Sir Alex: Ronaldo's Practice Pays Off

According to former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo could score free-kicks from outer space!

In the final part of his exclusive series of audio clips first published on Manchester United's Facebook page, the managerial icon reads from the chapter entitled Preparation in his upcoming book Leading.

Praising the players who worked hard on their set-pieces to perfect their technique, Sir Alex admitted the hard graft conducted behind the scenes was critical to success on a matchday.

"The most important aspect of our preparation was training," said Sir Alex. "Whatever happens on a Saturday afternoon has already occurred on the training ground.

"If I was starting again as a manager, the thing I would focus on most is the players’ attitude during training sessions. If they take it seriously and have the necessary talent and determination, then good things will happen. If they want to slack off, they will never make it over the long haul.

"Our training ground was where the real work was done. Part of the pursuit of excellence involves in eliminating as many surprises as possible because life is full of the unexpected. That’s what our scouts, our youth system and the training sessions were all about. Our best players were sticklers for preparation.

"David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney would all stay after training to perfect their free-kicks. They would be religious about spending an extra 30 minutes trying to bend balls past the goalkeeper. That’s why Beckham became a master of taking free-kicks from between 25 and 30 yards from goal and Giggs from between 18 and 23 yards. Rooney was better closer to the penalty box.

"As for Ronaldo, he’d be able to score from free-kicks if he took them from behind the moon!"

Leading will be released on 22 September and Sir Alex starts his theatre tour a day earlier in London. Find out more and pre-order special or standard editions of the book now from manutd.com/leading.

Credit: Manutd.com