Valencia coach Gary Neville has confirmed he will leave the Liga club
during the current international break to fulfil his duties as England
assistant coach.
Neville has been assistant to manager Roy Hodgson
with the England team through the Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014
campaigns, and is also contracted up until the summer's Euro 2016 finals
in France.
There had been doubts over whether the former England
and Manchester United right-back would be around for the friendlies in
Germany on Saturday, March 26, and at home to Netherlands on Tuesday,
March 29, given that since last December he has been full-time
first-team coach at La Liga club Valencia.
However, Neville told a news conference
that, although the situation was not ideal, it had always been
understood that he would be away from Valencia during international
breaks to do his England job.
"The agreement I had when I came was
that obviously I would go [with England]," Neville said. "I know it is
not ideal, but part of the agreement for me coming here was this
happened, as I had a contract [with England] previously.
"I am
comfortable there will be no lack of preparation for the Las Palmas
game. We have eight or nine players left behind, we have Pako
[Ayestaran], Miguel Angel] Angulo, Phil [Neville] to coach them. When
all the players return from international duty, on the Wednesday
morning, I will be back, to prepare for the next game against Las
Palmas."
Speaking about Sunday's Valencia city derby against
neighbours Levante, Neville said he would use his experience from his
Manchester United days to get his players to focus on the game and not
get distracted by excitement among local fans and media.
"I was
actually at the first game against Levante, I came over to see Phil," he
said. "I'm very aware of the local rivalry -- understand the synergy in
the city between the two clubs. We have some local boys in our squad
too who are a lot more aware of it than I am. It is important we play
with our heads, not our hearts. I've played in many derbies and know we
must forget what is going on outside, with the fans and the media, and
focus on our game."
Enzo Perez, Aderlan Santos and Jose Gaya are
set to miss Sunday's game, but could be back for Thursday's Europa
League round-of-16 second leg at home to Athletic Bilbao at Mestalla.
Neville said he would continue to rotate his squad without prioritising
either La Liga or the European competition.
"All games are
important -- it is impossible for coaches or players to differentiate
and choose," he said. "We have rotated the squad to try and make sure we
keep everybody fit. A few players had niggles on Thursday, I did not
want to risk them. We have four, five, six players who can come in
tomorrow fresh."
With Valencia still not having kept a clean sheet
in any of his 14 La Liga games in charge so far, Neville agreed it was
something his team needed to improve upon.
"This week keeping a
clean sheet has to be one of the biggest priorities -- as when you keep a
clean sheet you have a fantastic opportunity to win the match, as I
always fancy us to score a goal," he said. "Defending well is the basis
for any good football team and we have to start keeping clean sheets."
Defending
set-pieces better was also a priority, Neville said, after Athletic's
Raul Garcia had been the latest to take advantage of a lack of
organisation to head in the only goal of Thursday's Europa League clash.
"About
30 to 35 percent of goals in modern football are scored from
set-pieces," he said. "It's something we have to improve on. If you take
out the goals we have conceded from set-pieces, we would have about 12
more points. We must correct that -- factors like organisation,
determination are important at set-pieces. But we have been struggling a
bit and must concentrate on this as it is harming us. We are playing
well in games, but then a set-piece decides it."
