Ex-Man Utd fitness coach: Ronaldo would practice skills against lower ranked teams before trying them against Chelsea | OneFootball

Former Manchester United fitness trainer Michael Clegg has recalled working with Cristiano Ronaldo during his first spell with the club.

Clegg insists Ronaldo's success all came from hard work and focus.

He told The Independent: “I never saw a scrawny kid.

“That kid had a fantastic physique, a fantastic ability to move." Clegg worked with Ronaldo between 2003 and 2006 and helped him become the athlete that he is today, he continued: “All he needed was time.

“People sometimes ask for 'Cristiano's routine', his chest routine or whatever, but what are they talking about? It's five and a half years. It was five and a half years of the hardest work I've ever seen from any athlete ever.

“It was never scrawny, what he wanted to do was get the right amount of the strength, the power, the skill, the cognitive processes, and all these things then come together. But it's also about confidence."

Former United midfielder Clegg believes that there were telltale signs that Ronaldo had the mentality of a winner based on how he approached certain fixtures as a youngster.

He continued: “You can see how it came together for him.

“Some players practice something and then take it into a game, and if it doesn't work, they'll never use it again. Cristiano practices something, then he'll take it into training games, then take it into a game against teams at the bottom of the league, and he would hone his skills there.

“He wouldn't use it in the big games against Chelsea or whoever until he was confident with it. And he never, ever lost confidence he could make whatever he's working on work."