Gary Neville has spoken out about what Rafael Benitez did against him as Valencia’s manager.
Gary Neville is so comfortable in punditry that it’s easy to forget he previously had a brief stint in management.
Neville was appointed manager of Valencia in December 2015 and served for only a few months.
It’s fair to say Neville’s tenure at Valencia was far from successful, and he didn’t really demonstrate that he was made out for the life of a manager.
He was fired in February 2016, after Valencia won only three of their past 16 games and failed to keep a single clean sheet.
Gary Neville on what Rafael Benitez did against him at Valencia.
Despite only being at Valencia for a brief period, Neville was able to rub elbows with and compete against some of the game’s biggest managers.
Rafael Benitez, a former Liverpool legend, led Real Madrid that season. And Luis Enrique, who is now in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and previously managed Barcelona.
“Luis Enrique, that night of the 7-0, it was the Copa Del Rey.” Neville reflected on the Stick to Football podcast.
“Not that crucial a competition for Barcelona, and they were 4 or 5-0 ahead, and he didn’t substitute Neymar, Messi, or Suarez.
“Enrique – and I saw him last week during the Barcelona game – and I was thinking, I can see how you’re going to get PSG over the line.
“That night, at the end of the game, I went to shake his hand, and he walked straight by me, disregarded me, and I just felt [he’s got that] nastiness, that horribleness, and he was like ‘go home, little guy’. That seemed to be the message he was delivering me.
“Do you know who was wonderful to me, though? Rafael Benitez was nice to me. We played Real Madrid, and he was under pressure at the moment, but when we spoke, he had been at Valencia, and he was actually very nice to me. He gave me 4-5 minutes.”
What is Rafael Benitez up to right now?
Most recently, the former Liverpool manager was in charge of Celta Vigo in Spain, but he was fired in March of this year, with his club two points from relegation.
It is unclear what the future holds for the Spaniard, who is now 64 years old.
