Morais: 'It takes a special coach to manage Ronaldo'
"Working with Ronaldo is one of my best moments as a coach," Morais told Portuguese newspaper A Bola on November 15. "I'm not saying Ronaldo is an alien, because he's still a human, but he has great skill and talent."
Morais worked with Ronaldo for 3 years as Mourinho's assistant at Real between 2010-2013. During this time, the Portuguese striker scored 168 goals. In total, he scored 450 goals in 438 matches with Real between 2009 and 2018, a rate of more than one goal per game, and is the highest scorer in the club's history. Ronaldo helped Real win 15 titles, including four Champions Leagues and two La Ligas.
"I consider myself lucky to have worked with Ronaldo. He is a sensitive and humble person, unpretentious. Ronaldo is a great person and a class player," added Morais.
On November 13, Ronaldo conducted a controversial 90-minute interview with journalist Piers Morgan, where he accused Man Utd of betraying him, asserted that he did not respect current coach Erik ten Hag, criticized his predecessor Ralf Rangnick. , former teammates Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and the Glazer family of home owners. The full content of this interview will be divided into two parts, airing on the evening of November 16 and November 17, London time.
According to Morais, Ten Hag's non-soft handling makes things more complicated. "I just want to say that you have to be a special coach to manage special players," he insisted. "A special coach must know how to deal with situations like the one at Man Utd right now, with positive communication. The establishment of trust depends on factors related to the individual development of the player. The best coach can handle these situations better."
Less than half a year after taking over the hot seat at Old Trafford, Ten Hag had many conflicts with Ronaldo, including pushing him to the bench for missing pre-season and fines the Portuguese striker for refused to enter the field and left early in the match against Tottenham. The Dutch coach is also said to have informed the board that Ronaldo will not be involved in any activities at Man Utd, after an interview with Morgan.
Ronaldo is joining the team to prepare for the 2022 World Cup, where Portugal will meet Ghana on November 24, Uruguay on November 28, and South Korea on December 1. Before that, they also had a friendly match against Nigeria at Jose Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon on November 17.
Ronaldo has a contract with Man Utd until the summer of 2023 and can freely negotiate with other clubs from January. According to British media, Man Utd's lawyers are studying the 37-year-old striker's interview on the Piers Morgan Uncensored program to assess whether this constitutes a breach of contract. If so, the Old Trafford owner will cut Ronaldo's contract before the deadline of June 2023.
