Neville: Manchester United Youngsters Need To Toughen Up

Young players must work harder to make the grade at Old Trafford.

Nov 30, 2009 10:20:14 AM

Gary Neville - Manchester United
Manchester United veteran Gary Neville has urged the current crop of young players at Old Trafford to show a similar amount of drive and determination to that of previous generations at the club.

And Neville believes that such determination to succeed is something that can only come from the player himself.

"You don't get too much said to you by the senior players, to be honest. You have to do it yourself," the right-back told The Daily Mirror.

"You do get help on the pitch, but it's a tough school here and you've got to make your own mark.

"As a young player you've got to take your opportunities when they come along.

"The young players know the expectations. The fans let you know what those are.

"The manager does, too. You are surrounded by it all the time at Old Trafford."

Neville also feels that the whole squad must remain focused as they look to chase down current leaders Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title.

"This place is an institution, a religion, and it needs dealing with in its own right every week," he added.

"You can't be focusing on other things. You get found out quickly here if you get distracted.

"We're here to win titles every season and the fact we've got 18 is irrelevant. If we had 15, we'd want 16. We have 18 so we want 19.

"Now the internationals are out of the way we can focus on what we have to do here.

"We've got to position ourselves better come January and February – because that's when the real charge starts."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com UK

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