of those players in that front part of the pitch, it looked like a little mafia that,” Neville said.

    “It looked like a little group of players who weren’t comfortable. Like there was a disconnect between them and the manager.

    “The effort from that front six… They were a joke. The lack of energy. All the way through the first half I was getting more uncomfortable. Mikel Arteta, I think he would have been shocked by the lack of application.

    “Liverpool won the ball back time and time again. It was a walk in the park. They never laid a finger on them. A really bad day. It was a dark moment. A cross-roads moment. I think Mikel Arteta will have come away from that game, thinking, ‘it’s me or them.’

    “I called the older players fed lions. Arsenal have got a big problem with some of those players.”

  • Man Utd don’t need to spend £20m on Ighalo – Neville

    Man Utd don’t need to spend £20m on Ighalo – Neville

    Manchester United legend Gary Neville feels the Red Devils “don’t need to spend” £20 million ($25m) on Odion Ighalo this summer.

    Neville who has questioned the Shanghai Shenhua loanee’s value in the current market.

    Ighalo has been an unexpected hit for the Red Devils since completing a short term loan move to Old Trafford in January on transfer deadline day.

    United were criticised for turning to the 30-year-old forward who had spent the previous three years of his career in China, but he quickly proved that he was up to the task of playing for one of the world’s biggest clubs.

    The former United right-back said on Instagram Live: “Is Ighalo worth £20m? Probably not in this market. He may have been if he continued before scoring goals but you probably don’t need now to spend £20m.”

     

  • Mourinho hits back at Gary Neville over Man Utd criticism

    Former Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, has hit back at claims from Gary Neville that he tried to change United’s image during his reign at Old Trafford.

    Neville, suggested that no manager should be allowed to alter the club’s traditions of playing free-flowing football and promoting youngsters into the first team.

    However, Mourinho rejected Neville’s claims and took a swipe at the former Red Devils’ defender.

    “He doesn’t know my philosophy,” Mourinho said during his role as a pundit on beIN Sports.

    He continued: “I would love to go to a club and to be in conditions to do what Jurgen [Klopp] and Pep [Guardiola] for example they did.

    “You look at the team Liverpool started with today, how many players were there before Jurgen arrived? A couple.

    “And when Pep was not happy with the four full-backs he had and in the same summer he bought four full-backs that he liked.

    “And when he bought one goalkeeper like Claudio Bravo, and then he was not happy with Claudio Bravo, and the next season he bought Ederson.

    “And when Jurgen is in the club and wins absolutely nothing for three years and he still has the trust and still has the confidence and he still has the conditions to try to keep going and going.

    “Probably this season they have a big chance to do it, but it would be the first time they win a trophy.

    “That’s why I was saying before, in my next job, I will not be starting a conversation with a club without knowing exactly what the club wants and what the club has to give in terms of structure and objectives.”

  • Mourinho compared to Floyd Mayweather by Gary Neville

    Gary Neville has compared Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, given that their defence-first approach draws unfair criticism given that it produces success.

     

    Neville revealed both Manchester United boss, Jose Mourinho who he likened to boxer Floyd Mayweather uses defence as a weapon.

     

    The former United full-back, Neville insists defending well is just as much of an art as thrilling attacking football, and made the comparison between the Portuguese coach and former world champion Mayweather, who won multiple titles across several weight divisions with his patient, pragmatic approach in the ring.

     

    United have the best defensive record in the Premier League having conceded just four times all season and also have not conceded a goal at home in the league since April.

     

    Mourinho’s style of football has been questioned following a goalless draw with Liverpool and a narrow 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

     

    Neville told Sky Sport, “But Mourinho is a little bit like Mayweather at times. Mayweather is called boring at times, where he uses defence as a weapon, let’s people punch themselves out.”