England Women midfielder Karen Carney has revealed how Phil Neville has subjected the squad to Sir Alex Ferguson’s infamous ‘hairdryer treatment’ in their World Cup quest.
Neville won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and one Champions League crown under Sir Alex at Manchester United and now the 42-year-old is hoping to lead the Lionesses all the way in France when the tournament kicks off on Friday.
And Carney has revealed how Neville has seemingly picked up traits from Sir Alex by revealing he is not afraid to give the squad a dressing-down at half-time if they are under-performing.
“As a player I am just trying to make sure it is not me [on the receiving end],” said Carney.
“He was under the best manager in the history of football, so he is going to have learned something.
“He gets proper mad, proper angry, and rightly so. I laugh, if I am honest, but I try not to get caught!”
But Carney admits it was no laughing matter back in February. England were trailing Brazil 1-0 at half-time in the SheBelieves Cup in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Neville revealed afterwards he had strong words with his players.
“I was probably a bit harsh on them because my frustration and anger boiled over,” Neville said, after England had fought back to win 2-1.
Chelsea midfielder Carney can still remember the half-time talk and believes Neville was correct to vocalise just how unhappy he was.
“I didn’t laugh that day,” she said. “He just lost his head. It is about standards and I think he is right.
"The SheBelieves is a massive achievement, but we want to win the World Cup — and certain things won’t get you to that.
“You might get away with [under- performing] in one game, but you won’t get away with it at a World Cup when everyone is on it and the level has gone up another two or three gears. When he does go mad, he is pretty much always spot-on, to be fair.”
France will be Carney’s fourth World Cup — England kick off against Scotland on Sunday — and the 31-year-old says the difference in preparation to back then is stark.
“I don’t think anyone knew we were at the World Cup in 2007,” she said. “It has changed loads. We weren’t full-time then and I just remember doing mad training for six weeks.
"Now everyone is full-time, it is about pacing yourself and making sure you are going in fresh.”
