GARY NEVILLE has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo was “scrawny and erratic” at Manchester United before he became a “machine”.
The Portuguese star signed for the Red Devils in 2003 and had the task to replace David Beckham – as he was handed his iconic No7 shirt.
As Beckham headed for Spanish giants Real Madrid, 18-year-old Ronaldo made his way to Old Trafford.
The tricky winger transformed into a goal-scoring menace – claiming his first Champions League and Ballon d’Or in 2008 while playing for Manchester Utd.
And former teammate Neville revealed he was sceptical about CR7 – as he was nothing like Beckham.
The United legend told The Overlap podcast: “When Ronaldo came, he was quite scrawny and had not developed his body.
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“His decision-making was erratic. If he should have crossed it, he dribbled; if he should’ve dribbled, he crossed it.
“He always frustrated the players in the middle, because he’d go to cross it and they’d make the run and then he would turn back.
“He was all over the place and I actually lost faith with him because he wasn’t delivering in an attacking sense, but he also didn’t run back that much – he wasn’t really helping.
“Whereas Becks, he was always running back and we were always doubling up – I always had help.”
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But Ronaldo then stunned the ex-England star after he scored the winning goal in the penalty shootout as Portugal kicked the Three Lions out in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup.
Neville continued: “It was quite frustrating.
“In 2006, he scored (against England) and that’s when he knocked us out of the World Cup in Germany.
“He came back and all of a sudden his physique and his body had changed and that season, in 2006, when we first won the league again, he had a transformation into this machine, and I think he scored 35-40 goals.”
Ronaldo has become one of the most decorated footballers in history including five Ballon d’Or, seven league titles, five Champions Leagues and the European Championship.
At 39 years old Ronaldo is still going strong while some of his younger former teammates – such as Wayne Rooney – have retired.
Neville added: “Their body shapes were different [Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney], I say that respectfully in terms of Wazza had more of a square, strong shape.
“Whilst Cristiano had this physique like a super middleweight boxer, he was in the gym everyday doing pre activation.
“He would stay afterwards [training] and do all sorts, the ice bath, he had all of the stuff in his house.
“To be fair, Wazza, if you ask him, liked to drink and go out a little bit, and his body shape was different, but they were both unbelievable players.
“Cristiano just went on and he is still going on now, you’ve seen what he has got, I mean it’s unbelievable.”
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Ronaldo is not slowing down anytime soon having already scored 42 times since making the move to Saudi Arabia.
He is up to 206 caps and 128 goals for Portugal, and may even star in one more European Championship and World Cup.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
