Guillem Balague: Phil Neville can be a Spanish success

Guillem Balague feels Phil Neville has the perfect recipe for managerial success - if he can adapt to Spanish football.

The former Manchester United and Everton defender has been appointed joint caretaker manager of Valencia, alongside fellow coach Voro, following the resignation of Nuno on Sunday night.

Neville joined Valencia as a coach in July, having previously been first-team coach under David Moyes at Manchester United.

And Sky Sports pundit Balague feels his vast experience of Premier League football under managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Martinez will make him a good option for the Spanish club.

Neville in charge at Valencia

Phil Neville handed caretaker role in Spain

"His Spanish is coming along, he is absorbing the culture and the biggest job for him will be to understand why La Liga clubs and managers do what they do," Balague told Sky Sports.

"If he manages to do that - and to do that he must actually think differently and open up his mind - then it will be the perfect recipe for success as a coach in a coaching career.

"So if you add what he knows and has been brought up with being at the clubs he has been in and what he has learnt from the managers he has had, then added to what he can learn in Spain is the perfect mix."

Neville has already taken charge of several training sessions at Valencia, and has worked specifically with the team's midfield players.

"He was in charge of a lot of the work on the training pitch this week - all season really, but especially this week," said Balague.

"He did a lot of work with the two holding midfielders, because they decided to change formation to a 4-2-3-1, and he was in charge of looking after those two players, giving them instructions."

Fellow Sky Sports La Liga expert Terry Gibson, however, believes the Valencia job would be too big for Neville at this stage of his career.

"I think it would be too soon for Phil," Gibson told Sky Sports News HQ.

"He's still learning the language and it is a very big job - a major job in European football. The supporters are demanding and it'd be a huge task for a manager taking his first opportunity.

"Nuno's departure has been coming for a while but I think it's highly unlikely [Neville would be appointed permanently]."