Gary Neville has claimed he felt “hugely inferior” to rival managers during his time as Valencia boss, admitting he had “no idea what was going on” on the touchline.
Neville lasted less than four months in charge of the La Liga side after accepting an offer to coach owner and close friend Peter Lim’s side, with the Sky Sports pundit winning just three of his 16 league games in charge.
His disastrous tenure saw his team beaten 7-0 by Barcelona and he lost 11 of his 28 games in total before being beaten 2-0 at home to Celta Vigo in his last game in charge.
Neville, who has a UEFA Pro licence, stated that his Achilles heel during his time at the club was an inability to manage the game from the touchline and a lack of ability to change things tactically during a match.
He said he struggled when facing top coaches like Ernesto Valverde and Diego Simeone, who made him feel like they were “beaten up” mentally.
Gary Neville spoke about feeling “inferior” to rival LaLiga bosses during his stay in Valencia
He said he felt intimidated and “mentally beaten” by Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, presented by sky betNeville said: ‘After a couple of months of working in Valencia, I remember looking in the mirror one morning and thinking I looked sick.
“I remember we played Athletic Bilbao three times, in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and in a league match, and Ernesto Valverde was the coach. He played a different system than I thought he would use and then changed during the match , and I remember thinking that I was nowhere near that level.
“I felt hugely inferior to him because I had a hard time controlling and watching the game from field level, especially compared to how I watch the game on the porch.
“You stand on the touchline and you’re watching a game where the only thing you can see are your legs, and how you think about the game tactically or how the coaches see things, I have no idea because I remember thinking I had no idea what was going on.
‘Seeing Valverde was the first time I felt like I was miles away and then I trained against Diego Simeone, and that day I felt like he was hitting me in every way: with his tactics, his intimidation and his gestures.’
Neville won just three of his 16 LaLiga games in charge of Valencia before being sacked less than four months later.
He claimed that some coaches, like Barcelona’s Luis Enrique, made him feel like he didn’t belong.
Neville also felt that some coaches had been sending him messages that he “didn’t belong” in the league after then-Barcelona manager Luis Enrique refused him a handshake during the 7–0 defeat.
“The other was Luis Enrique, when Barcelona beat us 7-0 in the Copa del Rey, when they won 5-0, he did not replace Neymar, nor Lionel Messi, nor Luis Suárez, and at the end of the game, he passed along to me and didn’t shake my hand, so I felt like he was sending me a message that I didn’t belong.
‘Rafa Benítez was good to me during my time at Valencia. We played against Real Madrid and he was under pressure at that time, but after the game he came up to me and shook my hand, and he was actually very good to me.”
When Neville arrived, his brother Phil, who came through the Man United academy with him, was already at the club, having worked under former boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Phil would end up working as Neville’s assistant during his brief stint, but the 49-year-old suggested his brother should have been given the job and said it was “not right” that his job was taken away from him.
He claimed that his brother Phil, who was his deputy principal, should have got the job.
“When I look back I’ve never spoken to Phil (Neville) about this, Phil was there (in Valencia) with Nuno (Espírito Santo) and Nuno asked him to go and be a coach. I think Phil had gone there to spend a few weeks , just looking at him, but they really got along and he worked with him.
“Honestly, there was no plan to get Nuno out of Valencia at the time, he was obviously struggling, but I think when I went there and got the top job, and Phil was already there, it wasn’t right.
“Peter (Lim) had asked me to do it, but Phil was obsessed with witch training, and I think Peter just saw me as someone who could handle the media better.”
Neville has since returned to becoming a full-time Sky Sports pundit alongside his other business commitments, having last been involved as a coach when working with England at Euro 2016.
Meanwhile, Phil Neville took over as England women’s national team in 2018 after leaving Valencia, leading the Three Lions to an unbeaten 2019 World Cup campaign, before losing 2-1 to the United States in the semi-finals.
He later resigned in 2021 and took over at Inter Miami of the MLS, where he remained for two years before being fired due to poor results.