Ex-Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo left the Red Devils “frustrated” with his high demands during his explosive second spell at the club.
The Portuguese was brought back to Old Trafford from Juventus in the summer of 2021 in what was an emotional reunion. He enjoyed a positive first campaign with the club having scored 24 goals in all competitions for the Red Devils.
However, things quickly went sour as a number of bombshells were dropped during a controversial interview with Piers Morgan. That led to a bitter separation between United and Ronaldo, who left to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr after seeing his contract cancelled.
Phelan has since opened up what it was like working with Ronaldo during that period. Speaking with Sky Sports, he claimed that the striker’s standards remained extremely high, something that he liked, but Ronaldo’s teammates didn’t exactly warm to.
"The second time round, he came in a lot older and a lot more opinionated, strong-willed," Phelan said. "He still had massively high standards and was terrific to work with. But I'd probably say a tougher mindset. He had been at Man Utd, he had been Portugal's ever-present, he had been at Madrid.
"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 get much reaction or much response. And there was frustration.
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"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'. And he probably realised, and I don't know as I never had that conversation with him, that he couldn't do it at Manchester United. So his challenges were elsewhere.
"He's still playing international football, yes he's in Saudi Arabia, but he's still playing and scoring goals. He is doing all the things we knew he could do at Manchester United.
"But a really good personality, hard-working and challenging. He challenged me as a coach, Carlos Queiroz as a coach and Sir Alex [Ferguson] as a manager. But that's good because it takes you to another level."
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KitbagRonaldo has enjoyed a positive time of things since quitting Old Trafford for Al-Nassr. He has scored 20 goals in just 24 appearances for the Saudi side and helped the team to the Arab Club Champions Cup earlier this summer.
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