Phile Neville is one of the renowned former English football players and a renowned manager. He started his Premier League career with Machester United and remained at Old Trafford for ten years. The Englishman moved To Everton in 2005 to replace David Weir at the club. The team also had some brilliant players in Alan Stubbs, Lee Casley, Thomas Gravesen, and Alessandro Pistone. However, it took Phil a while before the fans and the players really accepted him as an Everton player due to his loyalties to the United.
Talking to the Guardian in 2013, Phil told that Everton\’s boss David moved had faith in him and made him the team\’s captain. Vebille revealed that the 18 months as Everton\’s captain was one of the toughest phases of his football career as he did not want the responsibility. However, Moyes\’ decision was aimed to establish respect for Neville at the club. Phil reckoned that there was a lot of skepticism towards him from other players as he was close to the boss. He could understand that the other players were suspicious of him. The team had finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League that season as well.
Phil further stated that it took the other players and the fans longer to accept him at the club. Everyone was aware of Neville\’s love affair with the United. He disclosed that the Liverpool supporters used to sing, \”Your captain\’s as Manc.\” And Gary\’s relationship with Liverpool made things worse.
Neville\’s Tackle Against Ronaldo Transformed His Reputation At The Everton
The tides turned for the former Everton captain when he got a moment to prove his loyalty to the club. Everton played against the United at Goodinson Park in October 2008. The match was at 1-1 when Neville surprised everyone in the stadium by pulling off a hard tackle against Cristiano Ronaldo, United\’s rising prodigy. Neville shared that he could sense the opportunity at the moment and thought he could go through Ronaldo and win the ball. Phil added, \”And I thought wow, it was like having a tap-in.\”
Neville specified that he did not do the tackle on purpose, after which Giggy, Rio Ferdinand, and Darren Fletcher were all in his face. Moreover, Phil told that Ronaldo was brilliant. But he rolled around, and the ball went to the other end. Later Ronaldo winked at Neville and told him that it was a great move and the Portuguese would have done the same thing.
Neville concluded, \”They always said I was a Manc. The day i did a really bad tackle on Ronaldo was the day they changed their opinion on me because I went against the club they thought I loved.\”