Former Manchester United coach Mike Phelan recently shed light on how “massively high standards” of Cristiano Ronaldo may have played a role in him losing the support of some of his teammates during his ill-fated second spell at Old Trafford.
Phelan claimed that Ronaldo became more opinionated and strong-willed after returning to Old Trafford in an interview with Sky Sports. Phelan stated, “He still had massively high standards and was terrific to work with. But I’d probably say a tougher mindset.”
Although admirable, Ronaldo’s high standards may have unintentionally caused conflict in the Manchester United dressing room. Phelan explained, “He didn’t want his standards to drop; he wanted other people’s standards to come up. And sometimes you lose a few people along the way when that happens.”
Mike Phelan on Cristiano Ronaldo: “I liked it because he didn’t want his standards to drop, he wanted other people’s standards to come up. And sometimes you lose a few people along the way when that happens. I remember certain times when he pushed and pushed hard, and he didn’t… pic.twitter.com/A5jvFY4DcT
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The former Manchester United player recalled situations in which Ronaldo exerted significant pressure for greater levels of dedication and performance but did not receive the desired response. Ronaldo’s unwavering drive to win probably contributed to this frustration.
Phelan concluded, “When you deal with top, top people, it’s about them and where they can finish and where they can get to. They want to look back and go ‘wow, that was successful.'”
Mike Phelan on Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I remember certain times when he pushed and pushed hard, and he didn’t get much reaction or much response. And there was frustration.”
[Sky Sports] pic.twitter.com/Tu0a0XYCaC
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Despite scoring 27 goals in 54 games during his second stint at Manchester United, Ronaldo’s departure from the club in 2022 undoubtedly left fans with a bad taste in their mouths and tarnished his legacy there.
In 2003, after joining from Sporting Lisbon, Cristiano Ronaldo spent his first season at Manchester United. Before leaving for Real Madrid in 2009, he spent six transformational years under Sir Alex Ferguson’s direction. Ronaldo sought out a new challenge in 2018 at Juventus before making his eagerly anticipated comeback to the Premier League in 2021.
Mike Phelan shares insights on Cristiano Ronaldo’s first spell at Manchester United
Soccer history will always remember Cristiano Ronaldo’s first stint at Manchester United as the time when the young Portuguese sensation developed into a world superstar.
According to Phelan, Cristiano Ronaldo brought his aspirations of becoming the best player in the world with him when he moved from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United. He was a young, talented player who left Portugal to play for one of the most prestigious soccer clubs in the world.
🔴 Cristiano Ronaldo during his first spell at Manchester United 🙌#UCL | #FlashbackFriday pic.twitter.com/AbM6dWocpQ
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Phelan said, “He had all the skillset, the mentality – but what we tried to do with [former assistant manager] Carlos Queiroz was we tried to integrate him into the team and he responded brilliantly. His work ethic and practice was fantastic and it rubbed off on the players. They knew there was someone special there.”
Mike Phelan further recalls the pivotal role played by Ronaldo’s mindset during those early days. Ronaldo possessed an exceptional skill set and the mentality of a champion, but he had much to learn from an English perspective.