It's no surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson has a special place in his heart for Ronaldo. After all, the legendary Manchester United skipper brought Cristiano Ronaldo up through the ranks at United and, some would argue, cultivated him in his youth to become the world class player he is today. Ferguson has even gone so far as to say that Ronaldo is, in a nutshell, a better player and asset to a team than Messi.
In his newly released book, "Leading," Ferguson goes further and reveals that, in his assessment, he only ever coached four truly "world class" players during his time at Manchester United. About these four players, Ferguson told the BBC, "They made the difference and the evidence is there."
Ferguson's list of world class players is as notable for who it includes – Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes – as who it does not: Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham and, of course, Wayne Rooney.
Of the players included on his list, Ferguson has this to say:
"The younger breed like Ryan and Scholes were just fantastic players and the thing about those two was longevity...Are there players who have played right through the whole of the Premier League and performed at the level they have? There are none, absolutely none."
And of Ronaldo in particular, he has this to say:
"Of course Ronaldo was just a complete genius of a player."
