He had been one of Manchester United’s treble winners only months before but two high-profile mistakes against Vasco Da Gama in the inaugural Club World Cup in Brazil the following season sent him spiralling into a worrying tailspin of form that continued until England’s ill-fated Euro 2000 campaign.
So he can fully understand what Romelu Lukaku is going through and believes the Belgium striker just has to play himself through his eight-game scoring drought for his club, listen to the people that matter but turn a deaf ear to everyone else – including TV pundits like himself.
Neville, 43, is such a confident and articulate personality and had such a successful and distinguished playing career that it comes as something as he shock when he recalls that it “wasn’t always a bed of roses”.
He said: “I lost my confidence for six months after that Vasco de Gama game when I made the two mistakes that led to their first two goals.
There isn’t a pundit, a journalist or a fan who has ever won or lost a football match
“I’d then ended the season at Euro 2000 where I didn’t play well and Phil [his brother] – who was playing left-back – made that tackle that gave away the penalty for Romania’s winner.
“The song ‘If the Nevilles can play for England so can I’ came out, Phil had the effigies outside his house and I got brought into it as well because I wasn’t playing well and there was criticism from the media. These days it would be all over social media as well.
“But do you know something, don’t read it. There isn’t a pundit, a journalist or a fan who has ever won or lost a football match.
“They can only win or lose a football match if they impact the mentality of a player. So don’t let them impact the mentality of you as a player.
Gary Neville has issued players such as Romelu Lukaku to not consume media criticism (Image: Getty)
Gary Neville rues his mistakes against Vasco da Gama in 2000 (Image: Getty)
Gary Neville admits he endured a crisis of confidence at Manchester United (Image: GETTY)
Gary Neville (left) was part of Manchester United’s Class of 92 (Image: GETTY)
“I’ve heard a few of the players saying the criticism gets to them. Don’t turn the telly on, don’t have Sky Sports on. Don’t pick up a newspaper. Don’t read social media. Play football. That’s a good bit of advice.
“I used to read newspapers pre-23 but in that six-month period I stopped and I didn’t read them for years. I picked it up again towards the end because I became confident, experienced and I knew they couldn’t impact me anymore.
“Whatever they said about me, I’d heard it before and it was fine. But until you get to that point in your career as a player, where the criticism comes in and it goes straight out, if it goes in and it stays in, don’t read it because it impacts you.
“Don’t be on social media reading things if it impacts you. Don’t. It’s not for you.”
Neville says the sessions with a ‘shrink’ and some home-spun philosophy advice from Sir Alex Ferguson helped him put everything into perspective and pull out of his slump.
“What helped me was that I had five weeks off in the summer. I actually saw a psychologist at that time and he gave me an unbelievable bit of advice,” Neville recalled.
“He said, ‘Imagine working 25 years of your life to be a football player, feeling really confident and then allowing someone who’s never met you before, someone who’s never coached you, say something to make you feel that you can’t play football well. How daft is that?’
“And Sir Alex gave me a bit of advice when I got nervous before a big game. There was a time I played three or four games against Liverpool and I made a few mistakes.
“I remember him saying to me in a team talk in front of everybody, ‘Gary, son, you’re getting so worked up, you’re getting so anxious before this game, can I not play you against Liverpool anymore?’
“Then he said ‘What are you going to do when you get home?’ And I said ‘I always have a Chinese when I get home after a game, boss’ and the lads started laughing.
“He said, ‘If we win today, what are you going to do? I replied ‘Have a Chinese.’ ‘If we draw today?’ ‘Have a Chinese.’ ‘If we lose today?’ ‘Have a Chinese’.
“‘So it doesn’t really matter then does it? What’s the point in getting worried? You’re still going to go home to your family and have a Chinese’.
Gary Neville and his brother Phil (left) helped Manchester United win the Champions League in 1999 (Image: GETTY)
Romelu Lukaku has come under intense media scrutiny for his recent rough patch (Image: Getty)
“A coping mechanism for me was, if I ever got nervous, I thought, ‘In three hours I’ll be having my Chinese, come what may’. That’s a great way of bringing some perspective and reality.
“Lukaku is just having a dip, not a slump, and taking him out could make it worse. He’s one of Jose’s favourite players and the top players tend to play their way out of those dips.”
Perhaps the goals will come again for Lukaku if he just thinks what he is going to have for his tea after Sunday’s clash against former club Everton at Old Trafford.
Neville was talking at the Manchester launch of Ben Thornley’s autobiography: ‘The Class of 92 Star Who Never Got To Graduate’.
