Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has said that he preferred playing with David Beckham over Cristiano Ronaldo.
Neville and Beckham struck up a devastating partnership down the right-hand side for both United and England, their partnership helping United win multiple trophies including the historic Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League treble under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999. They were also part of the Three Lions' dubbed 'Golden Generation'.
Beckham eventually left for Madrid and in his place came a raw Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon, donning the number seven shirt Beckham wore before him. After taking his time to find his feet in England the Premier League, Ronaldo went on to become one of the best players in the world at Old Trafford before leaving for the Bernabeu like his predecessor.
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His accomplishments at United saw him also lift the Premier League and Champions League but also the first of six Balon d'Or's in 2008. He also became the first Premier League player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year that same year.
Having been on hand to watch both of their United's career blossom down the right wing, Neville has now admitted that it was 'better' to play with his English compatriot Beckham due to the fact Ronaldo would often leave the defender isolated while Beckham 'played with you.' Although, Neville did praise how 'incredible' the Portuguese superstar was while at United.
He explained, per Daily Mirror : "Well I never saw Ronaldo, Beckham was better to play with because he actually played with you.
"Ronaldo, that was one of the things about him, he was never in front of you. The odd time he was, you could make quite a lot of dummy runs around the back of him. He was a great individual who could play all across the front line.
"I think obviously the partnership with Beckham was something that was special. But Ronaldo at two or three years at Old Trafford was absolutely incredible."
Ronaldo has since returned to United and has 18 goals this season across four competitions and two teams.
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