The former Manchester United captain has been appointed as the head coach of La Liga outfit, Valencia. The news came as a big surprise to the whole football community as Phil and Gary Neville will look to guide the club back towards the top of the table.
Gary Neville, 40, was presented as the head coach in a press conference on Thursday. Neville stated that he isn’t looking to bring in the Manchester United philosophy to Valencia.
“I’m not going to insult Valencia by saying I’m coming over here and playing football like Manchester United,” Neville told reporters.
“My experience with Sir Alex Ferguson is invaluable but when you talk about style, it will be very different against Barcelona at the weekend to against Lyon [in the Champions League] next week.
“Every coach wants to play attacking football to entertain the fans, but we’ve also got to find a way to win.”
After his appointment, Gary Neville has become one of the favourites to land the job at Old Trafford after Louis van Gaal. Neville’s close friend and ex-teammate, Ryan Giggs, is the assistant manager at Manchester United and is believed to replace United’s Dutch boss. The Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola is also among the suitors for the job at United.
Gary Neville has played down his chances of taking over at United and claimed that he is completely focused on training his new team.
“From a long-term perspective I would never look at that or future jobs,” he insisted. “I’m focused completely on the next two training sessions and the team to pick for Wednesday.
“We all have dreams but the only way you get there is focusing on the individual bits one at a time.”
The former Red Devil also talked about his playing days and recollected memories of facing Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium. The 40-year-old hailed Valencia fans and called for their support.
“I understand, from playing against Valencia, the passion and intimidation of the fans and I want to recreate and harness that,” he said.
“I’m aware of the traditions here at Valencia – I’ve played out here a few times against some fantastic wingers.
One of the former leading presenters at Sky Sports, Gary Neville knows the enormity of the task at hand and also to deliver results as soon as possible.
“I understand my responsibility is to appraise the players as quickly as possible and pick the right system that gets us winning matches right away, irrespective of style.
“On Sunday afternoon when I received this offer it represented a challenge that I couldn’t refuse.”
Gary Neville was also the assistant manager to England’s boss Roy Hodgson. Neville will continue to serve the Three Lions during the international breaks and the upcoming European Championships in France next year.
“When I spoke to Roy Hodgson he was incredibly supportive and positive and enthusiastic.
“He understood completely the opportunity for myself and was wholly supportive that I should do it. We’ve got two games in March, which are in an international break when Valencia don’t play.
“From my point of view, I wanted to continue to complete my job through to Euro 2016 and everyone is completely understanding that Valencia will be my priority 95 percent of the time.”
On Saturday, Gary Neville will make his managerial debut. He faces his first tough test in his first match in-charge as Valencia play host to Luis Enrique’s treble winning Barcelona side.