Man Utd Star And Class Of 92 Member Was 'Really Weird' And Did It 'All For Show'

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has revealed Phil Neville was 'really weird' on the pitch for Manchester United.

Onuoha came through the City academy and spent eight years with the club before moving on to Queens Park Rangers.

During that time, he came up against a whole host of United legends and the famous 'Class Of 92' -but one of them didn't faze him.

"A lot of people wouldn't have come to me with that level of aggression," Onuoha told Guardian's Football Weekly podcast.

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"But interestingly, the person that did and I knew it was all for show was Phil Neville. 'Come on then, come on then', he was doing all these crazy faces.

"I was thinking 'What are you doing?' That was the definition of a guy who was 10 men on the field. Come on, it's Phil Neville! Relax yourself.

"I was kind of thrown off by it, I thought it was really weird."

Neville made up the 'Class of 92' alongside brother Gary, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs.

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All six academy graduates went on to become trophy winners and established internationals.

Neville made 378 appearances for United between 1994 and 2005 before departing for Everton.

He'd go on to play over 300 times for the Toffees, captaining the side against United when brother Gary captained them.

The 44-year-old would have a spell as England Lionesses manager before taking over Inter Miami, owned by David Beckham.

Neville's appointment was questioned at the time, but Beckham stood by his decision.

"I've known him since I was 15, 16 years old, from a young kid," Beckham said in a press conference.

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"I knew what he was like as a player, I know what he's like as a human being, I know what his work ethic is like.

"Him and his brother Gary, I've never seen two players work as hard at their game in my whole career. So to actually have someone like that come into this club - of course people are always going to turn around and say 'Oh, it's because he's your friend' - it's nothing to do with him being my friend."

Inter Miami finished 11th in the Eastern Conference and failed to qualify for the play-offs.

Topics: Manchester City, Manchester United

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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