Neville a fan of the American way

Jul 27 2007 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

PHIL NEVILLE is just like anybody else in America. Well, apart from the 56 England caps won during 12 years at the pinnacle of Premier League football, with the medals to prove it.

An honours haul almost identical to his good friend David Beckham, the man whose soccer celebrity is so super-sized over here that his is the only name available on the back of a replica shirt in his club shop.

Yet wandering though hotel lobbys and restaurants unnoticed and making his way down the sands of Venice Beach without so much as having to stop for a mobile phone picture, the Everton training gear just isn’t a big enough clue to Neville’s stature in the game.

Which is why, despite being a long-time team-mate of Beckham during Manchester United’s glorious decade of dominance, Neville sat in the stands of LA Galaxy on Tuesday night in relative anonymity.

But it’s just the way he likes it. He’s more than happy to sign an autograph when asked, but few non-Scouse accents have done that over here.

And it’s why he and his team-mates have been able to get on with the business of the pre-season preparation he takes so seriously.

“I signed a few shirts at the Galaxy game,” Neville admits. “But that was only because I think there’s still a lot of English fans over here seeing David and who went to the Chelsea game on Saturday.

“But Becks is a one-off. If you brought all the players in the world to America probably more than 99% of them, walking down a beach in LA, wouldn’t get noticed either.

“For us it’s the beauty of the country. You don’t get recognised but you get the best training facilities. Everything is spot on.”

Not that Neville has got a problem with Beckham mania.

The reception his old friend has got in LA only underlines the stratosphere he has been launched into, way beyond the comprehension of the lads he grew up with in the Old Trafford youth ranks.

But you won’t hear Neville moaning about any mate of his getting swept away by Hollywood hype.

“Americans love success and that’s why, the first time I came here with Manchester United, I instantly fell in love with the country,” says Neville.

“If you have a big house in England you’re a bighead and everyone wants to break into it, if you have a big house in America everyone aspires to you.

“If you have nice car in England you are flash, if you have one in America you’re a hero. And it’s because people think you’ve earned that and that’s the mentality that I like.

“There’s no jealousy there, people respect successful people and it’s rewarded – in England it’s frowned upon.

“It’s a fantastic country and I love the mentality of thriving on successful people without trying to knock them down. It’s an attitude that in England we need to adopt.”

None of which, however, convinces Neville to think that he wants to follow in his friend’s footprints and join the MLS revolution that Beckham has, effectively, been employed to inspire.

As he stares out admirably across a California sun-soaked golf course, where fairway indicators come courtesy of how the palm trees are aligned, Neville appreciates there are worse places he could be.

But for him it doesn’t come close to his home, and it’s that devotion to family life that means not only would he never consider moving here, but he finds the current 10-day trip long enough.

“Ever since I was 14 the being away from home has been my biggest obstacle in my whole career,” he admits.

“I suffer from homesickness a lot of the time as I’m sure a lot of footballers do. I like my family, friends and children around me and it is difficult.

“I don’t feel sorry for myself because I’m in LA, staying at a five-star hotel and training at the best facilities America has got to offer.

“So I know how lucky I am but there are times I wish I was at home having a normal cup of tea and a normal piece of toast so it has been my biggest problem.

“I don’t know why but I’ve always liked my home comforts.”

So chronic was the homesickness that is almost ended Neville’s career before it had begun.

He explains: “When I was 14 I played for England schoolboys and went on a course in Keele, which was only 30 minutes away.

“But I remember being terribly homesick and phoning home telling my mum and dad to come and pick me up.

“My dad drove down one afternoon and he said to me, ‘if you’re going to be a footballer you’ll be travelling away from home a lot of the time. Your mum wants to bring you home but I think you’re best just staying here and getting through this period’.

“It was the best thing my dad could have done for me at that time because if he had brought me home I would probably have never recovered from being away.

But that toughened me up a little bit and from that lesson I learnt how to handle being away from home.

“There are times when you feel a bit lonely and you’ve got to do something, you’ve got to get out of your hotel room, get with your mates, have a laugh and think how lucky you are to be here and that’s what I do.

“The lucky thing for me is when I’ve had sad times I’ve had my brother in the same team so I’ve always had that comfort.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m moaning but it does get harder as you get married and have children so it seems to be getting harder as I’m getting older.

“This pre-season we’ve been away for three weeks on and off and sometimes you just want to wake up in your own bed with your family around you.

“It’s a problem I’ve had to cope with throughout my career. I’ve dealt with it but it doesn’t get any easier.”

And yet, after all that, Neville could hardly reveal a more surprising long-term ambition in the game.

“I’ve always wanted to play abroad,” he said. “It’s not necessarily for the football. I want to live in this climate.

“When I come to a sunny country the body feels better, and I want the children to come home from school and go to a swimming pool instead of being inside because it’s raining.

“It’s that kind of lifestyle that I’d fancy for one or two years just to see if I’d like it.

“But it would be Italy or Spain for me. America is a fabulous place to come and live and come and play – but it is a long way from home.”