Neville plasters over Battle of Wounded Brow

'Because of the club's stature, there are things being blown out of all proportion. It's even more true in David's case'

Gary Neville's reputation has always been forged on solid, all-round defending. Not only defending his team's goal on the pitch, but also defending his club and team-mates off it. On Wednesday, following Manchester United's less than convincing win against Juventus in the Champions' League, the right-back was at his protective best, emerging from the dressing room graze-free and more than happy to put the boot into the club's many detractors.

It had, Neville admitted, been a bad few days for the close-knit players and staff at Old Trafford. The criticism that started immediately after last Saturday's disappointing 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the fifth round of the FA Cup, and then intensified in the wake of the Beckham v Ferguson rumble in the dressing room, had left everyone tired. Equally, though, it had also made Sir Alex Ferguson's troops more determined than ever to prove the detractors wrong.

"Well," Neville sighs when asked about the Scar Wars affair, "it's the reality that, at this club, you have to respond to ridiculous stories all the time. Because of the stature of the club, there are things being blown out of all proportion on a regular basis. And it's even more true in David's case.

"I don't think he's particularly enjoyed all the attention, but he knows all too well that there is nothing that any of us can do about it. It's nonsense but you can't stop it, and that can be very frustrating for the players. If you try to deny it, people say there's a cover-up; and if you say it's true but it was an accident, then no one believes you."

Neville feels that Beckham's two assists against Juv-entus were the perfect way for the England captain to answer suggestions he might be ready to leave Manchester United. "You come to expect that sort of excellent response from David," his best friend says. "It wasn't just his setting up of the two goals, but his work-rate. He is a great team player as well as a special individual talent, and I can tell you that it is a real joy to play just behind him."

It is typical of Neville that, in a week when many around him have lost their cool, he has remained level-headed. "We have to be calm about everything that goes on around us," he says. "After the Arsenal defeat, we were labelled as useless; now, after the Juventus win, we're great. It's just the silly ways of the press, and we have to ignore them. We must not hit rock- bottom when we lose, and we mustn't be over the moon when we win."

The latter view is certainly true in relation to Wednesday's defeat of Juventus. The visit of the Italian champions might have switched the attention back to football matters, but the 2-1 success over a depleted side leaves many questions unanswered. Top of the list is: what would have happened if United had come up against the full Juve first team? The Reds played well below par and won, but against opponents who were missing eight regulars and yet controlled much of the game.

"Well, I thought they were a half-decent side," Neville smiles. "That line-up would give most Premiership teams a good run for their money, so we should be really pleased with our performance. Beating Juve, slightly weakened or not, is always a massive boost." Not so long ago, English fans would have settled for any sort of win against mighty Juve.

"Rather than people say it wasn't the spectacular performance everyone had hoped for, maybe there should be praise for our professionalism. Over the years, we've played more exciting football, but that hasn't always been the right strategy. Quite frankly, I think we used to be very naïve in Europe. If you look at the key knock-out games over the last seven years, we've almost always been naïve. We were naïve against Borussia Dortmund [in the 1997 semi-finals], naïve against Monaco [in the 1998 quarter-finals], and naïve against Real Madrid [in the 2000 quarter-finals]. We've decided we're fed up of coming off the pitch and being told how the opposition used 'all their experience' to beat us, so we're giving other teams a bit of their own medicine.

"We could have passed it better, but it's very difficult playing against a good side like Juventus when you're a goal up early on. It may not always have looked like it, but the truth is we were actually completely under control. We had eight men behind the ball and we kept catching them out on the counter-attack, which is the perfect performance."

There is a new-found ruthlessness in United's approach to European matches. More savvy and less ambitious, they have learned to swap gallant defeats for ugly victories. "Against Juventus," Neville agrees, "we realised very quickly that Wes Brown's goal [in the fifth minute] had won us the game and, whereas we might have gone chasing more in the past, we kept things tight. We didn't need to go out and play wonderful football. All we had to do was stay composed and win."

That United did emerge victorious owed much to their assimilation of Ferguson's often questioned 4-4-1-1 formation. "We've had too many harsh lessons in Europe of being totally dominated in midfield," Neville explains. "With 4-4-2, we've looked good at times but, on many occasions, we've been overrun. That's why we're happier with a player in the hole, because that way we can match the opposition in that crucial area. It gives us more solidity."

So, is the class of 2003 ready to emulate the Treble winners of 1999? "If this team aren't perfectly poised to win the Champions' League again, then there's a big problem. Most of us have been together for many years. We all know what it's like to be the best in Europe, and we all want that feeling again."