Neville: I want my Lionesses to be ruthless

Phil Neville is trying to give England Women the same unquenchable thirst for success that made Manchester United unique under Sir Alex Ferguson, as the Lionesses attempt to lift the She believes Cup for the first time.

England need only draw against hosts the United States – the No 1 ranked team – to win the tournament, but Neville wants the players to head into it believing it is a cup final and that only victory will do.

The former England international admits he was left with an “empty feeling” at the end of his playing career because he failed at international tournaments, and he wants this generation of female players to avoid a similar fate.

“Sir Alex Ferguson used to say to us, ‘Do you want to go to Blackpool on holiday or do you want to fly to the Moon?’,” said Neville, who has promised to let the players go to Disney World tomorrow if they win.

“His point was, anybody can go to Blackpool, but very few people get to go to the Moon. Can you win a trophy? Lots of players win trophies, but very few teams keep on winning them. That is the hunger we had at Manchester United.

“That is what I spoke about in my interview for the England job, that’s what we are aiming to replicate. That is what the USA have, they have that arrogance, they believe they are the best team in the world and I want us to have that.

“It’s about developing a winning mentality. I want them to know it is about winning at all costs.

“Getting to a semi-final is great, but nobody remembers the teams who finished third or second, it’s about winning. It’s about having a team that wins cup finals and knows how to win them.

“That is what we want and that is why we are treating this game against the USA as a World Cup final.

“It could quite easily be the final in France next year, or a semi-final, and we need a team that has the mentality to win knockout games. Can we beat the best team in the world in a cup final?

“I will know a lot more about my players after this. If there are players [who] do not have that mentality, those that think beating France and drawing against Germany is good enough, then I won’t be able to take them to the World Cup.”