Neville Salutes Sir Alex

In the final part of Gary Neville's interview with MUTV, the defender talks about the influence of the boss...


What would you like to say about Sir Alex and his influence?
He’ll be regarded as the greatest football manager this game has ever seen. For me to have played under him for that long is incredible. He’s given me my opportunity. He always said he would do that if we were good enough. He’s always given players opportunities. I owe him everything. He put in place the vision of what Matt Busby created 50 years ago – bringing young players through, local lads who love the club, the heartbeat of the club. He could mould them into the players he wanted them to be. You can never replace what local lads bring, but we require other skills. So the foreign players complement those attributes. The local lads are the foundation. We’ve got that right through the squad. You mould these players into Manchester United people.

Over these past 20 years, can you say that there’s a best team you’ve played in?
The 1994 team - the power and strength and physique of that team was incredible; the 1999 team, obviously; and the 2006/07 team when Ronaldo and Rooney came of age and Vidic and Evra settled into the team, that was a really special six to eight months. I got injured towards the end of that season, but I thought we were brilliant and it didn’t surprise me that team went on to win the European Cup. That was probably as enjoyable as it could be. But for my injury I’d probably have gone on to play in that team, but those three stand out. For achievement, you’d have to say the 1999 team.
You mentioned the injury in 2007, against Bolton. You were out for a long time, was that the beginning of the end?
You’d have to say it was. My touch wasn’t great and Gary Speed smashed me, which I’d have done to him in the same position! I didn’t come back for 12 months. The ankle was probably five or six months, then I got knock-on injuries. To miss a year at that age, football moves on so quickly. That was a period where Ronado, Rooney, then players like Rafael eventually, came in, and the team moves on. You come back in and you’re getting used to it again. In the next two seasons I think I played 25-30 games in each, but you're not used as much. That happened to the other older players, but playing regularly had always been my way. Playing regularly in the back four brings confidence and fitness. But because of the emergence of other players and as I was picking up silly injuries that put me out for three or four weeks, in some ways it probably was the beginning of the end – even though I enjoyed last season and the season before that.

You’ve played with some incredible players – is it possible to say there is a ‘best player’ you played with?
It’s difficult to do that. There are two still playing now: Giggsy and Scholesy. How can you separate those two? Then you talk about the most inspirational players, like Roy Keane and Bryan Robson. Then Cristiano Ronaldo for those two seasons – that level of performance was just incredible. Eric Cantona, in the season we won the double and came back from that ban, he scored in six or seven in the run-in. Then there’s Peter Schmeichel. It’s so difficult to pick one and I’ve missed players out there: Pally, Jaap Stam, Becks… I’m just privileged to have played with so many great players.

It’s been said there are more naturally gifted footballers than yourself, but that you used every bit of your talent and also the sheer force of your determination to create a very successful career. Is that a fair way of putting it?
You’re being polite there, aren’t you? [Laughs] It’s fair to say I relied on qualities that weren’t naturally technical or skilful to get to where I got to. I’d like to think there’s an element of intelligence, that I knew where to be on the football pitch, and physically I could run up and down all day. Mentally, I'd do whatever it took to win a game for Manchester United. I had a determination to win, to make sure we won, and a will to succeed. That was my greatest asset, my fitness and strength of character. It takes all types of characters. Some players can drop their performance by 3% and still play. With me, it was 100% or nothing. There was no inbetween. The percent below 100% was pretty average to be honest with you. So everything had to be right for me: fitness, mentality, no injuries, match sharpness. I’ve always had to prepare to my absolute maximum. When you start getting injuries and you then don’t get the run of games because other players come in, you don’t get that fluidity. I relied upon that. You see someone like Giggs now, he could probably play until he’s 45. But he’s a different player to what he was when he was 17. You could argue he’s better, but he’s different. Scholesy too. Scholesy was a centre-forward or marauding midfielder for ten years. Now he controls the whole pace of the game from deep in midfield. They’ve adapted and have incredible skill and ability. I don’t have those natural skills to rely on. My game was based on fitness, determination, being aggressive and physical. When some of those attributes leave you, it has a big effect.

You’ve lived your life under the microscope; presumably that’s not something you’ll miss?
When I played I was in the spotlight, but nobody really knows what I do at home. Nobody knows where I go to eat – apart from the people in the restaurant, maybe – or who I socialise with. My life is quite private. The glare of publicity on the field, that’s the adrenalin, the buzz of 76,000 fans watching you every week. That’s what you live for playing for United. I’ll miss that.

What does the future hold for you?
In the immediate future I’ll go in to United until the end of the season and do some coaching; I’ve got my coaching badges to complete. My mindset isn’t to go into coaching or management full-time yet. For 20 years I’ve been going into a football club and I definitely want to try and continue my relationship with this club, even if it’s just as a fan. I’ll probably not do things that are full-time. I want 12 months to gather myself. I don’t want to rush into a new relationship too quickly! [Laughs] I want to ease off and relax. I’m not that relaxed a person. I need to chill out a little bit. I do want to continue my relationship with the club. United have given me everything that I’ve got in my life.

How do you want United fans to remember you on the field?
[Celebrating against Liverpool] is perhaps the thing that comes to people's minds straight away. But to be part of teams that are successful is as much as I’ve ever wanted. How much I contributed is down to people’s opinion. But to be part of it and to have won things is what you come into it for as a kid. You come into football as a kid, one, because something grabs you, for me it was United; secondly, you love playing football; then when you get to a level where you want to play for the first-team, you want to win trophies. That’s what matters, being part of teams that mean something or that people are going to remember. That is how I’d like to be remembered, that I was part of successful football teams and contributed to them.

That celebration against Liverpool seemed to resonate with fans though…
People say that was pre-meditated, but it’s not, it's instinctive. The best match I ever played in - because it was the last what I'd call old-fashioned football match - was the semi-final at Arsenal in 1999. It was a night-game, a semi-final replay and everything happened. The fans were on the pitch holding players up after the game. To me, that was probably the greatest match of my life. It was probably the last real football match I played in. Now because of security and health and safety, and all the restrictions, those days are becoming more difficult to create. For me, United score a goal and you celebrate. If you’re a fan, you celebrate; if you’re a player, you celebrate. If we didn’t celebrate a goal the manager would go mad. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t tell me to go over and celebrate in front of opposition fans, but it’s instinctive that if United score I will celebrate.