GARY NEVILLE BELIEVES the intensity of life at Manchester United made Cristiano Ronaldo the player he is today.
The Real Madrid star joined United as an 18-year-old and went on to lead the Red Devils to three consecutive Premier League titles between 2006 and 2009, two League Cups, an FA Cup and a Champions League trophy.
And while Ronaldo’s profile grew to the point that he won the 2008 Ballon d’Or, Neville insists the hard times in his early days at Old Trafford are the foundation of his success.
“Cristiano was butchered and battered for two or three years at Manchester United and he has said it made him a man,” Neville told talkSPORT.
“He didn’t arrive at Manchester United as someone who was setting the tone for everybody else.
It wasn’t a case of he came in and all of a sudden everyone else upped their game, that’s not how it was. He became that out of what was in that dressing room.
“He was setting the standards when he left, and he became someone who would come in and do half an hour before training and an hour after training, but there had been 20 players per season for 15 years doing that every day.
Neville also believes that the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson helped Ronaldo progress both on and off the pitch.
“The club, and Sir Alex [Ferguson], and the players all set the tone for each other,” he added.
“If you look at his performances in the first two or three years, his maturity, his decision making, his physicality, his petulance, they were all smoothed out over a period of three or four years at the club.”
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