Gary Alder

🚨 Cristiano Ronaldo on the dressing room that shaped his career: 🗣️ Reporter: “What do you remember about Ruud van Nistelrooy?” 🗣️ Cristiano: “When I arrived at United, I was a boy who loved having the ball. I wanted to dribble, I wanted to entertain people, and sometimes I thought beating 3 defenders was better than beating one and scoring. Then I met Ruud. I remember watching him in training and thinking, how can somebody make scoring look so simple? He wasn’t interested in doing six things before shooting. Sometimes he would touch the ball once and the goalkeeper was already picking it out of the net. There was a session when I tried to beat a defender again after I already had space to square the ball or shoot. I lost the ball. Ruud looked at me and said, ‘Cristiano, what is that?’ I told him, ‘I wanted to get closer.’ He said, ‘You were close enough.’ That stayed with me. Because when you’re young, you think the difficult thing is always the impressive thing. But Ruud could make one movement inside the penalty area, receive the ball and score. And you realise there is another kind of genius in football. I was very fortunate with the dressing room I entered. You had players who had already won everything, players who weren’t afraid to tell you when you were doing something wrong, and a manager who wasn’t interested in how talented you thought you were, but still protected you. I could have gone somewhere else at 18 and perhaps become a good player. But I don’t know whether I would have become the same Cristiano. At United, you learned very quickly that talent was only the beginning. And over the years, United have had some extraordinary finishers. Ruud was one. Robin van Persie was another. I didn’t play with Robin, but I watched him. His technique when striking the ball was beautiful. Sometimes the pass wasn’t even perfect, but the finish made it look perfect. These players had something special. They didn’t need many invitations to score. When I returned to United, I understood even more how much those early years had given me. You start recognising things you didn’t fully appreciate when you were young. I wanted the younger players to understand that wearing that shirt is an opportunity, but also a responsibility. The standards I experienced with Sir Alex helped make my career. And I will always be grateful for that.” 🗣️ Reporter: “You’ve mentioned Van Nistelrooy and Van Persie, but you haven’t mentioned Wayne Rooney. You played alongside him for years.” 🗣️ Cristiano: “Because then you are asking me a completely different question. You asked me about finishers. If you say Ruud, the first thing I think about is goals. If you say Robin, I think about that left foot, the volleys. But Wayne? Wayne could do everything. I remember games when I would be playing further forward and suddenly Wayne was defending near our penalty area. 2 minutes later, he was making a run beside me. Sometimes I would look at him and think, what position are you actually playing today? He could pass like a midfielder, shoot like a striker, carry the ball, tackle, press, create chances. You could ask him to play on the right, as a 6, even at right-back, and after 10 mins, you’d think he’d played there his whole life. That’s why I didn’t mention Wayne. Not because he wasn’t a great finisher. He was. But if I put him in a conversation only about finishing, I feel I’m leaving out most of what made him special. With Ruud, you remember the finish. With Wayne, sometimes you have to watch the entire match to understand what he did for you. I know because I was one of the players who benefited from it. People talk about what United gave me, and they’re right. But part of what United gave me was the opportunity to learn football beside the quality players they had. I arrived there wanting to show everybody what I could do with a football. I left understanding how much more there was to the game.”