Page 57 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

we will let you go.’ I had already conveyed that message to his agent Jorge Mendes.
I did well to calm him down. I told him that the reason I was refusing to sell him that year was
because of Calderón. I said, ‘If I do that, all my honour’s gone, everything’s gone for me, and I don’t
care if you have to sit in the stands. I know it won’t come to that, but I just have to tell you I will not

let you leave this year.’
I reported this conversation to David Gill, who passed it through to the Glazers. I’m sure it found
its way back to Real Madrid as well. At that point we were petrified that the details of our agreement
might creep out. We warned Cristiano to that effect. I don’t believe he would have told Real Madrid.
His agent Jorge Mendes is, I should say, the best agent I dealt with, without a doubt. He was
responsible, looked after his players to an incredible extent and was very fair with clubs. My feeling
was that he was anxious about Cristiano going to Spain for the obvious reason that Real might just

swallow him up. Different agents, different people. I think he feared losing him.
What I always thought about Ronaldo was that, even if he was having a dire game, he would
always create three chances. Every game. Look at all the matches. In the mountain of video evidence,
you could not find one instance where he failed to create at least three chances. He possessed an
unbelievable talent. I can place everything on that list: training performances, strength, courage, skill
with either foot, heading ability.

In the early days, there is no doubt that he acted a bit. His earliest lessons were in a theatrical
footballing culture. Injustice was never far from the judgments formed around him. But he changed.
One aspect frequently ignored by his critics was the speed he moved at. You only need to tap a player
going that fast and there is a tendency for him to go over. Human balance isn’t refined enough to
protect the runner from tipping over at an unnaturally fast speed. A wee prod into the side of the leg or
an elbow into the body can disturb the equilibrium. The failure to appreciate that speed-to-balance
factor was unfair.

In the early days, I accept, he showboated a lot, and Carlos worked hard on that part of his
repertoire. He would say to Cristiano all the time, ‘You’re only a great player when people outside
the club start recognising you as such. It’s not enough to be a great player to us at Manchester United.
When you start delivering the passes, delivering the crosses, at the right time, people won’t be able to
read you. That’s when the great players emerge.’
Opponents knew what to expect of him. They knew he was going to hold on to the ball. If you

looked at his goal in the semi-final against Arsenal, you see the transition. We struck on the counter-
attack, Ronaldo back-heeled it into Ji-Sung Park and we were up at the other end within nine seconds.
It took nine seconds to put the ball in the back of the net.
That was the transformation from the wee show-off who was desperate to convince everyone how
good he was. Yes, that’s really what it was: the need that so many gifted players have to prove just
how blessed they are. And nobody could kick him out of that. No matter how many tackles or fouls he
absorbed, his whole being expressed defiance: ‘You’re not going to kick me out of this game. I’m

Ronaldo.’ He had that wonderful courage and confidence in his ability. He elevated himself, in my
mind, and in those of the other United players, to a point where those around him were in awe of his
talent.
The players were good with him in training. They helped him learn. At first when he was tackled at
Carrington he would let out a terrible scream. ‘Aaggh!’ The players would give him pelters. He soon
learned not to make that kind of racket. His intelligence helped. He was a very smart boy. Once he

realised the players would not be a willing audience for his screaming and amateur dramatics in
training, he stopped. Over time it erased itself from his game. In his last season he overreacted a