Out and about: Players were given plenty of freedom to mingle with their other half around the town of Baden Baden, near where the team hotel was based

When it comes to what has been wrong with England in the past, Neville is well qualified to debate the subject.

‘I have analysed it,’ he said. ‘If you want it in one sentence, we haven’t been good enough.

‘At the same time — and I have been explaining this to some of the lads over the last few days — I went to five tournaments and in four of them we went out on penalties. The lines between success and failure are so fine.’
Joe Hart makes Neville think it could be different this time.

‘I’m not being disrespectful to the goalkeepers who I played with,’ he said.

‘But we have a great goalkeeper now and that may be the difference.’
Not that Neville thinks the disappointment he endured was just down to penalties. ‘That’s not been the real reason,’ he said. ‘At the ’98 World Cup, France and Brazil were better than us.

‘Brazil were better than us in 2002. 2004 and 1996 are the ones I always look back on as being particularly disappointing because I thought we were good enough.

‘That’s the message now — to be free and not to be looking back in 10 years thinking, “I wish we had done this or done that”. That’s the message I want to get across. If I don’t then I’m not doing my job.’

« Previous12345Next »