Gary Neville has revealed the secret behind former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's team talks was to not mention football.
Neville, who won eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups and a Champions League winners' medal, said the Scot "demanded excellence and hard work" and that the "players bought into him massively".
Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Neville stated: "We got to the point whereby you're almost 24 clones really in some ways".
Ferguson gives Neville instructions at Bolton in 2006
Describing Ferguson's pre-match team talks, he added: "Sometimes they would be nothing to do with football.
"It would be about a dockyard, it could be about growing up, could be about a gentleman he met that was 78 last week and is going into work as much as he's ever done.
"He was a psychologist really. He didn't believe in psychology but he was a psychologist.
"In every message he gave you he was trying to affect your mind and get you into a positive mindset."
Neville, 38, joined Sky Sports and admitted making his debut as a TV pundit was "the most nerve-wracking" experience of his life.
He said: "I was nervous as a footballer at times, but I was more nervous doing Monday Night Football.
"It was the most nerve-wracking experience I'd had in my life along with my driving test."