Gary Neville names former Manchester United player who ended his career mentally

Gary Neville has reflected on which Manchester United player forced him out of first-team action. 

Neville is a player who will forever be remembered as a United legend and finished his playing career as one of football’s most decorated players. He is also regarded as one of the best defenders in Premier League history.

The former England international spent his entire playing career at United and having come through the ranks in the academy and youth team, he went on to captain the club for five years.

He won a remarkable 12 league titles with the Red Devils, as well as two Champions League trophies, four FA Cups, three league cups and a Club World Cup. On top of that, Neville made 601 appearances in over 20 years at United.

Neville reflects on the closing stages of his career

When speaking on Cristiano Ronaldo’s current situation at United, in which he regularly starts games on the bench, Neville compared it to his own career.

Ronaldo has fallen out of favour under Ten Hag this season and we’ve seen Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial both lead the line ahead of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “There were moments in my career where I thought, ‘Rafael’s gone in, John O’Shea’s gone in, Wes Brown’s gone in’… I watched Brown play a full season and win a Champions League. 

“He’s a great lad, brilliant player, and I was delighted for him, [but] of course I wanted to be in the team, of course I wanted to be out there and be captain, but I wasn’t.

“Then Rafael came into training, it was Rafael who actually finished my career mentally, in some ways, because I used to watch him in training, get close to players and snap into tackles, and then get up and get back out there again, and I couldn’t get my legs forward. I thought, ‘I get it, I see it’.”

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