Had Cristiano Ronaldo in tears – Rio Ferdinand recalls how Ruud van Nistelrooy gave a lesson to Portuguese in training

Former Manchester United defender recalled how striker Ruud van Nistelrooy had Cristiano Ronaldo in tears in the training session. When Ronaldo was rising through the ranks as a youngster, the Dutchman urged the Portuguese to put more balls into the box for him to create more goalscoring opportunities.

Ferdinand reckons Rasmus Hojlund is in a similar position and should ask his teammates to put more balls into the box for him in the ongoing season. The Danish international made a move to Old Trafford from Atalanta in the summer for a fee of £72 million.

Ferdinand said on Vibe with Five podcast (via United in Focus): “Ruud van Nistelrooy more or less had Cristiano Ronaldo in tears almost one day, saying ‘How can I make my runs when you don’t cross the ball?’ That’s how Hojlund must feel right now with the wide players he’s playing with.”

“The difference was Ruud was the main guy in our team, the main goal getter, he had the experience, the gravitas, he could pull up young guys and say ‘Oi put the ball in the box’ – and he said a lot more than that by the way.”

Rasmus Hojlund is yet to score for Manchester United in the ongoing Premier League season.

Meanwhile, Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo shared the pitch for Manchester United 91 times, managing 12 joint goal contributions.

Manchester United haven’t had a great start to the ongoing season as they have managed six wins and five losses in the ongoing Premier League season. United won their previous match against Fulham by 1-0 after Bruno Fernandes scored in stoppage time.

Manchester United will next take on Copenhagen on Wednesday night in the UCL.