Gary Neville has become one of the most insightful football pundits in the world right nowWhat can be said about Gary Neville that hasn’t already been said? The Manchester United legend was one of the most consistent right-backs the Premier League had ever seen during his time at Old Trafford. A graduate of United’s famous Class of ‘92, Neville went on to win eight Premier League titles and two Champions League titles during his tenure at United. He was also voted into the PFA Team of the Season five times and was part of the Premier League’s Team of the Decade. His reputation clearly precedes him.However, that isn’t all. Neville had become one of the most entertaining football pundits post his retirement from professional football. The man from Bury manages to chalk out innumerable quotable lines every Monday night. In an industry ruled by drab, prosaic analyses filled with politically correct statements, Neville’s unapologetic opinion on matters has been a breath of fresh air for fans tuning in around the world. With him taking up the Valencia job, surely fans all over the world will miss his indept analysis of the beautiful game. Here are the 5 best examples of that refreshingly unadulterated input. (All clips via Sky Sports)
#1 On Manchester United\'s defence
If there’s one thing Gary Neville knows, it’s how to defend. A master at right-back during his playing days, the former United man was a stalwart at the back during his stay at Old Trafford. This defensive know-how is on show whenever he is called on to analyze games.
This is perfectly exemplified in the way he dissects and analyzes the Manchester United defence, focusing on how well they maintained the line at the back with special mention given to Daley Blind for his shepherding of the backline much akin to the role he played when he was a Red Devil.
What’s amazing to note is that even with the lack of footage available for him to use, Neville manages to perfectly illustrate the defensive soundness of the United backline – something most other analysts wouldn’t be able to do even with a heap of clips on hand.
#2 On Wenger\'s inabilty to sign a holding midfielder
There is no question as to whether Arsene Wenger is a fantastic manager. There is also no denying the fact that he’s managed to sign some fantastic players when they were still in the infancy of their playing careers.
While he may have attracted some criticism for the fact that he manages to let many of these young signings leave later on, his calibre as a scout was never under question. Until Gary Neville did so.
In another example of him seeing something nobody else could have, Neville manages to throw light on the fact that Wenger has consistently managed to elude signing a strong holding midfielder to sit at the heart of the Gunners’ midfield – even after recalling Francis Coquelin from loan.
He also then highlights how Wenger has then tried to compensate for it by making certain players play through the centre when they are actually naturally suited to paly on the wings.
This concerning trend for Arsenal would have gone under the radar had Neville not called it out and now leaves Arsenal fans all over the world gunning for a strong central figure in their midfield.
#3 On Jose Mourinho
It is quite easy to say that Chelsea may have bought their title last year. In the same sense, it is also a very commonly heard statement that Jose Mourinho didn’t deserve to be Manager of the Year looking at the funds at his disposal and the calibre of the squad he already had on hand.
However as Neville perfectly displays here, the truth is far from it. In a refreshingly objective and honest analysis, the former United man manages to show us the sheer scale of Mourinho’s overhaul of Chelsea and the tactful expulsions and additions they have made to the team under the Portuguese manager who virtually restructured the entire team while obeying the Financial Fair Play rules.
Without pundits like Neville, most of us would never even realize the magnitude of Mourinho’s impact on Chelsea in his second stint with the club and how he has actually been as impactful on the team as when he first arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2005.
Neville, however, doesn’t only shower praises on the Chelsea manager and also notes down that it would be remiss of Mourinho to make the errors of the past and deprive the club of true holistic growth by restricting the involvement of the academy products in Chelsea’s starting XI.
#4 On diving
Much has been said about the topic of diving and the need for its removal from football. While it doesn’t appear to be going out anytime soon even with numerous analysts criticizing it day-in and day-out, only one man looks at it from an objective point of view – for the reason behind a player diving.
Gary Neville seems to be the only analyst out there who partly condones the act of diving and he has good reason to back it up. As seen from the clipping here from 2014, after the Arsenal-West Ham game where the Gunners came out 3-1 winners, he was quick to put a stop to the showers of praise Matt Jarvis was receiving for staying on his feet when he was fouled in the box.
In a very clinical and objective analysis, Neville stated that while Jarvis may have won the plaudits of fans around the world including his grandmother at home, he sacrificed the opportunity of his team winning a penalty and then going on the alter the result of the game.
Thus, here we see another example of Neville seeing something that most others overlook – the reason behind players diving and its positive repurcussions on the fortunes of their teams, even if it is unethical.
#5 On Cristiano Ronaldo\'s movement
One may say that it’s easy to analyze great players. They manage to create magic every time they step onto the pitch which saves you the trouble actually critiquing them as you can attribute everything to their skill on and off the ball.
However, even with the greats there is a great deal of intricacy that goes onto every single play they create – something that goes unnoticed most of the time until someone with great tactical expertise like Gary Neville picks up on it.
In analyzing Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance, Neville heavily focuses on the psyche of Ronaldo and how he, and all great players alike, play both the defenders and the ball – anticipating the movements of both before carrying out their plays. At the same time, the defender in him comes out and he critiques the defence, thus not just focusing on the star performance that most other analysts do.
He helps us realize that Cristiano Ronaldo and all other great players wouldn’t be anywhere if they only had technique and physique. That tactical understanding and knowing where to position themselves is just as, if not even more, important.
