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Gary Neville made over 500 appearances at Manchester United and he won countless major honours at the club.
Jamie Carragher wasn’t wrong when he once claimed that no one grows up wanting to be Gary Neville, though. Those comments were made in reference to playing at right-back, as does any child spend hours dreaming of playing in that position? It’s unlikely.
Yet Neville was just what Sir Alex Ferguson needed at United. The academy graduate was an insurance policy at the back that provided the platform for players with attacking flair ahead of him to freely express themselves. He knew his role and he did it exceptionally well. There were no complaints when Neville was handed the captain’s armband in 2005 and that was telling.
Neville earned legendary status at Old Trafford, however, his story in football might have been quite different if he had been born two decades later. The sport has now evolved beyond recognition and so have the demands of each position on the pitch in tandem.
There is no longer room in elite Premier League sides for right-backs of the style of Neville. The modern-day fullback has to be the perfect player. Neville was the perfect workhorse. After retirement, Neville successfully transitioned into punditry and he’s often marvelled at the brilliance of Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo despite his clear allegiances to the other side of Manchester.
Cancelo is the complete player and United’s options at right-back fail to compare. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was brought to United for £50m two years ago and his limitations have been exposed since that switch while Cancelo seemingly continues to improve each week.
It’s not a surprise that Neville doesn’t marvel when watching Wan-Bissaka. The 24-year-old is a throwback to his generation – an astute defender of the ball but underwhelming going forward – and yet he almost seemed undroppable under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Solskjaer wanted to sign Kieran Trippier in the summer and that tells you what the Norwegian thought of Wan-Bissaka’s ability to help orchestrate attacks, but he didn’t start Diogo Dalot when he had the chance and he was also responsible for sending him on loan.
Rather fortuitously, Dalot started his first Premier League game of the season against Arsenal this month after Wan-Bissaka was…
