Why Gary Neville is absent from Sky Sports coverage for Ruben Amorim's first Man Utd game
Manchester United are hoping to usher in a new chapter under Ruben Amorim, who has made three changes from their 3-0 win over Leicester, but Gary Neville won't be present in the commentary box at Portman Road
by Oli Gamp · The MirrorGary Neville was nowhere near Sky Sports' TV coverage for Ruben Amorim's first Manchester United game on Sunday.
Fans eagerly anticipated Amorim's opening game away at Ipswich Town on Sunday to catch a glimpse of how United will look under his leadership. United are hoping to usher in a new exciting chapter under the Portuguese boss, who has made three changes from their 3-0 win over Leicester City with a new 3-4-3 formation against the Tractor Boys.
But Neville was absent from the commentary box at Portman Road, having worked on Sky's coverage of Manchester City vs Tottenham just 24 hours earlier.
Neville is usually a huge part of Sky's Super Sunder matchday team but has been slightly reducing the amount of work he does with the broadcaster. Thus, the decision was made that he wouldn't travel to East Anglia on Sunday after already doing Saturday's late game.
He is no longer a regular face on Monday Night Football with Neville also busy with his many business commitments. The 49-year-old owns the investment company Relentless and also runs a property development firm that owns the Hotel Football in Manchester.
"It will be really interesting to watch," said Neville on the Gary Neville podcast for Sky Sports. "I'm intrigued to be sitting at home tomorrow, watching Manchester United on Super Sunday with a new manager and a new system.
"Ultimately, there will be no judgement tomorrow [Sunday] as it's just a case of understanding what's going to happen and how the players are going to adapt after just a few days of training."
Neville had previously sat down with Amorim to get his thoughts ahead of the game earlier this week and asked the 39-year-old what his main motivation for joining Old Trafford was.
"I had already had conversations with clubs so it was quite normal but what I felt at the time is that this is my place.
"I think it was the right club at the right moment for me. It was very tough to leave Sporting because in the middle of the season you can say in the moment that everything is Manchester United and they are the club that I want but you are leaving your guys in the middle of the season.
"So it’s really hard but I had to do it and I was so happy, you can see it in every interview I have, but I also felt that in the first moment it is a little bit overwhelming. After five minutes though, you starting thinking about the club, the team, the players and how to play so it was quite fun."
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