Wes Brown: Ronaldo was special from day one at Manchester United
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has told BetMGM that from the very first day Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club, everyone knew how special he was.
Speaking exclusively to BetMGM, Brown said: “As soon as he joined the club, we all knew this kid had something. He was very raw and had a lot to learn but you could tell the amount of talent he had.
“Everything that people say about him is true – he really was that good.
“He learnt quicker than anyone I ever played with and figured out the way the other players did things and the positions they’d be in. Ruud van Nistelrooy was a good example because he was so used to David Beckham finding him with a cross that he’d always be in that area. Ronaldo wasn’t like that – he’d want to take on a man, check back and then probably take him on again.
“He quickly learnt what Ruud wanted, though, and that’s what made him so good.
“Cristiano had no fear and he didn’t really care if he was up against a seasoned professional, he believed he was better than them.
“He frightened the hell out defenders and they used to try and take him out because they didn’t really know what to do with him.
“I think some thought he was taking the mickey a bit, but that’s just who he was. He did it in training the whole time due to the immense confidence he had in himself. You’ve got to have the talent to try and do what he did and he had that in bucketloads.
“Sometimes with these young players the older ones would sort of try and rein it in a bit but, with Ronaldo, we just let him do what he wanted because the end product was there.
“He was a joy to play with because his pace meant that we could play 10 or 15 yards further up the pitch and that made our lives so much easier. It gave us much more time to do what we needed because the opposition was so worried by what he’d do.”
Rooney didn’t get credit he deserved
The 46-year-old also discussed another former United team-mate in Wayne Rooney, and despite scoring over 250 goals for the Red Devils, Brown believes he didn’t the full credit he deserves.
‘Wayne [Rooney] understood the Premier League a lot quicker than Ronaldo did at the beginning,” Brown added. “The thing that stood out to me was the maturity he showed at such a young age. He was never nervous and always wanted the ball.
“He could do everything and having seen him first-hand in training and on the pitch, I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves.
“People said he should have scored more but he didn’t need to score 30-plus goals a season because there were players already in the team that could do that. He made sure they were hitting those numbers and I don’t think he was that bothered by the numbers.
“He just wanted to help the team win games and play well at the same time – he was a top-class professional.”
