Benni McCarthy explains why he was stunned at how Manchester United players acted around Cristiano Ronaldo

Benni McCarthy was part of the Manchester United coaching staff during the back-end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford.

Cristiano Ronaldo made a stunning return to Manchester United in the summer of 2022 which supporters couldn’t believe.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who departed the club for Real Madrid in 2009, looked like he was on his way to rivals Manchester City before a stunning turnaround on deadline day.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team had just finished second in the Premier League and managed to add Ronaldo, Raphaël Varane and Jadon Sancho to their ranks.

Yet, things did not work out as expected, with the Reds finishing that campaign in seventh and Solskjær getting the boot mid-season.

Erik ten Hag took over in the following summer and Benni McCarthy joined as a first-team coach, working with the attackers in the squad.

McCarthy was stunned at United players with Ronaldo

While Ronaldo would go onto leave the club in spectacular fashion in the November of that season, following an in-depth interview with Piers Morgan, the likes of McCarthy still got several months with the Portuguese legend.

McCarthy was a striker himself and found it fascinating to work with Ronaldo at Old Trafford, but he has stunningly revealed that the players did not make the most of playing with him.

The ex-coach believes that it was “a shame” that the younger players in the squad were not soaking up the information they could receive from Ronaldo.

“You know what? It was brilliant working with Cristiano Ronaldo. It was brilliant because you’ve got a guy who knows football inside out,” McCarthy told Ladbrokes.

“He became the greatest player of all time in my view – I don’t speak for everyone else. So it was genuinely so nice to just see the drive and determination he still had at his age, you know, especially compared to the younger players around him.

“You know, if I were them, I would have smothered him with questions, asking this and asking that and wanting to know everything. His regime, his methods, his approach to staying as sharp and in shape as he is.

“What does he do? How does he live his life? I would have asked all those things. And it’s a shame that our players never, ever latched on to him in that sense.”

Ronaldo’s return offered priceless opportunity to United stars

Ronaldo’s return to United splits opinion within the fanbase. Some believe that it was the right decision and he was let down, while others suggest that the club made a mistake by bringing him back.

No matter where you fall on the line, everyone would have believed that he could have helped United’s younger players in their development.

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Ronaldo is one of the hardest-working footballers of all time and learnt to become a killer in front of goal during his first spell at the club. It would have been priceless to learn everything you could from him.

While it was clear some did benefit, with Diogo Dalot crediting his fellow countryman for his physical improvements over the years, it seems like not enough made use of the opportunity they had.

As McCarthy mentioned, it seems a shame if young United players failed to use it to their advantage during Ronaldo’s time with the club for the second time.

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