Manchester United legend Gary Neville has stated that England need to be proud of the hard working DNA embedded in their structure but also try to add some fair and panache to their play in order to become a major force and compete in the major championships at all levels.
The country’s Under-20 and Under-21 teams suffered early exits from major championships already this summer, triggering questions regarding the quality of football being played in the country. But Neville, who serves as an assistant to head coach Roy Hodgson for the senior side quickly jumped to defense of the country’s playing style, stating that the hard working DNA of the country cannot be overlooked.
Neville spoke to an English newspaper where he stated that people need to be careful; when they talk about the DNA of English football they need to realize the country has one: the players work hard, they are organized and structured as well as being resilient and are extremely hard to beat, which are not bad qualities to have.
He went back some time to point out that England had not suffered a defeat for many of the tournaments they crashed out of. He mentioned Italy might have played better last year at Euro 2012 but had to wait till the penalty shoot out to beat them; the same can be said about Portugal in the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2004 as well as Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.
Neville went on to mention that England is not arrogant and are always the first to admit they have performed poorly but added that team is trying to take the best out of the situation and add some flair as well as technical ability and hopefully, the team will be able to do good in future.