Former Manchester United player has a desire to learn – and this will be tested very soon in the She Believes Cup

When the dust settles, Phil Neville will have to focus on his job: the football

There were many banana skins for Phil Neville to navigate around in his first flurry of interviews since being appointed the new England women’s national team manager last week.

With the FA’s stewardship of the women’s game under scrutiny following the Eni Aluko and Mark Sampson sagas, its choosing of Sampson’s successor hasn’t filled many with the confidence that much has been learned, or changed.

While Baroness Sue Campbell and Neville worked hard to dispel concerns about the hiring process there are still questions there. How is it possible for someone who has managed three games in his career, despite a wealth of playing and coaching experience, to really be the best person for the top job in women’s football in England?

Phil Neville has rocky ride on first outing as England women’s manager Read more

Is it really true that, having watched the Sampson mess unfold, those in the final shortlist weren’t aware of the public scrutiny they would face or of the need for extensive background checks, before they applied?

It is easier to believe the FA may have dropped the ball and missed out on other preferred candidates. It’s also clear that while scrutiny may be a problem, the chance to work for the FA isn’t currently that attractive to many within the women’s game when it’s not clear that the rot has stopped – an indictment of its behaviour in 2017.

The beginning of Neville’s tenure has been hampered by the surfacing of historical tweets that aren’t befitting of anyone, let alone a national team manager and his being caught out by a question asking who the WSL 1’s top scorer is. However, when given the opportunity to face the press and apologise, with no excuses – and seemingly sincerely disappointed with himself – Neville came across extremely well.

Perhaps we are so used to spin and diversion that it is refreshing to hear someone from the FA confront criticism so directly, accept it in its entirety, absorb it and simply apologise.

It is right that the FA continues to face questions and is held to account over its running of women’s football, and this appointment. But we can at the same time start to look at the positives of the selection and, regardless of what might be thought about his suitability, start to piece together a picture of what an England team under the former Manchester United and Everton utility player might look like and how he plans to get that team to the top.

The 41-year-old is on a mission to get up to speed. He relocated from Valencia on Wednesday and attended two WSL 1 games at the weekend, after watching England in La Manga, and was impressed: “I watched a couple of players over the weekend, young players that won’t go to [the] She Believes [Cup], that I think will go to France in 2019, that excite me as much as the 30 players I met the other day. I think we’ve got a crop that are coming through that can really put pressure on the experienced players in the team.

“The quality of the football was fantastic. The game yesterday [Sunday] was feisty, it was tough, it was very competitive and everything that I believed it would be.”

Neville highlighted the importance of entrenching himself in the lives of his players: “I’ve seen every interview that they’ve done over the last 12 months, I’ve watched a lot of their performances of the last 12 months. But management is not just about getting to know them on the pitch, it’s about getting to know them as people.”

Play Video 1:00 Phil Neville says 'badly worded' tweets weren't 'aimed at domestic violence' – video

The focus for the new manager is ultimately the World Cup and qualifiers. But the more immediate task is selecting the backroom staff that will help guide him – he confirmed that current captain Steph Houghton will remain the leader on the pitch. By the end of the week his assistants should be in place.

In three weeks’ time his Lionesses head to the United States for a baptism of fire against the USA, France and Germany in the She Believes Cup. It’s a daunting prospect, but Neville is far from put off: “One of my strengths is analysing football games. The She Believes Cup can’t come quickly enough because ultimately what it will give me is the opportunity to coach the team.”

Under Sampson England played winning football, but not always attractive football. Neville has his sights on adding flair to the form: “The foundations are fantastic here but I think to get to number one you have to do both. The players now are ready to play with style. At the weekend, the centre-backs played out from the back. Played with style into midfield, entertained in the wide areas. The players can do it, I’ve seen them do it.”

His drive to instil a “best in the world” mentality into the team smacks of Alex Ferguson-esque confidence: “The USA puff their chests out and like the expectation. That’s the kind of arrogance I want from my team. We shouldn’t be embarrassed about being third in the world or one of the favourites.

“Anyone that is shouldn’t be in the squad. Because we’re going in a certain direction. We want to be the best and it’s going to be difficult and we’re going to make sure we do it with a certain style.”

He may have come in under a cloud, but if he does the job well, Neville could actually be a shrewd appointment. While lacking experience, he comes with no women’s game baggage, brings a profile, and has used his first composed outing with the press to air his views on Manchester United’s lack of a senior women’s side. All positives.

Perhaps now we can start looking forward to the football.

Talking points

• The NWSL confirmed on 28 January that one of the US’s longest running team’s, the Boston Breakers, would fold and cease operations immediately. The 2018 NWSL season will now feature nine teams playing each other three times.

• In WSL 1 Chelsea’s Jonna Andersson scored late against a resilient Everton to keep the London side within two points of leaders Manchester City. In the Citizens’ 3-0 victory over Sunderland, Nikita Parris scored twice alongside league top-scorer Izzy Christiansen to maintain their unbeaten run. At the top of WSL 2 Millwall remain unbeaten thanks to a 3-2 win against Durham.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manchester City’s Izzy Christiansen, centre, celebrates scoring during the 3-0 win over Sunderland. Photograph: Tom Flathers/Man City via Getty Images

• Yeovil’s manager Jamie Sherwood has announced he will be leaving at the end of the season. Yeovil are bottom of WSL 1 and Sherwood exits as the club begins its transition towards participation in the newly reorganised full-time top tier.

• Manchester City launched an impressive advert titled “Same game. Same club. Same Man City” to promote their unification of the teams’ Twitter accounts. Catch it here.

• The Nigerian Football Federation have confirmed that Swede Thomas Dennerby will take over as head coach of the national team, ending a 13-month search for a new manager. Dennerby managed Sweden between 2005 and 2012, including to a third-place finish at the 2011 World Cup.