‘Cristiano Ronaldo does not accept second best’ – Why CR7 was not the ‘leader’ that Man Utd needed during second spell at Old Trafford as Gary Neville explains criticism of all-time great

The Portuguese superstar completed a stunning return to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021 – having enjoyed memorable spells at Real Madrid and Juventus since first bidding farewell to English football in 2009. By December 2022, the all-time great had been released from his contract and was heading to Saudi Arabia at Al-Nassr.

Neville has spoken out against Ronaldo’s behaviour back at United on a regular basis – having once played alongside him for the Red Devils – and believes the 38-year-old needed to accept a different role with the Premier League heavyweights after spending his entire career demanding nothing but perfection. Neville has told Marca: “I think he did very well in terms of goals. He has a character and a personality in which he does not accept second best. I criticised him because my opinion is that, when you are a leader in the locker room and you are a leader in world football, there are different ways of teaching, different ways of mentoring and different ways of coaching the younger players on the team who are not at your level. I think Cristiano should have modified and adapted his leadership style at United to the players in the locker room who needed mentoring, training and levelling up.

“Cristiano got frustrated with them, he got angry with them and that was visible sometimes during the games and, in the end, it became a kind of confrontation. I have played with him, he has an incredible level and has worked as hard as any other player I have played with; everything you see in Cristiano is talent and hard work. He wants to win, he is desperate to win, he wants to score goals and he wants to be the best player in the world, so I think it has been difficult for him, maybe because he has reached the end of his career in teams that did not have the level that he had seen before.”

Ronaldo hit 24 goals during his first season back at United, but started just four games in 2022-23 before forcing his exit in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan. Neville remains a big fan of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and believes he could have still been in Manchester had a different mindset been adopted. The former Red Devils defender added: “I love Cristiano, he probably doesn't love me for what I said, but I would like to think that in 5-10 years he will understand that my comments came from a good place. I wanted him to understand that when you get to 35/36, the younger players in the locker room and the less talented players rely on you to take them with you and that there are different ways to be a mentor, a coach and a father in some ways. He is still my favourite player of all time and the one I like the most when I talk about who is the greatest of all time. I know that many people would say Messi, but I love Cristiano.”

Ronaldo has helped to raise the profile of football in the Middle East since bidding farewell to Old Trafford – with several household names joining him in Saudi Arabia – and he is showing no sign of slowing down after netting 15 goals through 14 appearances for Al-Nassr this season.