Gary Neville has revealed that he complained about Cristiano Ronaldo early on in his Manchester United career because he thought that the Portuguese was too "erratic."
Ronaldo became the biggest superstar in world football at Manchester United before going on and attaining legendary status with Real Madrid.
However, Neville has opened up about the time he vented his frustration about Ronaldo to United's strength and conditioning coach, Mike Clegg.
Neville was reportedly said to be angry with the fact that Ronaldo struggles to fit into their defensive structure and not delivering when they needed him the most.
But Neville, then also went on and admitted that he was blown away by Ronaldo's transformation at Old Trafford and the impact of Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz on him.
"Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz, I think it's important to put Carlos Queiroz in the category with Sir Alex, they were both champions of him, they both believed in him," he told Sky Sports. (per Sportbible)
Neville added, "I think that he came back from the World Cup that summer it was like everything had changed. His maturity and his decision-making, which was a big thing, his experience, his physical attributes had completely changed overnight."
Revealing further changes in Ronaldo, Neville said, "He went from someone who, if you look at his early pictures at Manchester United, he was scrawny, really thin, wiry, didn't look very strong. All of a sudden, I think it was after that 2006 World Cup, he came back like a super-middleweight boxer. His body had just completely transformed, he was absolutely incredible."
Continuing to describe in awe the total transformation that Ronaldo underwent at United, the former defender said, "From a strength point of view and a plyometric point of view, the ability to leap, the ability to score with his head, the ability to change direction, everything seems to fall into place. It was just a maturity, physically, mentally, everything happened to him."
Recalling a certain talk he had with Ronaldo's then fitness coach Mike Clegg, Neville said, "It was brilliant to watch, there was a point I remember going into the gym after one training session and speaking to Mike Clegg, who worked very hard with Cristiano physically in the gym and saying to him, 'I don't know what he's going to do next.'"
"You didn't know where he was going to be defensively, you didn't know when he was going to release the ball, players in the middle of the box didn't know when he was going to cross it. It was just erratic."
Concluding by revealing the level of trust and faith Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz had in him, Neville stated, "But they had great faith in him, Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz, and they believed in him, put him forward in front of players who had greater reputations at the time and he developed into something brilliant."
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