Former Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that coaching Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the most challenging moments of his career.
In a podcast co-hosted by his former teammate Gary Neville called « Stick to Football, » Solskjaer discussed the difficulties he faced with the Portuguese star. He explained, « Cristiano is different from Anthony Martial, who was a regular starter up front, or even Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford. Edinson Cavani was the one who suffered the most when Cristiano arrived. We were playing in a certain way and had gotten Edinson to understand our style of play. »
« While having the ball and Ronaldo in the team wasn’t a problem, without him in the pressing phase, we had to change the roles we were used to. We were one of the teams that pressed the most before Ronaldo joined. We let Daniel James go when Cristiano arrived, and they are two different types of players. »
« Some of his signing was due to his passion, but there were complications. You have Greenwood, Martial, and Rashford who can learn from Cristiano because he’s the best, the most disciplined, and he’s been the best player in the world, and you think he’s going to help them. »
Solskjaer also had to manage the strong personality of the star: « When he arrived at the club, he told me to start him for three games in a row, then put him on the bench for the fourth game, but he’s so passionate that when I did that, he didn’t like it. »
