Football
8y

Gary Neville: Valencia have to 'snap out of it and start winning'

Valencia coach Gary Neville said his team must "work hard to rectify this as soon as possible" after their winless run continued with Sunday's 2-0 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad.

The result means former Manchester United player and England assistant coach Neville is still without a league victory after five games in charge, with his only successes to date having come in the early rounds of the Copa del Rey.

Valencia finished fourth in the table last season but at the half-way point of the current campaign they are 16 points away from a Champions League qualification spot.

They slid into the bottom half on Sunday after a Jonathas double gave a victory to a La Real side on the up since current coach Eusebio replaced David Moyes in November.

Neville told his postmatch news conference at Anoeta that so far his team were playing below his expectations.

"In the first half we have had the control of the game," Neville said. "The second half has been a big disappointment.

"I will have to watch it again to understand why this has happened. It has been a knock. We needed momentum. We have played below the expectations we have set ourselves."

Valencia's next La Liga game is on Sunday when they host a Rayo Vallecano side that has also been in poor form.

That match looks important if Neville is to win over fans and pundits who remain sceptical over the appointment of the inexperienced Neville, who is close to club owner Peter Lim.

Neville said: "We have to snap out of it and start winning. We are going to work hard to rectify this as soon as possible. We have to pass the ball better -- we have given the ball away many times. I can only ask for patience from the fans.

"The dressing room is disappointed, I am, but tomorrow it is a fresh start and we have to get the fans to believe."

^ Back to Top ^