It’s always a luxury when you are playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo but his former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville does not feel that way about him.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo has become one of the world’s most iconic soccer players, with his teammates relying on him to deliver during difficult situations.
However, it certainly took him some time to get to the stage he is at today.
United legend Neville discussed his frustrations when he was tasked with playing a Portuguese youngster at Old Trafford after he had played with a prime David Beckham.
He revealed this while he was in a discussion with Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold on the latest episode of “The Overlap”.
“Ronaldo came in, he was quite like that [shows his little finger]. Quite scrawny, not developed his body,” Neville said recalling his early years.
“His decision-making was quite erratic. You know, if he should have crossed it, he dribbled. If he should have dribbled, he crossed it.”
Neville continued: “He always, to be fair, frustrated the players in the middle because he had to cross it cause they made the run, and then he turns back and you get down.”
“He was all over the place, and like, I actually lost faith in him. Not just that he wasn’t delivering in an attacking sense, but he actually didn’t run back that much,” he added.
Neville, 49, further claimed that he used to have a lot of help with his role when David Beckham played above him.
However, at times, he struggled with the team’s decision to let Beckham move to Real Madrid with Ronaldo failing to track back and support the defense.
