England coach Phil Neville just needs to shut up

Phil Neville has used the worst of men’s soccer to try to bring out the best from England’s women’s team at this Women’s World Cup.

If anyone ever needed a muzzle at the Women’s World Cup, it’s Phil Neville.

The former Manchester United defender-turned-England manager has made it a practice of running his mouth on the eve of, and immediately following games, over the past few weeks.

While his players have excelled on the field, Neville has made it a practice, especially during the knockout round, to try and take the pressure off of his players by placing it on himself.

It’s a tactic many men’s teams employ during high-pressure tournaments. Neville’s latest foot-in-mouth faux pas took place Sunday when he accused the U.S. team of spying on his team.

The move, ahead of Tuesday’s U.S.-England semifinal in Lyon, angered Neville.

“It’s not something I would want my team’s operations doing. England would not do it,” he told reporters. “I am happy with our hotel and we were training. I hope they enjoyed our hotel. It is not something we would do, send somebody round, but it is their problem. [U.S. coach] Jill Ellis wouldn’t have been happy and nor would I have been and I am sure she will be dealing with that infrastructure within her discipline.”

England players were at practice on Sunday when two members of the U.S. staff were shown around their base camp, the five-star Fourviere Hotel, in Lyon.

Ellis said there was nothing nefarious about scouting mission.

“I would assume everybody is doing that,” she said. “You have to plan ahead. The only ones who went were the team administrator and her boss. We don’t worry about that. That’s who the two were.”

The English FA is now reportedly angry about the visit, but only after Neville made a big deal about it.

“I actually found it quite funny,” Neville said.

Then why bring it up? The gamesmanship and mind games exhibited by Neville at this tournament has been quite something. The narrative the past two days, on TV and in newspapers, has been about this manufactured “spygate” incident.

The 42-year-old Neville had done a similar thing immediately following his team’s 3-0 victory against Cameroon in the Round of 16. Soon after the game, highlighted by a series of VAR calls that went against the Africans, Neville chose to run his mouth.

“I came to this World Cup to be successful but also to play a part in making women’s football globally more visible, to put on a show that highlights how women’s football is improving,” Neville said. “But I sat through 90 minutes … and felt ashamed. I’m completely and utterly ashamed of the opposition and their behavior. I’ve never seen circumstances like that on a football pitch and I think that kind of behavior is pretty sad. Think of all those young girls and boys watching.”

Think of all those young girls and boys watching? What about all the antics Neville and his Man City teammates pulled in the 1990s? Ferguson, the manager during those successful years, was all about gamesmanship and mind games. So much so, that referees felt compelled to add on even-longer stoppage time at Ferguson’s request. The legendary coach even admitted to the practice (what became widely known as “Fergie time”) once he retired in 2013.

Neville knows exactly what he’s doing. It isn’t going to work against a well-oiled and super-talented U.S. squad. Neville has been pulling out all his tricks off the field and England has been the better for it.

On the field, the Americans will also have a few tricks of their own in the form of Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz. There’s little Neville’s mouth can do to stop them.