Gary Neville’s infamous reign as Valencia boss is often used as a stick to beat the Sky Sports pundit. But he was quick to remind one critic that it wasn’t all bad after his advice to Chelsea proved prophetic during their clash with Real Madrid.
Frank Lampard’s side actually started well at the Bernabeu, with Joao Felix spurning a glorious chance to put them in front in the opening minutes. The European champions grew in confidence however and by the time Karim Benzema opened the scoring, the writing had been on the wall. And Neville saw it coming, with a perfectly timed post less than a minute before Benzema’s tap in.
“Chelsea wing backs have to run forward and the back 3 spread when they get in possession or they will never get out!” Neville warned. Less than a minute later Chelsea were punished, with their three central defenders pinned deep in their own area and unable to stop Vinicius Jr. and Benzema.
“Too late with my tactical advice! That was coming!!!” Neville said after the goal, before joking “timing always been my strong point.”
Another user then intimated his tactical advice wasn’t worth listening to, asking the Sky Sports pundit how he got on as manager at Valencia, to which Neville replied: “Drew 2-2 with Real Madrid.”
The draw with Los Blancos was one of the highlights of a difficult spell in the dugout, a spell which lasted only four months and included just three league wins. But his Valencia side did get a point against Madrid in an entertaining game which saw both sides score in the final ten minutes.
He also managed a couple of 1-1 draws with Barcelona, although the second of those came in the second leg of a Copa Del Rey tie they were already 7-0 down from the first leg.
Neville has since admitted he should never have accepted the job and has no interest in going back into management in the future.
Speaking on Sky Sports' The Overlap, Neville said: "Roy [Keane] said before about saying no, and I did say no the first time I was asked.I didn't want to be a manager. I should have said no, it wasn't for me and I wasn't experienced enough.”
He added: "Go over there thinking four or five months, I didn't think it was gonna be easy, but I just thought I had to basically steer the ship to the end of the season, literally four-five months.
“And over there I remember looking in the mirror one morning and thinking: 'I'm struggling.' Didn't know what to do with the players, was changing systems, all the things that I say on television now you should never do and it was too much.
"Out of my depth. I needed to get out of there but it was something that I learned a lot from. I wouldn't do it in the future. I would never do it again."
