Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has described former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo as an “alien”.
In a column for Betfair, Evra reflected on Ronaldo’s recent incredible accolade – scoring 700 club career goals.
The Frenchman said, “Cristiano Ronaldo is an alien. I won’t call him the GOAT, because he’s not from this earth. it’s crazy. What I like about Cristiano is his discipline.”
“When I was training with him, that’s the word that I had in my head every single day. He’s scored 700 goals. 700 times this guy has scored. I can repeat it over and over and it’s still hard to believe. But it’s Cristiano Ronaldo, an alien is how I’d describe him. Incredible discipline to do it.”
“I think his discipline to push himself that much is a sickness, it’s like a disease. It’s a disease in a good way. People don’t understand how many sacrifices Cristiano Ronaldo has to make every single day. His diet, his sleep pattern.”
The 41-year-old revealed that legendary gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson is primarily responsible for the player the five-time Ballon d’Or has been over the years.
Ferguson, Evra outlines, issued an ultimatum to Ronaldo to cease from focusing on his skills and showboating – which Evra likens to a YouTube footballer – and instead place greater emphasis on being a goalscorer.
That season, following Ferguson’s advice, Ronaldo scored 42 goals.
The 37-year-old has gone on to become one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the sport.
Evra also heaped praise on United boss Erik ten Hag. As per Evra, it is clear that the Dutch coach is in charge at Old Trafford and commands the respect of his players.
The Red Devils legend pointed out how the 52-year-old helped his team regroup and made them focus after the derby drubbing, enabling them to muster a resilient performance against a stubborn Everton side.
He pinpointed Casemiro and Luke Shaw as the players who played the biggest part in the win at Goodison Park. Evra credited Shaw’s upturn in form to the player having enough of hearing people compare Tyrell Malacia to Evra.
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