Nick Powell says Phil Neville ‘p***** him off’ during spell at Man Utd together
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Nick Powell has opened up on his time at Manchester United and how Phil Neville ‘p***** him off’ at Old Trafford. The midfielder joined from Crewe Alexandre back in the summer transfer window of 2012. However, he failed to live up to expectations and ended up making just nine appearances for the club in total.
Big things were expected of Powell when he moved to United in 2012, having previously dazzled for Crewe.
However, while Sir Alex Ferguson had faith in the youngster, he then proceeded to toil in the wake of the Scot’s retirement.
In 2013, David Moyes rocked up at Old Trafford and brought former United star Phil Neville with him from Everton.
And Powell, speaking to The Athletic, has now revealed the former Inter Miami boss ‘p***** him off’ during their time working together.
“When I came back from my operation, I hadn’t moved for six weeks,” he said, recalling injury woes that blighted his early years at the club.
“Phil Neville was the new first-team coach and I was passing the ball out to the wingers for them to cross it in.
“I couldn’t pass this ball. I knew I was doing crap.
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“He pulled me aside and started going, ‘You’ve got to be miles better than that if you want to play for Man United.’
“I was thinking, ‘No s***!’ I was coming back from injury, not having really played for a year, still not feeling like a Man United player.
“Little things like that annoyed me, got my back up. I didn’t need to be told.
“It was just a coach being a coach — and I’ve nothing against Phil — but that pissed me off a bit.
“I knew I wasn’t going to play the following season and I’d already had a year of not playing regularly. I wasn’t doing that again.
“So I went to Moyes and suggested I should go on loan.’ He said, ‘I think that will be perfect for you’.”
Powell was previously tipped to be Paul Scholes’ long-term replacement at United.
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And when asked if he felt he could have followed in Scholes’ footsteps as a youngster, he said: “Yes.
“But there’s mental strength that goes with that. I don’t think I was mentally strong enough at that time.
“I’d gone to a club where there were people who had won seven titles. They were born winners, whereas I had grown up playing football for the fun of it.
“If I felt like I was the best on the pitch at a young age, that was good enough for me. I never cared about winning; winning wasn’t the point.
“My mindset was different to what I’ve seen born winners do. I was a bit petulant.
“If I wasn’t playing, I’d get angry about it.”
One former United star who lambasted Powell was Patrice Evra.
“So I went to Moyes and suggested I should go on loan.’ He said, ‘I think that will be perfect for you’.”
Powell was previously tipped to be Paul Scholes’ long-term replacement at United.
And when asked if he felt he could have followed in Scholes’ footsteps as a youngster, he said: “Yes.
“But there’s mental strength that goes with that. I don’t think I was mentally strong enough at that time.
“I’d gone to a club where there were people who had won seven titles. They were born winners, whereas I had grown up playing football for the fun of it.
“If I felt like I was the best on the pitch at a young age, that was good enough for me. I never cared about winning; winning wasn’t the point.
In his autobiography, he says of his old team-mate: “He (Powell) didn’t integrate, wasn’t part of the group and you had no idea what he was thinking as he looked through you.
“He was only a young lad, but you’re not too young to be judged at United.”
However, Powell has now claimed he couldn’t cope with playing for United because he felt he didn’t deserve to be there.
“I get on with most people,” he added.
“I got on with Patrice. It was purely that I didn’t feel like I was a United player and that was grinding away at me.
“I found it hard to believe I should be there. ‘I don’t want to do this,’ I’d think. ‘I didn’t come to Man United not to play.’
“And yes, it did segregate me a bit because I was thinking, ‘What the f*** am I doing here?’ That was probably my biggest issue.
“I’d go home and try to forget it all. That’s part of the reason why people get the perception I didn’t care.
“I didn’t want to bring it home because it would annoy me even more. So I’d play Call of Duty, PlayStation, things like that, just to forget about the fact I was not playing football.”
Powell is now at Stockport County, having joined the club earlier this summer on a three-year contract.
And he feels he can be an asset to the League Two side, saying: “I feel like I can grade myself.
“And yes, I fall way below what I wanted to do in my career.
“At the same time, I also feel I have had a good enough career to accept how it has gone wrong.
“No one will ever know, will they? Everyone will say I could have hit different heights.
“But you just have to accept where you are. I’m quite happy with what I’ve done and what I’ve made from football.”
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