
Football
Share
Published 12:33 2 Nov 2015 GMT
Updated 12:41 2 Nov 2015 GMT
Explore more on these topics:
Balague interviewed a number of former United players for the book and Rio Ferdinand explained to him how he had to step in to stand up for a young Ronaldo in the bust-up.
"They had a couple of arguments,” revealed Ferdinand in an extract featured in The Daily Telegraph. “Ruud Van Nistelrooy kicked him one time and after that I kicked Ruud just to protect Ronnie a little bit and Ruud swung a punch at me and he missed.”
The extract also recalls an incident in which Alex Ferguson brought the Portuguese winger to tears for a bad game in a bid to toughen him up.
In the dressing room, Ferguson could not contain himself: “Who do you think you are? Trying to play by yourself? You’ll never be a player if you do this!” Ronaldo began to cry. The other players left him be. "He needed to learn,' said Ferdinand. "That was a message from the team, not just from Ferguson: everyone thought he needed to learn.” After the telling-off and a few tears, the Portuguese’s reaction was the same as always: keep working in training to improve. Predictably, the group responded by winding him up. Quinton Fortune and Rio Ferdinand reminded him of the incident a few weeks later. “He’s crying in the changing room again!” “F--- off! What are you talking about?” “Cry-baby, cry-baby!” Ferguson knew that after the stick, he had to apply the carrot. “Every now and again, the manager would ask him in front of the squad, ‘Why did you dribble rather than cross?’” recalled Alec Wylie. “Then when he’d finished his rant, he’d go and sit next to him to explain why he’d had a go at him.”

Irish pundit had bad habit that did not please Roy Keane when he was his boss
This is brilliant! Kenny Cunningham is the gift that keeps on giving. While doing punditry work for the Brentford vs West Ham clash – which was won 3-0 by the Bees – the former Ireland defender told a great story about his time working under Roy Keane. Presenter Eoin McDevitt brought up the fact that […]
Football
1 day ago
How the Premier League table would look if every ‘VAR error’ was removed
It’s that time of the season again where you’re wondering if you’re better off or not without it.. Reflecting on your side’s season, you can always turn to the trusty VAR for an underperforming campaign. Every side has their individual case at some point though, we’ve all had major decisions go against us, and when […]
Football
2 days ago
Football
Quiz: Can you put these Champions League winning teams in order
Football