Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has admitted that legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson famously “hated” one moment in a Premier League season.
Gary Neville spent his entire playing career under Sir Alex Ferguson, with the Manchester United legend inheriting the captain’s armband after Roy Keane’s exit.
The 49-year-old previously revealed that he became a key figure for Ferguson at Old Trafford, with Neville acting as one of three locker-room leaders at the club.
Neville enjoyed a prolific playing career at United after rising through the ranks of the club’s youth academy, with the United legend a key member of the Class of ‘92.
The former United and England right-back made a whopping 602 appearances for the Red Devils’ senior team before he bowed out of Old Trafford in 2011.
During his spell at the Premier League club, Neville lifted eight Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, three FA Cups and three League Cups.
The ex-England international was also a key part of the iconic United team that captured a famous treble in 1999 under former Red Devils boss Ferguson.
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Neville on what Ferguson hated
Sir Alex Ferguson forever etched his name in the history books as one of the best managers of all time after his illustrious reign at Manchester United.
The 82-year-old Scotsman called it time on his legendary career in management after leading United to their last Premier League title in 2013.
Ferguson was well known for some of his hard-line stances at Old Trafford, including his infamous ‘hairdryer treatment’ of players who performed poorly for United.
The iconic Scot ensured his authority as United boss was upheld in his 26-year reign, which included axing players from the club if they stepped out of line.
Speaking on the Stick to Football show, Gary Neville has opened up on Ferguson’s ‘hatred’ for the March international break during the Premier League season.
“I always think about the March international break because this is where Sir Alex Ferguson would pull players out of playing for their country,” he said on The Overlap.
“I said it a couple [of] weeks ago that it would be interesting to see how many Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool players would play in this break – you’ve already got ‘injuries’ for Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne is out, Gabriel has been withdrawn, so it’s happening already.
“In the 1998-99 season, when we were going for the treble, in the March international break, Sir Alex Ferguson pulled David Beckham, Paul Scholes and myself out the England squad, and let Nicky Butt, Wes Brown and Phil Neville play for England, so it was like three in and three out. Sir Alex hated the March international break.
“There were seven of us playing for Manchester United and England and, if it was a proper qualifier, the boss wouldn’t have any issues with us playing, but if it was a friendly in the March break, he wasn’t having it.
“It’s a badly placed international break during a title run-in. Push it into early December or August, but I don’t think it should split the season.
“Sir Alex would have done a deal with the England manager to make them not play in March if we had silverware to go for. He would have said that we could play in the summer or in the off-season, but not when we’re going for a treble like we were in 1999.”
What Ferguson said on international friendlies
Ferguson was famously an outspoken critic of international friendlies, with the United legend unafraid to make his feelings perfectly clear on them.
The former Aberdeen and United boss called friendlies a “waste of time,” despite insisting that he supported international competitions like the World Cup.
Speaking to SiriusXM in 2011 (via The Guardian), Ferguson said: “I am all in favour of the competitions.
“The players should play in the major competitions; the European Championship, the World Cup.
“But friendlies are a waste of time as far as I am concerned. We always say that. It is understandable for the coach.
“They have the players for a period when they can influence them and can build and shape their team. I can understand that completely.
“But every time there are friendlies you get six or seven call-offs. It is sometimes worthless for the manager to build on that because of the lack of players.”