No more Mr Nice Guy
Neville glad his England stars have developed a mean streak in time for sink or swim knockout
IN the breakfast room of a hotel nestled in the hills above Antibes, Phil Neville is describing the atmosphere in the England camp. He says the team’s breakout star, Nikita Parris, has not spoken to him for 24 hours because she is angry at being left out of the side that played Japan on Wednesday night. He says Beth Mead is not happy, either. The same applies to striker Ellen White, who was left out of the game against Argentina.
Neville thinks about it and smiles. In a way, it is exactly what he wants. Not only did England qualify for today’s last-16 Women’s World Cup clash against Cameroon here in Valenciennes with three straight group wins, but there
are signs all around him that the attitude in the squad is hardening and that his players are developing the edge he knows they will need if they are to go deep in the competition.
Optimism is building around Neville’s side after those victories over Scotland, Argentina and Japan, but England know that if they get past today’s opponents in the Stade du Hainaut, far sterner tests lie ahead.
Somewhere out there, the USA, the best team in the competition and 13-0 winners over Thailand, are smashing their way towards them like a juggernaut careering down a street of parked cars.
England have played well only in patches during the group games and will need to improve if they are to match their semi-final achievements of four years ago but the verve of Parris against Scotland, White’s goals, Steph Houghton’s indomitability, the impact of Rachel Daly and the unending class of Lucy Bronze are hints that there is better to come.
‘I’ve seen nothing in the tournament that gives me fear,’ said Neville. ‘I’ve got belief in my players. I’ve seen nothing to make me go: “Oh dear me, if we play them, we’re going to struggle”.
‘Our biggest tests are against teams like Argentina; teams that we’re expected to beat but who sit low and really stifle us. The players are looking forward to the games where teams will come out at us, like Japan did a little bit, and give us more space to play and more space to counter-attack.’
Neville makes no secret of the fact that he is an admirer of the USA’s template for success. He sees in them a cast of serial winners; women who impress him as much for their mental toughness as their athletic ability. It is something he has been trying to instil into his players in the 18 months since he took over.
‘I have studied the USA since the first day I got the job,’ said Neville. ‘The USA are the best team, they have got the best mentality, they have been doing it for a long time and they are the most successful but they are there to be beaten.
‘They have a winning mentality. They have a “run over anyone to get that victory” feel about them. You see the way they are with each other; what they demand from each other. That’s what winning teams do. They are not afraid to fall out with each other.
‘They are not afraid to have a go at each other because winning is the most important thing.
‘That is something we constantly keep working on in our squad. When I first came to the job, there was a real niceness around the camp but there was an incident in the first half against Japan when a couple of our players were really challenging each other on the field.
‘I encourage that because that is the winning mentality that is driving everybody on.
‘Our players are having more exchanges on the pitch now that are basically a good old-fashioned rollocking. We said to them early on that you can’t go through a game of football without saying to someone: “Come on, you need to be better than that, your passing needs to be better, work harder, stay with runners”.
‘It can’t always be: “Thanks, well done” and all nicey-nicey. We have brought that mentality in. We see it in training.’
The message to Neville’s players is that now is the time to step up the challenges to each other. The best sides often have a mean streak, an ability to play with a snarl as well as a smile, and now that England are in the knockout stages, Neville knows the combativeness, bloody-mindedness and desperation to win in his players must come to the fore.
It begs the question if the same applies to him. No more Mr Nice Guy? Neville was always regarded as one of the more equable men in the game when he was a player.
‘The hard bit is team selection,’ he said. ‘When we name the team, it is the hardest five-minute meeting you will ever have.
‘You have got players that are genuinely disappointed. When you care for a set of players, that does leave something on you.
‘Now we are in the last 16, it is the best team in every game. That’s theruthless side I have got to produce now for my players.
‘We have worked hard for 18 months on giving players opportunities. Now it is about being ruthless and winning.
‘I said after the game against Japan that our style of play was non-negotiable but now it is about winning and that’s where me and my team have to become serial winners.’