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The 14 pieces of advice from Gary Neville hanging on Manchester United's academy wall

Gary Neville’s advice is pinned up on the academy wall at Manchester United
Gary Neville’s advice is pinned up on the academy wall at Manchester United

Manchester United have a list of 14 bits of advice from club legend Gary Neville on the walls of their academy building.

Youngsters looking to make the grade at one of the country’s best academies see the advice everyday as they look to forge their way in professional football.

They include phrases such as ‘You have never arrived at Manchester United’, ‘have a strong work ethic’ and ‘Don’t leave anything to chance.’

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Marcus Rashford is the current poster boy of United’s academy
Marcus Rashford is the current poster boy of United’s academy

Neville was, of course, part of the the Class of 92 – the generation of academy graduates who defined Sir Alex Ferguson’s era at Old Trafford and were the backbone of United’s side.

The Times revealed the list in an article on Paul Pogba, who came through the academy at United, before moving to Juventus and returning at a later date.

Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard are the three mainstays of Jose Mourinho’s first-team who came through the academy and the next generation will be looking to heed Neville’s advice and join them.

The full list is below:

The advice of Gary Neville
The advice of Gary Neville
  1. Choose who you follow.

  2. Give 100 per cent all the time. You have never arrived at Manchester United so you must maintain a high standard all the time, every day.

  3. Always remember why you began to play football — you loved it for its own sake and not as a means to get money, fame, girls, cars etc.

  4. Ownership and responsibility — take care of your own affairs thus learning to do things for yourself, and not relying on others to do things for you: bank accounts, passports and so on. Make your own decisions!

  5. Analyse and assess your own performance — be your own coach.

  6. Have a strong work ethic — work harder than anyone else and you’ll overtake players with far more talent than you have.

  7. Give the profession all that you have got, and you’ll have no regrets.

  8. You have to have character and personality to play for Manchester United which you can develop over time.

  9. Be a risk taker because it is a different kind of leadership.

  10. Success and failure are two sides of the same coin, and you have to deal emotionally with both experiences. Remember that if you win or lose you can still have that Chinese on a Saturday night — keep things in perspective.

  11. Learn more about yourself and what works for you.

  12. Don’t leave anything to chance.

  13. There are different routes to reach the top and very few players go ‘route one’ — like [Ryan] Giggs or [Wayne] Rooney. The challenge for you is to find the right pathway because we’re all different.

  14. The ability to deal/cope with injuries is vital and should be approached with a strong mentality. See injury as an opportunity to develop body strength, and ‘reset’ your mind (refresh) for the various challenges ahead.