Seen Sir Alex Ferguson Publicly ‘Criticize And Rubbish’ Cristiano Ronaldo At Man Utd?

Seen Sir Alex Ferguson Publicly ‘Criticize And Rubbish’ Cristiano Ronaldo At Man Utd?

Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson molded Cristiano Ronaldo into one of the best players on the planet during their time at Old Trafford together.

But while he didn’t give the Juventus star the hairdryer treatment, Ferguson did criticise Ronaldo in public.

According to Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs, the Scott never shouted at Ronaldo.

Giggs said: “There were three or four players that he never had a go at.

“Eric Cantona was one – Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo. They were all in their own ways matchwinners.

“They did the stuff on the pitch, so he never felt he had to.

“Eric, there were some games where Eric didn’t do anything. He didn’t score, he wasn’t running around like a Carlos Tevez or a Wayne Rooney, he didn’t have any impact. But he knew sooner or later he would come good.

“We would be sat in the dressing room thinking: ‘He’s got to have a go at him, he’s got to have a pop at him because he didn’t do anything today.’

“But the next week he’d scored the winner or he would produce a moment of magic, so he handled the big names really well as long as they were doing it on the pitch, he handled them in a different way.

“He was the master of psychology, he was a master at getting the best out of certain individuals like whether to put an arm around, or whether to give them a rocket at half-time or at the end of the game or leave them out knowing that the player would react in a positive way.”

It’s true. Ferguson always had nothing but praise for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, mindful any strong criticism could hamper him.

But rare criticism came after a draw with Portsmouth back in 2007.

Ronaldo was shown the red card that day for aiming a headbutt at Richard Hughes during a goalmouth melee with six minutes left on the clock.

Speaking after the game, Ferguson said: “He was provoked and he fell for it.”

But even when criticising Ronaldo he leapt to his talisman’s defence.

“He fell into a trap and has to learn from it but he received no protection all night,” he said.

That was the strongest example of Ferguson criticising Ronaldo.

But he also admitted in 2009 that he’d had to warn the player to keep his focus at a time where Real Madrid were courting his signature.

SEE ALSO | Rashidi Yekini's Daughter Omoyemi Finds No Word To Describe Late Dad

Ronaldo himself revealed in 2018 that Ferguson helped him improve his decision-making on the pitch.

(The Express)

This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago