Gary Neville is rarely backward about coming forward when it comes to criticising Manchester United's owners.
The Glazer family have often felt the full force of Neville's wrath, particularly following a bad result with Neville using his platform as a prominent Sky Sports pundit to air his forthright views.
But now he has admitted that he did not feel he had it in him to chastise the American owners whilst he was a player. Writing in his new book ' The People's Game: A View From A Front Seat In Football ', Neville admits: "I didn’t have it in me to speak out. Footballers now have much more character and presence about them. We harp back to characters of old.
Read more: How United should line up against Arsenal
"But there’s more to character than playing on with a bloodied bandage around your head. I maintain that players today are stronger-willed and have more personality than players of 25 years ago.
"They consistently stand up for issues beyond football, as we’ve seen with Marcus Rashford on child poverty, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings on racism.
"I was a strong-willed footballer, sometimes referred to as Red Nev. I was the union rep and had some basic business understanding at that young age. I was willing to take on the FA and threaten a strike.
"But at United, you didn’t cross the boundary into off-the-field issues. None of the strong personalities questioned it. And I could justify the Glazers’ game plan in my head."
READ MORE:
