While Cristiano Ronaldo is a galáctico of the modern game, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has revealed in an interview with DAZN the one thing that legendary Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wanted him to cut down on, stepovers.
Ronaldo joined United in 2003 as an 18-year-old for £12m, and while clearly dynamic and explosive on the wing, the young starlets overall game was not polished.
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The 33-year-old, who recently joined Juventus for £99m, has revealed that Ferguson was concerned that he would overdo the stepovers, and that he needed to be tough to make it work in the Premier League.
While it is not clear if Ferguson wanted Ronaldo to remove step-overs from his repertoire entirely, he at least wanted to teach him how to do them correctly, as they are now a signature part of his play style.
Ronaldo and Ferguson have an outstanding relationship, with the Portuguese forward always referring to the Scot as a father figure to him who taught him the game.
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"Of course, in the beginning of my career he was so important to me because I moved from Sporting to Manchester and had that Portuguese mentality - too many stepovers, decision making was not the best," said Ronaldo.
"So, he taught me how to do it. In the Premier League they don't fall over so easy, they are tough.
"As I have said many, many times he taught me everything and he was like a father for me in football because he helped me a lot at Manchester United."
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Words by George Buksmann.
Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo
