Neville: 'Players get bosses sacked out of boredom'

Phil Neville launched a scathing criticism of modern footballers this week, as he claimed that they tend to get bored after an 18 month period, and down tools to ensure that their coach gets replaced.  The England women's manager then went on to claim that he believes player power was the reason behind Jose Mourinho's downfall at Manchester United, as the modern footballer can no longer be told what to do.

Speaking to 'BEIN Sports' during England women's World Cup preparation camp in Qatar, Neville stated: "You can't manage now like Alex Ferguson did and maybe that was Jose's biggest problem. Players nowadays are more powerful, they're earning more money, they've got lives away from football which they believe are probably bigger than football. Twenty years ago it was just football."

Neville continued:"There is more to management now and that was probably Jose's biggest problem…players today don't have the same ethos about how to prepare, live your life and behave as a professional footballer."

In spite of citing the troubles at former club Manchester United, Neville believes that player power is a symptom of modern football worldwide. He explained: "It's not just at Manchester United, it's any club, players do 12-18 months, seem to get bored with managers and you hear stories of players going to chairmen and sporting directors. That would never have happened in my day."