Say what you will about Gary Neville’s first foray into management but he’s not shying away from his responsibility.
The Valencia manager oversaw his side’s third consecutive defeat in all competitions on Sunday morning and has taken full responsibility for the lack of intent shown by his players.
Neville was in the dugout when Giuseppe Rossi, a former Manchester United teammate, gave Levante all three points at the Estadi Ciutat de València at the weekend.
In the wake of the defeat, Neville used his post-match press conference as a means to publicly apologise to the travelling fans.
“I have been here three months and I have sat up here after defeats and defended performances,” Neville said.
“I have sat up here and said we were unlucky. But I am not defending that.
“I have got to take responsibility for defeat, first and foremost, but that was an indefensible performance. Unacceptable. It was not good enough.
“I apologise to the fans of Valencia because the very basic premise of football match is that you run as hard, you fight as hard and you tackle as hard as the opposition.
“You might sometimes think that things go against you, but not today. Levante were the better team. I can’t defend what I’ve just seen… I take full responsibility for that.”
